The name Marriott is an icon in the hotel business, but the company's current CEO—and son of the founder—got his start in the Navy, as officer-in-charge of the ship's geedunk. Here's what then-Lieutenant (junior grade) Bill Marriott learned from two years on active duty.
The Korean War had just begun when I entered the University of Utah in the fall of 1950. With the draft, military service was all but inevitable. Growing up so close to Annapolis, I'd acquired an attachment to the Navy, so I signed up for NROTC.
When I was commissioned in 1954, I opted for the Supply Corps. My father, J. Willard Marriott, was rapidly expanding our Hot Shoppes restaurant chain and was about to branch into the motel business. I figured that becoming a supply officer would give me something to build on. It certainly did.
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