Gerda and our two sons, George and Raoul, after a brief holiday in the United
States, moved to Germany where Gerda rented a home in the Bonn suburb of Bad
Godesburg and awaited my arrival at the end of my training period (November
1962).
My "initiation" into the Westinghouse family was something quite new
to me. I knew absolutely nothing about an industrial enterprise such as
Westinghouse or how it operated. Let's say, therefore, that my initial learning
process was most interesting, to say the least. I was assigned a desk and given
a "helper." I was also given a number of briefings throughout the
Center to familiarize me with the products and services - particularly the
services - which I would be expected to promote when I returned to Europe.
My assigned "helper" was, fortunately for me, one of the most unique
and helpful individuals I have ever met. I will always remember him as a really
first class human being. His name was Murray Richman. He was a retired U.S. Army
Major. Murray was also a Jew and was very proud of his religious heritage, for
which I admired him. In fact, he and Mrs. Richman invited me to the Bar Mitzvah
of their oldest son. I was very much impressed by what this particular ceremony
means to the young people of Jewish faith who are leaving childhood and entering
into the complex area of what we call adulthood. I recall that I wished we of
the non-Jewish faiths could have something similar to escort our youths into
adulthood.
After my first week or so of exposure to the electronic "atmosphere"
and all the electronic "experts" at the Baltimore Defense Center, I
told Murray "I don't think I will fit in here. I graduated far down in the
subject of electricity in my class at West Point, and I know absolutely nothing
about electronics. I think I'll leave here and go into something less
complicated like the men's clothing business, as Harry Truman did."
Murray, whose talents rested in human understanding, as well as in the field for
which he was employed, said, "Roy, Westinghouse didn't hire you for your
knowledge of electronics. That should be obvious to you. Had they done so, they
would have examined in detail your technical background. What you are eventually
going to do, I don't know, but right now, I have been given the task of teaching
you how to price out a major contract, so let's get to it."
Murray and I spent many long days pricing out multi-million-dollar contracts
together. I think I learned very quickly how it was done and what the penalties
might be for a serious mistake. Sometimes we continued our work long after the
closing hours of the Defense Center, and finally went over to Murray's home
after eight o'clock in the evening for a cocktail and supper. Those were
memorable days. A number of other people 'took pity' on the 'lone man' and
invited me to various functions where I learned about Maryland crabs and other
delicacies of the region.
Finally, the day came when I was released to go to Germany to re-join my family.
It was a happy day indeed. My official Westinghouse title at that time was
"Senior Engineer." I was working partly for the Westinghouse
International Company in New York and partly for the Baltimore Defense Center.
No none apparently felt any urgency to tell me which of the two was predominant,
and no one felt any urgency to volunteer the funds for me to establish an
office. The result was that I bought a typewriter and established an office in
the den of my four bedroom house in Bad Godesburg. I rather thoroughly explored
the German market for Westinghouse electronic defense products. I also traveled
quite a lot to explore this same subject in other European countries. I wrote
many self-typewritten reports back to my two "bosses" in New York and
Baltimore. Those were frustrating times, to say the least. Sometimes, I would
let my frustration pour onto the typewritten page, but, fortunately, I usually
showed what I had written to Gerda and more often than not, she would say,
"Cool it a bit, Roy. You will accomplish nothing by irritating everyone on
the other end." I often wonder where I would be today without her always
sound advice.
One day, several months after my "initiation" into the international
realm of Westinghouse, I received a message from Pittsburgh, our corporate
headquarters, saying that a delegation of Westinghouse executives would be
coming to Bonn, Germany on a specific date with the mission of evaluating
defense business in Europe. Nothing could have pleased me more. I learned that
the delegation would be headed by a fellow named Charlie Weaver, a Senior
Executive Vice President of Westinghouse from Pittsburgh; Pete Schmidt, Senior
Vice President of the Westinghouse International Company in New York; Ralph
Douglass, President of the Westinghouse International Company (S.A.) in Geneva,
Switzerland; and Mr. Brown, President of the Westinghouse Baltimore Defense
Center. It didn't take a lot of thought or analysis on my part to come to the
conclusion that this was a high-powered Westinghouse group and that if I had a
'story' to tell, this would be the time to tell it. Actually, it wasn't too
difficult a story to tell. I knew, and all the visitors knew, that Westinghouse
had absolutely no share whatsoever in the defense business in Western Europe.
