The first day on the job I was escorting Admiral William "Fox" Fallon, the Commander of Central Command to hearings on the Hill. He is a 4 star Admiral. I've only ever met two other 4 stars in my career--Admiral Vern Clark and Admiral Mike Mullen, both Chief's of Naval Operations at the time. However, with ADM Clark and ADM Mullen, it was more just a photo-op and handshake, one in the Persian Gulf, one at the Pentagon, and no actual conversation.
But with ADM Fallon, he actually had conversations with me, was genuinely interested in me and my life, and it was a very surreal experience for me! I thoroughly enjoyed the week I spent escorting him to the hearings, and at the end of the week, when the Admiral climbed back out of his vehicle to specifically thank me for my work and to tell me he was happy I'd joined the team, I could not believe my fortune! I then left for 2 weeks of vacation.
A sidebar to the week's hearings was the rumbling of an article that was to be published in Esquire magazine that didn't put the Admiral in a very good light with the President's Administration. I said my farewell to the Admiral on Thursday, and the following Tuesday, everything changed.
While on my two weeks leave, I received a phone call from a friend on the Hill telling me to turn the TV on. Having turned it off because I was tired of listening to the stories of the NY Governor who'd been exposed for his dealings with a prostitute, I turned it back on, not exactly knowing what to expect. Admiral Fallon had resigned!! I thought it was sad, really sad, that the media has this kind of power over our Nation. It wasn't 5 minutes later that I started receiving numerous emails and txt messages about the announcement. I was saddened, after all it's always great to have a boss who likes you! Now I had no idea what was going to happen, did I even have a job?
Turns out yes, I still have a job, and on Monday the 24th of March, I was able to take ADM Fallon to the Hill one last time. I then flew down to Tampa, Fl for all my in-processing for my new job.
Admiral Fallon is a runner, and of course was impressed by my triathlons. He actually led a command-wide formation run down at CENTCOM, and on Tuesday I was fortunate enought to get to run with him. It was a very short, slow 2 mile run, but pretty amazing when there are hundreds of folks running in formation shouting jodies, with the flags out in front waving as we jog around the base. At the end of the run he had a Commander's Call to explain to everyone why he was leaving. It was in that moment that I realized that this Nation is losing a great leader, and a selfless officer.
On Friday, I attended his Relinquishment of Command ceremony, attended by the Secretary of Defense, Dr. Robert Gates, and the Commander of Joint Chiefs of Staff, ADM Mike Mullen. It was a simple ceremony, lacking all the pomp and circumstance of normal retirements and changes of command, but it was amazing nonetheless.
I just know that this moment was a critical moment in the history of the war on terror, and while I wish I were still working for ADM Fallon, I'm glad that I was able to serve under him for even 4 weeks, and I wish him the best.
Fair Winds and Following Seas, Admiral!
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