Photo By Amanda Neumann | (From left) Army Lt. Col. Courtney Abraham, deputy Army national account manager in...... read more read more
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FORT BELVOIR, Va. - The Defense Logistics Agency hosted two Army logisticians for the month of August as part of a pilot program that rotates interns through four 30-day assignments at key logistics organizations and locations in the government.
The Strategic Logistician Internship Program is sponsored by the Army’s Human Resources Command and the Combined Arms Support Command at Fort Lee, Virginia. Assignment locations include DLA, the Army Force Management School at Fort Belvoir, Virginia; the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army for Logistics at the Pentagon; and the Army Materiel Command headquarters at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama.
The main goal is to allow participants to shadow senior leaders and personnel at each site to gain exposure to each agency’s missions, functions and roles in logistics, said Army Lt. Col. Courtney Abraham, deputy Army national account manager in DLA Logistics Operations.
“From DLA’s perspective, we want to expose them to the strategic-level activities that we’re doing,” he said. “Out in the Army, many don’t understand who DLA is, what DLA can do for them, and how to interact with our agency. This opportunity lends a great advantage to the personnel selected for the program as well as for their parent command during their utilization assignment. So although it is a short 30-day window, there are numerous takeaways that they can use out in the field to become a positive asset for the organization.”
Army logistician Capt. Jim Grube said a critical part of the pilot for him is the exposure to leader development.
“It’s a great opportunity to begin to learn the strategic level of logistics,” he said. “What we hope to get out of these internship months is exposure to the organization, understanding of the organization, and seeing some of the operations within the organization. There are also some unique opportunities to be involved with current activities or current problem sets that they have that we could be a part of.”
He said he values the opportunity to be part of a logistics team, especially at DLA.
“As DLA supports the warfighter, what we learn here is exactly how all that is interconnected,” he said. “You can’t teach what we’re learning here. This is learning through experience. Coming around and seeing the kind of activities and meetings that happen here really helps you experience and understand who DLA is supporting and what DLA does. So whether or not we come back to DLA, that connection has been made.”
Seeing the logistics process from end to end has been another important focus of the assignment at DLA, said Army Chief Warrant Officer 5 David Cassity.
“This is a great opportunity for captains and warrant officers, because you can’t get this exposure in an infantry division or in an air defense battalion,” he said. “We’re the recipients of what this building here does when we get a box full of items. Now we’re seeing on the top end how that box gets there. If you look at the [Strategic Logistician Internship Program] and the entities that we visit, this is where all the logistics in the Army occurs. And it all starts here, so it’s quite amazing to see it come full circle.”
At the end of the internship program, candidates will share their experience and evaluate the hosts to better shape the program for future participants, Grube said.
DLA plans to host two more interns in October as part of a second wave of participants in the pilot program.
| Date Taken: | 09.05.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 09.11.2014 14:37 |
| Story ID: | 141828 |
| Location: | FORT BELVOIR, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 64 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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