So, what did I do? I reverted to my old military experience and particularly to
my experience in the various military schools and colleges - the Infantry School
at Fort Benning, Georgia, the Command and General Staff college at Fort
Leavenworth, Kansas, and the National War College in Washington, D.C. I outlined
the sales problem in all its aspects for all of Europe and the Middle East. I
outlined the potential solutions, insofar as Westinghouse was concerned, and I
gave my conclusions as to what the solution should be. I hired a professional
printer to make my "flip-charts," and I reserved the best conference
room in the hotel where all the guests would be staying. When it came time to
make my presentation, I sensed immediately that it was well received.
There was, and still is, a famous old residence in Bad Godesburg called "La
Redout." It had long ago been taken over by the city, or perhaps by a group
of influential citizens - I'm not sure which - and designated as a place of
historic interest. Its various magnificent rooms had been converted into dining
and banquet halls for the use of public and private groups who could rent them
for special occasions. There was, of course, a highly trained complement of
chefs, waiters, etc., to meet all the requirements of those who rented the
facilities for all occasions from informal luncheons to formal banquets.
It was in the largest of the dining rooms where Ludwig von Beethoven used to
give Sunday afternoon concerts for the local citizens. It was appropriately
named the Beethoven Room. I decided to have a luncheon in the Beethoven Room for
the Westinghouse group and other invited guests, numbering about 20 people in
all. I first went to my old boss from SHAPE in Paris, four-star General Foertsch,
who was at that time what the Germans called Inspector General of the Armed
Forces - the highest ranking military man in Germany and roughly the equivalent
of the U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I asked him to be my guest at
the luncheon, but unfortunately, he had another engagement on that particular
day. He did, however, agree to ask the Chief of the German Air Force to attend,
which he did. This was quite appropriate as far as I was concerned, because the
majority of our Westinghouse potential defense business in Germany would be with
the German Air Force. I then asked the American Ambassador to attend. He too,
had other commitments, but he asked his number two man and another key embassy
personnel to fill in for him. It was a most magnificent luncheon. The table for
20 seemed tiny in the middle of the Beethoven Hall. There were at least six
waiters, all in colorful uniforms. The food, wine and service, were all of the
vary highest quality (Gerda had seen to that). To top it off, toward the end of
the luncheon, the six waiters entered the hall, each close behind the other in
what is militarily called 'lock-step', and each holding high a tray of flaming
dessert. Two or three short speeches were made by both Americans and Germans and
all in all, it was a most colorful and satisfying occasion for all concerned.
Just before leaving for the United States, the Westinghouse group all came over
to our house to thank Gerda for all of her efforts on their behalf. While there,
Charlie Weaver directed me to get an appropriate office and secretarial service
in Bonn as soon as possible. A few day later, I received a message directing me
to fly back to the United States, which I did and where I was informed that a
new Westinghouse subsidiary had been formed called Westinghouse International
Defense and Space Corporation (WIDASCO), of which I would be Vice President.
I should perhaps mention that at the time I settled in Germany, Westinghouse had
an international network of offices and sales representatives covering all
Westinghouse products except defense products. Its headquarters was in New York
and it had set up a subsidiary in Geneva, Switzerland, known as Westinghouse
International, S.A. (Societe Anonyme) with a fellow named Ralph Douglass as its
president. I haven't any rational explanation as to why defense products, e.g.,
radars of all types, sonars, etc., were not somehow included in the
international marketing strategy of Westinghouse. Certainly, defense products
were highly marketable internationally, and other U.S. companies, such as
Hughes, for example, had always recognized this fact. Perhaps one of the reasons
was that the highly sophisticated international 'clique' in New York had only a
vague idea of what would be required to market international defense products
internationally. Their international offices were manned, and in many cases,
headed by citizens of countries other than the United States. I doubt that it
ever occurred to them, until I came on the scene, that most U.S. defense
products are classified U.S. Confidential, Secret or higher, and that non-U.S.
citizens cannot get a security clearance to obtain detailed knowledge of such
products, and could therefore not be expected to market them effectively. This
seems now to be so apparent and self-evident that one wonders how a great
company could have overlooked it. I had many a 'go-round' during my first few
months in Germany with my 'confreres' in New York before the matter was finally
settled. Perhaps I should not use the term 'confreres', because they were, in
military terms, the 'high-paid brass' and I was the 'new recruit.'
