This segment is a Veteran Focused talk show that showcases individuals and companies in the community and is focused on Veteran leadership, service, stories and transition. Our Veteran host highlights other Veterans who serve, have served and who are doing great things in their business and in their community. Today our host, Rick Hoffman spoke with David Miller.
David Miller
Navy Aftermarket Director for Fairbanks Morse Defense
Website Address: https://www.fairbanksmorsedefense.com/
Short company description:
Fairbanks Morse Defense is a leading provider of mission-critical marine and power solutions, specializing in advanced engineering, manufacturing, and support for maritime defense and industrial markets.
Transcript:
Rick Hoffman:
You.
Know you. Hi. Welcome back for From the Sea to the C-suite, where we interview people here in Jacksonville who have made a difference in on active duty, primarily Navy, their from the sea and are now successfully transitioned to a leadership position in our community and continuing to serve.
Welcome, Dave Miller from Fairbanks Morse. Good to see you again.
Dave Miller:
Good to see you, Rick. It’s always a pleasure.
Rick Hoffman:
Yeah. Well, you know, you served over 30 years on active duty.
Dave Miller:
I did,
Rick Hoffman:
and served in a variety of positions. Talk a little bit about what you learned on active duty that helped you transition.
Dave Miller:
Absolutely, Rick. You know, and and as I look back and I know we’ve we’ve talked about this many times in the past, but the one thing I really didn’t realize, during my time in active duty, the importance of having a strong network and, you know, the people you know, and using that network to really help you, move forward in life.
For me, that started, you know, my very first job, you know, while I was still in high school, I went to work for my mom’s boss at a photography studio.
Okay.
And that carried through into my Navy career. A lot of people talk about having a c daddy, you know, a senior, maybe a first captain or somebody like that that helps you kind of move up through your career.
For me, I was kind of the guy that said, you know, I want to do it. The regular method. I’m just going to call the detailer. I want to see what billets he has available. Available, you know, for my next job. And I’m going to go with that.
Yeah.
It wasn’t even until I did my first, I was an aide to Admiral Fitzgerald when he was on the director, Navy Staff, and I had to interview for that.
Call sign. Lobster.
Call sign. Lobster. Absolutely. There’s a story there. I didn’t know that it was. And it’s not hard to figure out once you have that sunburn in the Philippines. Yeah. Right.
Exactly.
What was interesting, I was coming off of a Navy strike group tour, and I worked for Denby Starling, another aviator. You know, he was a three star, two star at the time. And he retired as a three star.
And I got a call from the detail, and I said, you know, I’d asked. I said, hey, what do you have for me in DC?
And he said, I really don’t have anything in DC.
And he called me and he said, well, Admiral Fitzgerald is going to move from Second Fleet to be the director, Navy Staff, and his timing works. You know, pretty much with your timing. Are you interested in the job?
And I’m like, yeah, sure. Put me in.
And I thought about it a little bit later and I said, well, you know, Admiral Starling’s at it now. An Admiral Fitzgerald’s at Second Fleet. They’re both aviators.
I didn’t know either, you know, other than I work for Admiral Starling. I didn’t know him before that. I also didn’t know what a DNS was.
Yeah.
So I started looking at that director, Navy staff. That’s interesting.
I thought, well, I’ll bet you they know each other maybe, you know.
And so I called the details. I said, hey, you know, I work for Hamill Starling. Should I ask him to put in a good word for me?
You know, and he said, yes, absolutely.
So I sent him an email. He sent me an email back. He sent Admiral Fitzgerald an email, and the interview kind of went like this.
And I was underway. I was in my XO job at the time. And he says, you know, the first thing he opened with, well, Dave Denby says, you’re the guy.
And, I got a couple other people to talk to. But tell me a little bit about yourself, you know, and at that point, I really understood the importance of having a good network.
Rick Hoffman:
Yeah. Well, as you know, I’ve militarized it, after I retired.
And as you, as you, you’re a victim of my enthusiasm.
Every retiring captain and many master chiefs who want to stay in the Jacksonville area get an opportunity just to talk to me for a little bit.
And so make sure that I help you with that transition.
I sort of my personal mission, but, again, I teach a leadership course at University of Florida, and one of the things I tell people is you young people today say, well, it’s all about who you know, it’s all about. It’s all about the good ol boy network.
And I offer that it’s not who you know. It’s how you know who you know.
Okay, then we do a lot of surface warfare commanders and, you know, that’s how I got the movie opportunity on battleship.
So now, Fairbanks Morse, you continue to serve, you continue to help, keep ships at sea ready to do, the nation’s work?
Talk a little bit about your transition.
Dave Miller:
Absolutely. You know, Fairbanks is a phenomenal company.
