Lizzie Martinez

Senior reporter

Associate Professor of Economics Eric Schuck was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal for his exceptional service during the 2008 Rim of the Pacific Exercise in July.
The United States Navy does not blithely hand out medals. Prestigious honors are reserved for excellent work.
“It’s kind of a big deal,” Schuck said. “I like to joke I’m the world’s most heavily armed caterer.”
Schuck, a lieutenant in the Naval Reserves, was recognized for the non-combat staff work he did as supply officer for Maritime Expeditionary Security Squadron Nine, which included coordinating food, fuel, vehicles and ammunition for 300 to 500 people.
The Expeditionary Security Squadron was one of many fleets that participated in the 2008 Rim of the Pacific, or Rimpac, exercise. Schuck joined 20,000 other men and women from 10 different nations for the world’s largest multinational fleet exercise. Conducted every other year, it simulates a war. This year, the exercise was held in Hawaii.
As the supply officer, Schuck coordinated the logistics for the exercise. He describes himself as a “twisted wedding planner” because of the extremely detail-oriented focus of his work. He has been planning for the month-long simulation since last November.
“It’s not sexy,” Schuck said of the work he does. “I’m not the guy on the boat or the guy at the pointy end of the spear. I’m the guy making sure the guy at the pointy end of the spear has everything he needs.”
To provide for all the forces, Schuck has to anticipate how much fuel is needed and when and where it is needed as well as how to transport it, taking into account the different types of fuel required for different vehicles. He had to find places to store ammunition and ensure all the food arrived in Hawaii.
“If I have a good day, no one knows,” Schuck said. “If I have a bad day, everybody notices.”
For that reason, Schuck said the position of supply officer is often known as a “career killer” because mistakes can be costly in the military.
“There are so many jobs that need to get done and will only get done if people step up for the good of everybody,” Schuck said.
The examples set by his parents and grandfather, all of who served as naval officers, inspired Schuck to join the Naval Reserves six years ago. Because of his civilian education, he was able to enter as an officer rather than going through training and boot camp. He spent two years taking classes in logistics training to learn how to work as a supply officer. He said he was commissioned as an officer five years and seven months ago.
Though Schuck didn’t choose his position as supply officer, he said he enjoys the people he works with and seeing a different part of society. He also enjoys knowing the immediate success, or failure, of a venture.
“In teaching, it takes three to four years to tell if you did a good job,” Schuck said.
When he isn’t busy teaching economics to Linfield students, Schuck works at night on Naval Reserve work, such as financial reporting, inventory control and budget analysis. As an officer, he has the same duties of an active-duty supply officer, even though he is in the Reserves.
The lessons he learns from the Navy transfer well to the classroom, Schuck said. Economics is all about the allocation of resources in the event of scarcity. For the military, this means sending resources where they will make the most difference, whether in time or lives saved, or success of a mission.
Schuck’s commitment to the Navy stems from his grandfather’s example of stepping up to take care of jobs that needed to be done.
“When I was growing up, my grandfather always said, ‘Somebody’s got to do it, might as well be you’,” Schuck said.