Once WIDASCO was established, the "tug-of-war" between the New York
and Baltimore headquarters ceased to exist. I had only one person to whom I was
directly responsible, a highly competent and personable young (45) fellow named
Bill Hulse, who was the President of WIDASCO. I set about the task of
establishing a marketing organization in my central and southern European
countries with a vengeance. In many ways, it was a pleasant task, and in some
ways it was even humorous. When I initially arrived in each country, it seemed
that the word got around very quickly that I was there to find a Special Sales
Representative (SSR) for Westinghouse Defense Products, and my hotel telephone
rang almost continuously, day and night with calls from "volunteers"
who felt that they would be just right for the job. I didn't blame them for
trying because SSRs for some of the major corporations in the world at that
time, could make a bundle of money if they had the necessary know-how and
political influence to bring multi-million dollar sales contracts to their
sponsoring corporations.
It was strictly a matter of judgment on my part as to who should be selected in
each country for the job. In some countries I chose retired generals; in others
I chose active and influential business leaders; in still others, a combination
of business leaders and people with political 'clout.' Luckily for me, I made
almost no gross mistakes. It was an exercise in judging human character, and I
have to believe that my particular military background and experience had
somehow played a role in suiting me to this task.
I think it would be boring for me to go into all the details of what happened
during the ensuing years after the SSR network was established, so I will just
try to capsulize it.
During the first two years, there were almost no sales. I wondered how long I
could last in the situation where I was producing no income for the people who
had hired me. It was shortly after these first two years when I became aware
that Iran was what one might call 'virgin territory' for U.S. companies in the
defense business. None of our major competitors had established a firm base
there at that time. I somehow sensed that if I were to be authorized to set up a
base there, I had better approach the matter at a relatively high level. So, for
the next year or so, every time I went to our defense headquarters in Baltimore,
I knocked on Nick Petrou's door. Nick was the President of the Defense Center -
a level or two above my boss. I asked Nick to give me a free hand to go to Iran
and establish Westinghouse in that country's defense business. As Nick now tells
it, he got so tired of listening to me that he finally, out of exasperation,
said, "go ahead." Fortunately for me, Bill Hulse did not seem to
resent the fact that I had "circumvented the normal channels of
communication," as we say in the military. Instead, he gave me his full
support in establishing a Westinghouse sales organization in Iran. As a matter
of fact, Bill Hulse, quite a few years younger than I, and not having had quite
the same broad international educational background experience that I had been
fortunate enough to have had, was one of the most competent and understanding
persons for whom I have ever been privileged to work.
Gerda and I were on vacation in Jamaica when I received a telegram from Bill
Hulse that a fellow named Bob Froude was enroute to Jamaica for me to interview
regarding his possible assignment to Iran. The interview took place over a two
or three day period, alternating between a fishing vessel and the local golf
course at Ocho Rios. I might mention that Bob Froude had not only been captain
of the 1942 Navy football team; he was also, as I recall, a 5-handicap golfer.
Bob was hired and went to work in Teheran shortly thereafter as a Vice President
of WIDASCO, reporting to me in Bonn.
Bob's initial office space was only a half floor of a downtown office building
in Teheran. Business grew very rapidly and I soon arranged to move him and his
staff into another office building where they occupied two floors. Finally, the
business expanded at such a rate that it was virtually impossible for me to
oversee all activities from my headquarters in Bonn, no matter how frequently I
visited Iran. Westinghouse decided at that point to establish a subsidiary
company in Iran with an exceptionally capable fellow from Baltimore, George
Beck, as its President. At this time, there were many Westinghouse people in
Iran overseeing and participating in marketing activities, maintenance
facilities, manufacturing facilities, etc. The total Westinghouse 'family' in
Iran had grown to about 400 families, spread between Teheran, Isfahan, and
Shiraz. Bob Froude remained on as a senior executive in the new corporation.
But, to go back in time a bit, my first task in Iran had been to choose a
suitable SSR. It was not an easy task. I had literally dozens of applicants. I
finally made a choice, and it proved over the years to have been about the best
choice I could have made. His name was Mr. Zanganeh. He was the President of a
company called "Air Taxi." Air Taxi consisted of quite number of
twin-engine planes which not only carried people all over Iran, but also
delivered the mail to a number of cities in Iran. But, perhaps more important,
Mr. Zanganeh and his family were very close to the Shah's family, particularly
the Shah's brother-in-law, with whom he played tennis on a regular basis. The
Shah's Brother-in-law, incidentally, was also the Chief of the Iranian Air
Force.
Mr. Zanganeh was himself a pilot, and frequently flew me to various meetings in
and around the City of Teheran. On various occasions he arranged for a
comfortable plane with pilot and co-pilot to fly me and Gerda, Tom Murrin
(President of Westinghouse), Nick Petrou (executive Vice President of
Westinghouse) and his wife, Cathy, and Bill Hulse to various destinations in
Iran, particularly Isfahan and Shiraz.
