Photo By Cpl. Jennifer E. Reyes | Lawrence Romua, the lead defense travel administrator for Headquarters and...... read more read more
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Lawrence Romua, the Lead Defense Travel Administrator (LDTA) for Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) New River in Jacksonville, North Carolina, was recently awarded the Defense Travel Management Office Excellence in Practice Champion Award for his outstanding mentorship and instruction to his unit.
Romua, originally from the Philippine Islands, moved to California when he was only seven years old. There, he had many options to choose from when it came to what he wanted to do for fun. He reminisces living in the moment; spending time snowboarding, enjoying bonfires, visiting the zoo and when he was old enough, crossing the border to Tijuana, Mexico.
During his childhood, Romua recalled not really planning ahead into his future, even as he approached the end of his high school years. Although he enjoyed high school sports, even participating in his school’s wrestling and track teams, he began to feel burnt out as a student by his senior year.
“When the recruiter came around, I wasn’t even going to join,” the 22-year U.S. Marine Corps veteran confidently stated. “Closer to my senior year, it was like, I don’t want to sit in a classroom for four more years.”
Although Romua’s surrounding peers expected him to continue building upon his advanced placement classes into college, he went on to join the Marine Corps in October of 2000, leaving behind his life as an excelling, yet tired student, and his humble job as a busboy and waiter at a local Thai restaurant.
At the beginning of his Marine Corps career, the young Marine experienced an abundance of cross training. Two formerly split Marine Occupational Specialties (MOS), pay section and travel section, merged into one, ultimately creating ‘Disbursing’. He began as a member of the pay section, but following a deployment with a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), he asked his leadership to give him the opportunity to gain experience in the travel section, where he would remain for the duration of his first enlistment.
“Throughout 2000 to 2020 [my job] was always good because every time it got kind of monotonous, a deployment was always there,” Romua, who deployed to Fallujah, Ramadi, Romania, and Bulgaria among other locations, remembered fondly.
Today, Romua attributes his decision to make the Marine Corps a career to his mentors along the way who inspired him to see the rest of what the Marine Corps could offer. One of these mentors was retired U.S. Marine Corps Master Sgt. Josue Garcia.
“[He] pinned me on from private to private first class to lance corporal to corporal and the only reason I couldn’t have him pin me on to sergeant was because he was in Iraq,” recounted Romua, remembering how at the time he had just returned from Iraq himself.
At the time, Gunnery Sgt. Garcia mentored Romua during his first deployment where they visited many different countries and experienced the way other cultures lived. During this deployment Romua and Garcia even witnessed the bombing of Baghdad in 2003 from their ship. Despite all of these unique experiences, Romua still remained eager to know what his mentor was talking about when he spoke of the extensive opportunities the Marine Corps offered beyond the ship life and the garrison life in Camp Lejeune. His curiosity extended to become over 20 eventful years of military service.
Romua’s military journey concluded at Camp Lejeune, where he chose to maintain his ties with the Marine Corps after being offered a civilian position within the disbursing office for II Marine Expeditionary Force, assuming the role of an internal control auditor. In this position, Romua diligently verified payroll accuracy and compliance with regulations.
After some time in this familiar role, Romua’s current supervisors contacted him following the departure of his predecessor from the position he currently occupies.
In his current role as a LDTA, Romua begins his day by sorting through 50-100 emails identifying Marines in the area with debt and verifying its accuracy. Additionally, he supervises spending for 5,000 travelers, ensuring that their travel profiles are complete and up to date. Romua also serves as a tier two help desk, acting as a liaison between Organizational Defense Travel Administrators (ODTA) who may not have all the answers to a question.
“There’s a lot of good information out there, but it's difficult to find,” stated Romua, in regard to information about his job. “I shoot out as many emails as I can, and I try to do as many training classes as I can.”
For this seasoned veteran, knowledge isn’t just valuable, it’s the foundation of his job. As a subject matter expert in his field, he is able to identify urgent and common trends, developing readily available classes and handouts for both experienced and new ODTAs. These classes include monthly training sessions, debt management monitor training classes, and a variety of other valuable resources led by Romua.
“A lot of my classes have to do with the role keepers of the Defense Travel System, the routers,” Romua stated. “[The processes] still have to go through reviewers, certifiers, and approvers.”
Romua went on to outline the target audience for the remainder of his classes, emphasizing the importance ODTAs handling the “unseen things” that pave the way for higher authorities to be able to give the final stamp of approval. He analogized the concept by comparing it to Michael Jordan and his basketball career.
“Michael Jordan is arguably the best basketball player in the NBA,” argued Romua. “But how many championships has he ever won without Scottie Pippen? It’s actually none. So, [the ODTAs] are the Scottie Pippens, they’re the ones that create the space and give him the time to take care of what he needs to do. Can he [accomplish] by himself? Absolutely. But to win championships, to be truly successful, you’re going to need that Scottie Pippens- the ODTAs- to do the things that maybe not everybody really truly understands.”
Romua’s exceptional ability to articulate and emphasize the vital roles that each individual plays in the bigger picture are in part what made him stand out and qualify for the prestigious Champion Award. Moreover, his extraordinary ability to assist an unusually wide range of personnel in need, including squadrons deployed to MEUs aboard Naval Vessels, added to his remarkable accomplishments.
“Mr. Romua’s level of experience and passion to assist DTAs and travelers is bar none,” praised U.S. Marine Corps Capt. David Alonso, comptroller, MCAS New River. “His level of work ethic is truly rare in the demanding and complex world of DTS that tends to yield a lot of traveler debt.”
Alonso, one of his supervisors, further elaborated on Romua’s passionate approach to his work by stating how he has never seen someone enjoy the complexities as a challenge to learn and grow in his two decades of working with DTS “with the ultimate goal of ensuring ODTAs and travelers are properly supported.”
So, what is the significance of receiving this award? For Romua, it is humbly continuing to do your job to the best of your ability, ensuring that you value every situation with the utmost priority. This award served to highlight a valuable member of a bigger purpose and sets the example for leaders all across the Department of Defense. Oftentimes, roles such as the one Romua takes on can easily be overlooked, but once you come to understand the importance of his contributions, you can see the power and influence one individual can have.
| Date Taken: | 02.13.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 03.05.2024 10:47 |
| Story ID: | 465363 |
| Location: | JACKSONVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 37 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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