Page 126 - MY STORY

When I answered in the affirmative he said, “All you’re

worried about is winning a mere $75,000 contract from
Howard Z’s organization, and that I might have screwed
that up for you?” When I pointed out that this was indeed

my worry, his next words were, “Stop worrying about it –
we’ll take care of it.” This from a person that had no
concept of the rules of DoD competitive procurement

practices (as I understood them). He left my office, while
a big black cloud was hanging over my head.

Scene 7 – Two days after Sid’s last visit
At my desk at Douglas Aircraft Co., the phone rang. It

was our Douglas Aircraft Company contracting officer
notifying me that we had won the Electron Fractography
Handbook contract for $100,000, $25,000 over our bid
price. It turned out the USAF contract

Statement-of-Work had an additional clause inserted in it
that added $25,000 to our bid price that was to be used,

exclusively, to support failure analysis investigations for
the AIG office at Norton AFB. My being amazed by this
incredible turn of events is a gross understatement.

Howard Z’s office at WPAFB became friendly overnight
and stayed that way for many years.