Photo By Jessica McClanahan | Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) Fleet Logistics Center (FLC) Jacksonville is...... read more read more
Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) Fleet Logistics Center (FLC) Jacksonville is pleased to announce that Supervisory Contract Specialist, Laura Donson, has been awarded the DoD’s 2021 Richard “Dick” Ginman Award for Contingency Contracting Officer Excellence.
During the March DoD Contracting Senior Leader Meeting, Donson was recognized among her peers and colleagues. The Ginman award is a DoD-wide honor, named for a retired Navy Supply Corps Admiral. Donson is the first Department of the Navy recipient since the award’s establishment in 2013.
In his February announcement, John M. Tenaglia, Principal Director, Defense Pricing and Contracting stated, “From the pool of truly exceptional nominees, I am pleased to announce the awardee for the eighth annual Richard ‘Dick’ Ginman Contingency Contracting Officer Excellence Award is Ms. Laura Donson, who was nominated by the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Procurement (DASN(P)) for her performance delivering vital contracting support during Operation ALLIES REFUGE and her above and beyond actions to secure emergency logistics support…Congratulations to Ms. Donson for a job truly well done!”
Operation Allies Refuge was a 2021 joint-services operation to air lift at-risk evacuees from Afghanistan to various military installations around the globe and provide emergency supplies and shelter. Donson, who lives and works in Jacksonville, Florida, volunteered to be part of a NAVSUP Enterprise Logistics Response Team (ELRT) operating at Naval Air Station (NAS) Sigonella, Italy.
In her role as a Contingency Contracting Officer for Operation Allies Refuge, Donson awarded and administered four Worldwide Expeditionary Multiple Award Contract (WEXMAC) task orders and oversaw post-award administration of four additional WEXMAC task orders with combined values of over $2.7M. The orders provided all basic life-support and humanitarian services including interpreters, electrical equipment, tents, cots, showers, portable toilets, food, laundry, cleaning, and transportation services.
Donson worked closely with NAS Sigonella, Department of State, NAVSUP, and Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) leadership to identify and define clear contract requirements in a dynamic environment. She issued awards and rectified performance and delivery issues within hours, through frequent engagement with all parties, including WEXMAC industry partners.
During her award presentation remarks, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Procurement), Cindy Shaver, commended Donson for her quick response to the call for experts on the ground, “Laura, Within 72 hours of raising her hand, picked up her life and got into theater, just as Operation Allies Refuge was taking place and we were watching the drama unfold on television.” She went on to say, “She embodies the best of a mission-focused contracting officer and the Department of the Navy is very grateful.”
In her acceptance remarks, Donson stated, “Operation Allies Refuge demonstrated the success possible when multiple agencies come together for a common goal of helping those in need. From a contracting officer’s perspective, knowing the contracts we were executing ensured others had a safe place to sleep and food to eat was extremely rewarding.” She added, “In this role, you don’t often get to see the results of your work in person. In this case though, the rewards of our efforts came each time we visited the evacuees.”
Donson has worked as a contracting specialist for the U.S. Navy since 2009. She began her career with NAVFAC, where she was responsible for construction, service, and architect-engineer contracts. From 2013 to 2020, she supervised the Southeast Regional Maintenance Center (SERMC) team responsible for maintenance availabilities of U.S. Navy Destroyers homeported at Naval Station Mayport. Currently Donson supervises a team at NAVSUP FLC Jacksonville who oversees contracts for husbanding and provisions in support of U.S. Navy units in the Southeast Region and U.S. Fourth Fleet area of operations.
Laura Donson is a native of Jacksonville, Fla. and is a graduate of Indiana University Bloomington and European School of Business in Reutlingen, Germany, holding a Bachelor of Science in International Business from both schools. She earned her Master of Science in Acquisition and Contract Management from Florida Institute of Technology. She is a member of the Defense Acquisition Corps. In addition to her work at NAVUP FLC Jacksonville, Donson is also a Navy spouse and Command Family Ombudsman.
NAVSUP FLC Jacksonville is one of eight FLCs under Commander, NAVSUP. Headquartered in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, NAVSUP employs a diverse, worldwide workforce of more than 22,500 military and civilian personnel. NAVSUP and the Navy Supply Corps conduct and enable supply chain, acquisition, operational logistics and Sailor & family care activities with our mission partners to generate readiness and sustain naval forces worldwide to prevent and decisively win wars. Learn more at www.navsup.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/navsup and https://twitter.com/navsupsyscom.
| Date Taken: | 03.07.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 03.07.2022 15:23 |
| Story ID: | 415927 |
| Location: | JACKSONVILLE, FL, US |
| Hometown: | JACKSONVILLE, FL, US |
| Web Views: | 415 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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