Inclusion or Seclusion
By: Bill “Lanny” Lanahan
After reading this, I’m sure you’ll all understand where I’m going with this…………
“A torch without a flame is nothing more than a club. A flame without a torch is a ‘Wildfire!” “Lanny”
Before retiring from the Federal Government last year, my final assignment was “Chief of
Facilities – Southeast Region – US Fish & Wildlife Service”. Within my branch, I supervised
several GS-12 Facility Managers. Out of the group, one was a retired Master Chief BM; one was
a retired Captain (LDO); one was an Air Force SGT from the Viet-Nam era; and another a 14 year
Army Artillery SGT from the Gulf War. Not only did I have these “hard headed, hard charging”
military types to supervise, I also had several “non-military” employees to deal with. From the
very beginning when I took over as their supervisor I could see the dissention between the two
groups – “Former Military”, and “Never Military”. This dissention (especially in todays
“politically correct” society) was one that put me (as their supervisor) between the proverbial
“Rock and Hard Place”. For those who “really” know who I am, the term “Politically Correct” is
not a tag that anyone would ever pin to my personality or life style.
Within the first few months after moving from the Department of the Interior – Fish & Wildlife
Headquarters in Washington, DC, to the Southeast regional HQ in Atlanta, GA, I decided to put
an immediate end to the dissention that was obviously hindering the effectiveness of the
branch. How could we effectively and efficiently serve our regional field stations and the
Nation’s tax payers, yet provide a quality Facility Management program with a definite split
within the branch (not to mention arguments within each of these splits).
So, I decided to bring all of the crew together for a day long retreat type meeting. I started that
meeting off by showing them this one photo:
I asked that each of them write down what they believed to be “Most Important” in the photo.
After a lot of whining and complaining, I had each of them give their response and reasoning for
their answers. Of course (as I had predicted), the Retired Captain explained that the “Carrier”
was most important because it was the “Flag Ship” of the task force. The Retired BMCM gave
his answer as “Communication” between the ships as being the most important in order for
them to stay within formation. Granted, the Air Force Sgt made mention of the “Planes” on the
“Floating Runway”, and the Army Artillery Sgt said something about ‘Anything with Cannons”!
As for the “Non-Military” members of the branch, they all pretty much stuck together and
mentioned the “Submarine” in the front because they thought that’s what I would choose – all
knowing that I rode submarines.
After a long discussion and a little “bantering” back and forth between everyone, one of them
finally threw the question back to me and asked, “So who’s right?”. I answered with one
word…. “Me”. They then asked “You and which one of us?”……. My answer… “Me and the
‘WATER’!”. Take away the water and all you have are a bunch of useless metal tubs, sitting on
hard ground, nowhere to go, nothing to do, and totally useless to anyone.
It didn’t take long for that crew to realize two things: 1) I was in charge, and 2) I was right.
Last year when I retired, I was given all of the “normal” retirement paraphernalia such as “desk
plaques with golden pens”, wall plaques with service dates, and a bunch of other useless items
that end up in a cardboard box stuffed in a bedroom closet, but the one and only item that I’m
most proud of was the one that “My Crew” gave to me…………………