# DLA director’s career mirrors growing opportunities for women

/ Published March 20, 2023
FORT BELVOIR, Va., 
Navy Vice Adm. Michelle Skubic dodges the limelight as much at 61 as she did at 4.

“My favorite topic is not me. It never will be,” she said, confiding that she’s still the same shy girl whose first teacher pressed her to break free from her quiet shell.

                Jordan Gillis, assistant secretary of defense for sustainment, middle, passes responsibility of the Defense Logistics Agency from DLA Vice Director Mike Scott, left, to Navy Vice Adm. Michelle Skubic, right, during an assumption of command ceremony at the McNamara Headquarters Complex on Fort Belvoir, Virginia, July 24, 2020. Photo by Teodora Mocanu                            200724-D-HP966-053.JPG                            Jordan Gillis, assistant secretary of defense for sustainment, middle, passes responsibility of the Defense Logistics Agency from DLA Vice Director Mike Scott, left, to Navy Vice Adm. Michelle Skubic, right, during an assumption of command ceremony at the McNamara Headquarters Complex on Fort Belvoir, Virginia, July 24, 2020. Photo by Teodora Mocanu            SHARE IMAGE:Download ImageImage DetailsPhoto By: Teodora MocanuVIRIN: 200724-D-HP966-053Despite a desire to move past the “distraction” of being the first woman in any military role, Skubic’s career has put her in places that summon attention, from a ship that sailed into war before women were allowed to serve in combat to a military plane where she was the only woman 30,000 feet in the clouds – and in labor.

Now nearing the end of her time as the Defense Logistics Agency’s first female director, Skubic downplays the history she’s made.

“It’s great to break the glass ceiling, but I’m only the agency’s 20th director, not the 200th.”

It couldn’t have happened 30 years ago, she continued, because it takes time to build the experience and resume needed for such a critical position, and career-enhancing opportunities haven’t always been available to women in the military.

## Male-dominated environment

                Then-Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime Commander Navy Rear Adm. Michelle Skubic discusses the results of blunt force impact testing for helmets with DLA lab technician Sally Schuster during a visit to Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, May 1, 2018. Photo by Charles Morris                            180501-D-YE683-025A                            Then-Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime Commander Navy Rear Adm. Michelle Skubic discusses the results of blunt force impact testing for helmets with DLA lab technician Sally Schuster during a visit to Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, May 1, 2018. Photo by Charles Morris            SHARE IMAGE:Download ImageImage DetailsPhoto By: Charles MorrisVIRIN: 180501-D-YE683-025AThe California native was 27 when she joined the Navy, fearless at serving in a male-dominated environment after a decade of bouncing between jobs that included banking and managing a nightclub.

“I didn’t think of myself then as being a woman in a man’s world because I’d already been a teenager in a 30s- and 40s-something world,” she said. “I was already different.”

Her first assignment was aboard the USS Acadia, a destroyer tender that provided repair and maintenance to other vessels. It was among the service’s first integrated ships, and she was one of about 300 women on the 1,300-member crew. Women then were allowed to serve on oilers and other auxiliary ships. Submarines and combatant ships remained off-limits.

“But then the Acadia was the first ship to leave the West Coast for the Persian Gulf and Desert Shield, which evolved into Desert Storm,” she said. “You can’t say women can’t be in combat when they already are.”

                Then-Navy Lt. Cmdr. Michelle Skubic gets her gold oak leaves pinned on in 1998 while assigned to the USS McFaul. Courtesy photo                            230320-D-D0441-002                            Then-Navy Lt. Cmdr. Michelle Skubic gets her gold oak leaves pinned on in 1998 while assigned to the USS McFaul. Courtesy photo            SHARE IMAGE:Download ImageImage DetailsPhoto By: Courtesy PhotoVIRIN: 230320-D-D0441-002Congress repealed the Combat Exclusion Policy in 1993, allowing women to serve on combatant ships. By then, Skubic was one of two women on a supply inspection team that spent four-day stints aboard still-all-male aircraft carriers. Female bathrooms and sleeping quarters didn’t even exist.

“They were always creative in where they put us,” she said. “Sometimes they’d put us in the medical ward, or if the general officer wasn’t on board we’d get the flag quarters.”