First of all, it’s a smaller company. It’s based out of Beloit, Wisconsin. It’s just about an hour west of Chicago.
So it’s in the Midwest. I grew up in the Midwest. You know, it’s a little bit of back to home for me.
And again, you know, I got to Fairbanks through another retired Navy captain, Randy Garner, and, you know, and I said, hey, Randy, you know, I’m getting ready to retire.
And, you know, that kind of started that change going.
But Fairbanks, they’ve been, you know, supplying engines for the Navy’s starting back and submarines in World War Two, for almost 100 years.
You know, and, you know, we’ve diversified a lot into other defenses.
I think that’s the important thing, you know, because you guys of my generation think of Fairbanks Morse, I think diesel engines.
But in the last 15, ten, 15 years, you guys have bought into almost all of the key auxiliary elements across the ship.
Everything from from, from davit, to steering gear to, I mean, a real diverse portfolio now.
Rick Hoffman:
Absolutely. And that’s why we, you know, we kind of changed our name to Fairbanks Morse Defense to kind of highlight that you guys are all over the ship.
Dave Miller:
We’re all over the ship.
You know, the Federal Equipment Company is a part of us hunting valves.
Recently our biggest acquisition is now known as Bird Johnson Propellers, which was the original name, but we just acquired them back from Rolls-Royce.
So that’s a national, you know, treasure.
It’s the foundry down in Pascagoula, Mississippi, where, you know, carrier blades and hubs are built and all that steel.
Rick Hoffman:
Yeah.
So.
Well, your Fairbanks Morse, recently 8 or 9 years ago, actually established a foothold here in Jacksonville Beach.
So your presence.
Yes.
And so that’s good.
I actually got the mayor of Jacksonville Beach to be there for your opening, a few years back.
Dave Miller:
I wonder how that happened, Rick.
Rick Hoffman:
You know, that’s quite all your connections.
Not everybody knows, but the mayor of Jacksonville Beach is my daughter, Chris.
So.
And it was just a few hundred yards from my house.
Right.
So, so, so, you know, I also like to highlight to the people who were watching who were from Jacksonville and literally any of the major, Navy, fleet concentrations that that we play an important role in the community, not just in taking the federal dollars and, and, and doing the work for the Navy, but we we continue to play important roles and, and, and, organizations outside of the Navy.
We continue to serve, so, you know, what are some of the other things that you’re up to?
Dave Miller:
No. Absolutely. You know, right now, Fairbanks Moore’s defense is keeping me pretty busy.
I will say, you know, going back to 20 or points on the transition, I think for surface warfare officers and this kind of becomes a no brainer.
The Surface Navy Association, you know, is such a huge event every year.
As you well know, you’re, you’re up there.
But but for me and for the transition piece, it’s a networking, you know, it’s reconnecting with, you know, I reconnect with my first department head with my old CEOs, with, with people you’ve known throughout your career.
And, you know, for me, that’s kind of where it started putting out, you know, that information that, hey, I’m. I’m close to retirement.
I’m getting ready.
And you know what else is out there? That, you know, that that I may be able to help out with.
Rick Hoffman:
Yeah.
Well, again, in addition to the transition piece, we focus on the leadership piece.
It’s so important.
And you learn many, many important leadership skills on active duty.
Are there some that didn’t translate well or were critical in helping you make that transition?
Dave Miller:
You know, and you know, when I think about leadership, lessons that I learned, and one of the first ones I learned when I was the young division officer, I had, I was an officer, and I had I said, we’re in warfare, anti-submarine warfare.
Thank you. Rick, for the translation.
I had a division of about 20, 24 people, and it occurred to me after a while, I recognize that, you know, one of the first things you do on the ship is, you know, you have quarters, you stand in front of your division or your team, and you kind of put out what the plan is for that thing.
And when I, I recognized through the day that if I had if I was up beat in the morning at quarters and positive and talked about, you know, things that were going to happen when the, when the when the team came back to me and talked to me throughout the day, everybody was in a great mood.
If I was focusing on something wrong the day before, I was a little more, you know, angry, direct, direct, good, better term.
The team pretty much had a sucky day for the rest of the day, and somebody told me when I made that observation, he said, you think it’s good now?
Just wait until you’re the captain.
Yeah.
I could set the tone of the ship by walking aboard.
Absolutely.
And, you know, back to Admiral Fitzgerald, somebody that never did that better than anybody ever served.
It was. It was him.
He was always in an upbeat mood, no matter how tough his day had been.
I had the good fortune of working for Cutler Dorsett.
Amen. There you go. Another great leader.
Rick Hoffman:
Well, Dave, thank you so much for coming in.
And joining us from the C-suite.
And to celebrate your continued service to our nation and to our community.
Thank you.
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