MAJOR PHILIP ROMANELLI

Major Philip Romanelli: I'm Phillip Romanelli; I currently acting as the Chief of Staff for the office of Risk Management and Analysis within the Department of Homeland Security. I'm also a Major in the Army Reserve.

One of the things I love about Washington D.C. is that in some ways it feels like every things happening here. This is the place that the eyes of the world turn to a lot. It's a place where important decisions are made. It's an interesting place to be if you're in the Army. It's an interesting place to be just as a civilian because there some much to do.

Recently I had the opportunity to row on the Anacostia River, here in the Washington D.C. area, and that was fantastic, it was great being back on the water.

One of the nice things about rowing is that it makes the importance of teamwork absolutely clear. When everybody's in tune, when everybody's working together, the boat glides on the water like a hovercraft. So it really points up the importance of teamwork. And that's something I think goes back to experiences I had in Army ROTC and my experiences in the Army Reserve. Which is that when everybody works together there's nothing you can't do.