Once again, to revert back to my first visit to Teheran after having been given
the 'go-ahead,' I met a young man named Steve Jungers and his lovely wife,
Linda. Steve was the sole Westinghouse representative for defense products
services in Iran. As I mentioned earlier, Westinghouse didn't have many defense
products in Iran at that time and one technical representative was all that was
necessary to oversee their operation and maintenance. I think Steve was then
about 25 years old. I was invited to his home one evening where I noted, first
of all, that he and his wife were extraordinarily gracious hosts, and that they
had made many Iranian friends. But what impressed me more than almost anything
else was that Steve, in his relatively short time in Iran, had learned to speak
the language (farsi) fluently. I made a mental note of all this and a couple of
years later when a vacancy occurred in my Bonn office, I asked that he be given
the assignment. I was relatively sure that the people he had been working for
had not discovered his talents. My request was granted and Steve came to Bonn to
work for me. When Steve first came to work, he had some habits of dress that
were perhaps completely acceptable on the American scene, but not very
acceptable to the German community with which we had to deal on a daily basis. I
won't go into detail, but after just a hint from me, Steve came to the office
each day with a conservative coat and necktie and no argyle socks. Steve stayed
with me for a couple of years, during which time his previous employers in
Baltimore began to recognize his talents, and offered him some opportunities
which I advised him to accept. Steve did not disappoint anyone. He slowly
"climbed the ladder" so to speak, in Baltimore.
During the ensuing years in Bonn, I was very fortunate to have some very capable
people working for me in the Bonn office, particularly Captain Jim Bradley, a
1944 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. He eventually took over from me when I
retired. I was also exceptionally fortunate to have chosen the best possible
Special Sales Representatives (SSRs) throughout the nine countries of Europe and
the Middle East for which I was responsible.
When I retired from Westinghouse in 1975, I accepted an offer to be "Senior
Consultant to the President (Tom Murrin) for an indefinite period and for a
specific purpose. Tom Murrin was then one of the three or four Presidents of the
Westinghouse Electric Corporation and in 1986, became the Senior President of
Westinghouse. The principal reason for employing me as a consultant was to see
what I could do to establish the Westinghouse defense business in Saudi Arabia,
somewhat as I had done in Iran. I had a number of the best contacts in Saudi
Arabia at that time, so it seemed like a mutually beneficial arrangement between
me and Westinghouse.
After several visits to Saudi Arabia and two or three detailed reports as to how
we might best enter that defense products market, I made some specific
recommendations as to who, within the Westinghouse defense organization, might
best be qualified to take on the job of heading up the organization. Quite
naturally, my first choice was George Beck who had taken over the Iranian job so
successfully. My second choice, however, was Steve Jungers. He got the job.
Naturally, he learned to speak Arabic, just as she had learned to speak Farsi.
He performed the job so well that, after a few years (1981), Lockheed offered
him the position of general manager of all their activities in Saudi Arabia,
which today (1986) encompasses some 1,500 to 2,000 employees, together with a
salary which he couldn't turn down. I still predict that he will one day be at
or near the top of one of our major corporations. (Incidentally, Murrin several
years later became Under Secretary of Commerce in the Washington, D.C.
bureaucracy.)
I wasn't ever exactly sure how much business we had all brought to Westinghouse
during those years until fairly recently when Nick and Cathy Petrou visited us
here in San Diego. Nick had been Executive Vice President of Westinghouse during
those same years. During dinner one evening, Nick asked me if I knew how much
business I had been credited with bringing to Westinghouse during the years when
I represented Westinghouse for defense products in Central and Southern Europe
and the Middle East. I replied that I knew it was a fairly high figure, but I
didn't really know how high. Nick then explained that, after I retired, he
became curious as to what the figure was - the "figure" being gross
sales credited to my initiatives in the countries for which I was responsible.
In other words, as he explained, he was referring to sales which most probably
would not have been made had I not been there. He said they played it through
the computer network and came up with a figure of 1.82 billion dollars. To me,
this was one of the most satisfying and gratifying statements I could have
imagined concerning a major portion of my life's work. It must be understood, of
course, that the gross sales figure of $1.82 billion was the result of a large
team effort, of which I was only a part; but Nick's point was that there was a
good possibility that without my initiatives (and there had not been many
initiatives before I came on the scene), these rather substantial sales might
never have been made.
That about wraps up my "productive" years with the U.S. Army and
Westinghouse. Since retiring to this lovely small city of Coronado in Southern
California, I have had plenty of time to more or less sit back and contemplate
what has happened to the world in which I have lived for quite a number of
years, what is happening at this particular time, and what might possibly happen
in the future.