The Navy used Skubic’s experience by putting her on the team that created policy for integrating women on aircraft carriers.

“Of course, I was the only woman at the table – there were about a dozen of us – and I was the only person who’d been on an integrated auxiliary ship,” she said.

One of her male counterparts questioned whether to put armed guards outside female quarters and bathrooms. Their intentions were good, Skubic said, but she was dumbfounded.

“I said, ‘Oh, my gosh. Do you put armed guards outside your bathroom at home because there’s a woman taking a shower in there? We’re each other’s shipmates, and you shouldn’t have to defend your shipmates against other shipmates.’”

## Awkward hours

                Defense Logistics Agency Director Navy Vice Adm. Michelle Skubic talks with employees about the benefits of voice pick technology at DLA Distribution Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, May 13, 2021. Photo by Dawn Bonsell, DLA Distribution Public Affairs                            210513-D-KL823-0001.JPG                            Defense Logistics Agency Director Navy Vice Adm. Michelle Skubic talks with employees about the benefits of voice pick technology at DLA Distribution Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, May 13, 2021. Photo by Dawn Bonsell, DLA Distribution Public Affairs            SHARE IMAGE:Download ImageImage DetailsPhoto By: Dawn BonsellVIRIN: 210513-D-KL823-0001In 1996, Skubic endured her most awkward hours as a woman in the military. Seven months pregnant with her second child, she was flying on military air from Sicily to Spain for a supply conference when she became nauseous. The sickness lingered, sending her on repeated bathroom runs, and eventually she asked her seatmate to move elsewhere so she could lie down.

“A few hours into the flight, it dawned on me that I was in labor,” she said.

She tapped the shoulder of her boss sitting in the seat in front of her to say she was having contractions. He suggested having an ambulance waiting at the flight line when the plane landed, but Skubic was too proud to walk off the plane into an emergency vehicle. They settled on a van driven by a duty officer.

“Looking around, I thought, ‘Am I the only woman on this plane? Who am I going to ask to deliver this baby if I have to?’ It wasn’t going to be my boss, and I couldn’t ask the maintenance officer, who I worked with every day,” she said. 

Skubic huffed and puffed her way to the end of the flight, then walked off first after an announcement from the pilot asking passengers to remain seated as she made her way off the plane. Doctors rehydrated her and stopped the contractions.

“The good news is that now there are more and more women in our military ranks and certainly in our civilian ranks,” she said. “I’m certain that the next Michelle Skubic who goes into labor at 30,000 feet won’t have to choose between which male counterpart to deliver her baby.”

##                 Defense Logistics Agency Director Navy Vice Adm. Michelle Skubic, right, enters the DLA Headquarters on Fort Belvoir, Virginia, Nov. 16, 2022, with Air Force Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, commander of U.S. Transportation Command and the military’s fifth female 4-star. Photo by Christopher Lynch                             221116-D-HE260-2002.JPG                            Defense Logistics Agency Director Navy Vice Adm. Michelle Skubic, right, enters the DLA Headquarters on Fort Belvoir, Virginia, Nov. 16, 2022, with Air Force Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, commander of U.S. Transportation Command and the military’s fifth female 4-star. Photo by Christopher Lynch             SHARE IMAGE:Download ImageImage DetailsPhoto By: Christopher LynchVIRIN: 221116-D-HE260-2002Better opportunities

Leaders gradually increased opportunities for women as Skubic continued serving. In 2010, women could begin serving on submarines. In 2013, they could serve in direct combat. And by 2015, women could have almost any job in the U.S. Armed Forces as long as they completed necessary training and met the requirements.

Skubic sees women’s progress in the military reflected even in uniform changes. Having achieved the right to fly planes, they’ve moved on to smaller issues: proper-fitting uniforms and relaxed hair standards. The Navy announced in December that women could finally wear colorless diamond or pearl stud earrings in addition to silver or gold balls. Skubic celebrated by ditching the gold ball studs she’s worn for 34 years.

“Let’s face it, the reason why things like uniform standards are changing is because women are serving on uniform boards,” she said. “Women now have influence, and the changes they’ve helped bring about make joining more appealing to younger women.”

