Photo By Teodora Mocanu | Army Brig. Gen. Susan Davidson (center), commander of DLA Distribution in New...... read more read more
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FORT BELVOIR, Va. - The Defense Logistics Agency’s chapter of the Logistics Officer Association has won an LOA national award for a medium chapter.
One of six national awards, the Mrs. Tune Chapter of the Year Award recognizes a medium-sized chapter that supports LOA’s national goals and objectives, has innovative programs that supports the members and provides support to the local community. All chapters nominated for this award must contain between 31 to 70 members.
The award was announced during Air Force Virtual Logistics Day Oct. 17. The live-feed event, hosted from the Pentagon, was viewed by more than 2,000 participants at more than 1,200 sites. This is the first award in this category for the DLA chapter, known as the Mount Vernon chapter, said Air Force Lt. Col. Scott Hopper, Mount Vernon LOA chapter president and deputy Air Force national account manager at DLA.
“Our chapter was dormant for years,” he said. “In 2009, we stood it back up, and it’s the first time we’ve won this award. There’s over 80 chapters [in the LOA] so it’s a pretty big deal.”
Unlike other LOA chapters, which are located solely on Air Force bases, DLA’s chapter features logisticians from all military branches, Hopper said.
“The LOA is an Air Force-centered organization to develop great logisticians, foster innovation and make us world-class professional logisticians,” he said. “Here at DLA, we have more opportunities to develop premier logisticians because I get to stand next to my Army, Navy and Marine Corps brethren and hear how they do business. So to us, the LOA is a diverse, joint organization. The best learning comes from working with DLA’s incredible civilians. We have some brilliant people, our civilian DLA logisticians that have been doing this for 30-35 years, so to stand next to them and learn from them makes us smarter.”
Among the LOA’s most successful projects has been the implementation of the Distinguished Speaker Series, Hopper said.
“It’s not just an event for LOA members; it’s an event for DLA,” he said. “We’ve gotten several high-level speakers, including two former assistant secretaries of the Air Force, to come here and brief. We’ve also had a round of DLA leadership to include [DLA Director Navy Vice Adm. Mark Harnitchek]. We bring them into a room and in a relatively small forum, allow DLA constituents to have a give-and-take with these senior leaders on logistics, current policies, leadership and leadership development. There’s obviously a lot to be learned sitting with generals who have been around the block a couple of times.”
Hopper said support from DLA’s leaders led to the chapter winning the national award.
“The reason we won the award was because a long string of DLA generals have come into a room and spoken to us,” he said. “[This award] speaks of the effort and involvement of the DLA community that a chapter, within a matter of a few years, can start up from nothing and now be among the best in the nation. It speaks to the power of the members, those folks that support the organization and it also says a lot about DLA leadership. That support from DLA leaders has allowed this organization to flourish.”
The LOA is open to all active, reserve and retired officers, civilians (GS-9 and higher) and contractors who worked in logistics career fields or for military-related civilian organizations in the capacity of a professional logistics officer. The Mount Vernon chapter has 43 active members. Hopper said he encourages any logistician who is interested to join.
“October is our membership drive,” he said. “We’re constantly spreading the word to try to get more folks to join. Our goal is to grow 10 percent. We want people to know this is not just a LOA chapter; it’s a great LOA chapter that’s been recognized by the Air Force. You don’t have to be Air Force to join; anyone can be a part of this.”
More information on the LOA is available at: http://www.loanational.org/.
| Date Taken: | 11.07.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 11.14.2013 14:40 |
| Story ID: | 116748 |
| Location: | FORT BELVOIR, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 78 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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