If you started a new job with a retired 0-6 as your regional manager, how would you handle being embarrassed in front of them?

First and foremost, forget the military ranks. That was in another life and in another time. Put it out of your head entirely. I know it's tough but you have to change mental gears to fit your new reality.

Now focus on your corporate management structure. What influence and management authority does the Regional Manager have over your position. Is he your direct report, two tiers up, lateral, etc? If he is not in your direct reporting chain then forget him. Focus on those individuals who do impact your position. Have you met with your direct report manager to discuss the audit? Use the audit to your advantage to justify the training you need and to leverage your manager's support for getting you that training. If your direct report is the Regional Manager then he has no ground to stand on, other than to get you the training you need (as he is the one who highlighted the problem).

Document your meeting with a professional and polite follow up email that recaps your conversation and discussion and reiterates the audit stating that you needed Training X-Y-Z. Turn the audit to your advantage and get the training and support you need.

Remember, he was a Colonel. You were a Sergeant. Now you are both corporate cogs. Just make sure you understand how the gears in your corporation turn, and which other cogs you come into contact with to make the corporate machine work.

Best of luck and good hunting!!

Not really enough information here to provide a detailed answer. In the private sector, the retired or reserve rank of a person is not relevant. You need to put your rank on the shelf with your other memorabilia from your time in the Marine Corps. I hope the colonel has done likewise.

You now need to focus in your private sector job. Analyze the situation (failed audit) and take action to correct the problem (get trained). A good auditor will provide comments on how to fix each problem they discover. Review these recommendations and develop a plan to implement them in your work area. Discuss with your supervisor. If your supervisor isn't the colonel in question, then let your supervisor deal with the corporate higher-ups. If the supervisor is the colonel, he should be glad you're taking the whole audit thing seriously and proposed solutions.

Another thing in the private sector is profit motive. I'm guessing you aren't responsible for profit/loss yet. The retried colonel might be. Be sure your plan to correct audit deficiencies keeps customer relations in mind and helps control costs.

Taking positive steps to correct the problem is more likely than any other course to keep you employed and help the company in the long run.

It's hard to give advice without the details of your situation, and what getting thrown under the bus actually means in your situation, how long you are in the job, what your job is, etc. but in a general sense, it sounds sort of like the situation when an officer takes command of a company, and a week later gets an IG inspection. While the new commander takes the hit, everyone realizes that he could do little to affect the results.

But it does give him a great opportunity to develop a plan to fix the deficiencies and look like a superstar later. So if your position was responsible for poor audit results, own it. Don't make excuses, just come up with a great plan to fix things. Keep your discussions focused not on what went wrong, but rather how they will get better. And if that plan needs to include additional training for you, put that in the plan. But don't stress the point that you weren't properly trained for your position. Because that could come across as why did we hire an unqualified person for this position. So absorb the hit without a bunch of "yeah, but..., excuses. Just fix the problems.