                Navy Vice Adm. Michelle Skubic, center, director of the Defense Logistics Agency, presides over the DLA Land and Maritime Change of Command ceremony July 22, 2022, at the Defense Supply Center Columbus. Army Brig. Gen. Gail Atkins, right, assumed command from Navy Rear Adm. Kristen Fabry. Photo by Shannon Mormon                            220722-D-D0441-0374.JPG                            Navy Vice Adm. Michelle Skubic, center, director of the Defense Logistics Agency, presides over the DLA Land and Maritime Change of Command ceremony July 22, 2022, at the Defense Supply Center Columbus. Army Brig. Gen. Gail Atkins, right, assumed command from Navy Rear Adm. Kristen Fabry. Photo by Shannon Mormon            SHARE IMAGE:Download ImageImage DetailsPhoto By: Shannon Mormon/DSCCVIRIN: 220722-D-D0441-0374DLA is fresh proof to Skubic that women belong in the military and at the helm. In July 2022, she stood on stage at DLA Land and Maritime as Army Brig. Gen. Gail Atkins assumed command from Navy Rear Adm. Kristen Fabry.

“To be the one presiding over these two amazing female leaders, ingoing and outgoing, was such a cool moment,” she said.

## Secret to success

Those who Skubic mentors often ask for her secret to success. Rather than describe her personal formula of deliberate planning and willingness to seize opportunities, she advises others to paint their own picture of success that includes personal and family aspirations and to seek career coaches.

                Then-Navy Rear Adm. Michelle Skubic receives her second star in a promotion ceremony June 27, 2018, shortly before relinquishing command of Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime at the Defense Supply Center Columbus in Columbus, Ohio. Skubic's children Chantal and Jake replaced their mother's shoulder boards with her new two-star rank. Photo by Mike Rowland                            180627-D-RE244-0011A                            Then-Navy Rear Adm. Michelle Skubic receives her second star in a promotion ceremony June 27, 2018, shortly before relinquishing command of Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime at the Defense Supply Center Columbus in Columbus, Ohio. Skubic's children Chantal and Jake replaced their mother's shoulder boards with her new two-star rank. Photo by Mike Rowland            SHARE IMAGE:Download ImageImage DetailsPhoto By: Michael RowlandVIRIN: 180627-D-RE244-0011A“I’ve been the beneficiary of a lot of folks who’ve said, ‘You’ve got XYZ skills and experience; you’d be good for this next opportunity,” she said. “Matching talent with organizational needs and mission results in the perfect blend, and when an individual’s personal and professional preferences match that, it’s magic.”

                Then-Navy Capt. Michelle Skubic poses for a photo during her deployment to Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, where she served as commander of a Defense Logistics Support Team in May 2011. Courtesy photo                            230314-D-D0441-1001                            Then-Navy Capt. Michelle Skubic poses for a photo during her deployment to Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, where she served as commander of a Defense Logistics Support Team in May 2011. Courtesy photo            SHARE IMAGE:Download ImageImage DetailsPhoto By: CourtesyVIRIN: 230314-D-D0441-1001Skubic’s dream job, she admitted, is one that would’ve ended her trajectory to admiral: commander of the USS Constitution. Her dad, former Navy Cmdr. Thomas Coyne, served 20 years in the Navy and commanded Old Ironsides from 1972 to 1974 after his last tour in Vietnam. She said he was tickled by his daughter’s dream and supported her ambitions but also knew it wouldn’t fit the path of a Navy supply officer. He lived to see her pin on her first star but passed away just before she earned her second star and became the first female chief of the Naval Supply Corps.

Being the first female at anything has never been Skubic’s intent, she added. And she deflects attention to those she leads, the women – and men – who’re on the frontlines throughout DLA.

“I can give you examples of women across a multitude of pay grades who are just rock stars whether they’re in our warehouses, on the police force or in our senior executive service ranks. I’m delighted that it doesn’t matter what gender you are; if you’re at DLA, you’re part of a special team that does great, great work.”

Skubic served as commander of DLA Land and Maritime from June 2016 to June 2018 and director of supplier operations at DLA Aviation from August 2008 to August 2011. She also commanded a DLA Support Team in Kuwait that assisted warfighters deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.