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JACKSONVILLE - Susan Fallon isn't a corporate tycoon, but she knows what it's like to be in charge of a lot of money.
As leader of the Supply Department on the USS John F. Kennedy, which left Jacksonville June 7 for a six-month deployment, Cmdr. Fallon oversees a budget of hundreds of millions of dollars, including a $188 million annual payroll.
Her job is to support operational readiness and the ship's ability to perform critical missions, but she must do so with an eye on the resources available. "The budget doesn't dictate where we operate, but it does force us to prioritize," she said.
As the ship's budget officer, comparable in some respects to a company's chief financial officer, Fallon spends a lot of time advising the ship's commanding officer, Capt. Stephen Squires, on the status of the ship's allocated funds. Most of those meetings are routine,...