Photo By Kari Hawkins | Army Materiel Command's Lisha Adams receives a Certificate of Appreciation from AMC...... read more read more
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REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. -- Character. Commitment. Competence. Integrity. Credibility. Those are the words used to describe the leadership of the Army Materiel Command’s Executive Deputy Commander to the Commanding General.
During her retirement ceremony on the AMC Parade Field May 31, AMC Commander Gen. Ed Daly thanked Lisha Adams for her “incredible leadership” and celebrated her “great service to our nation” throughout a 39-year career that went from working as an entry level GS-3 Army intern to serving as a Tier 3 member of the Army’s Senior Executive Service.
Adam’s Army civilian career in the fields of acquisition, logistics and sustainment made her a leader within the AMC enterprise, chiefly at Redstone Arsenal with the Aviation and Missile Command and AMC. While at AMCOM, she was selected for the Senior Executive Service, then served as the Executive Director of AMCOM’s Integrated Materiel Management Center. She went on to serve as AMC’s Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics Integration and then served in the Pentagon as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Materiel Readiness. She returned to Redstone Arsenal as AMC’s top ranking executive in 2015.
“She did extremely well throughout her career and was encouraged to apply for SES,” Daly said. “But, she had her doubts. Her daughter Bridget was still in school and SES would mean less time at home. At about that same time, she was selected for Federal employee of the year by the Association of the U.S. Army, becoming the first female to receive the honor.
“At church the next Sunday, the congregation rose and applauded her accomplishments. From that, Bridget got an idea of the difference her mom was making for the Army, and she told her mom she supported her work. Bridget helped her mom make the decision to apply for SES.”
Adams is among only 3% of SES members promoted to Tier 3. Of the Army’s 286,000 civilian employees, less than .01% become SES members. At AMC, Adams was the senior ranking civilian, assisting in leading 175,000 employees worldwide in support of warfighters.
“It’s no surprise that Lisha achieved this rank,” Daly said, mentioning her budgeting, contracting, environmental oversight, human resources, and Organic Industrial Base management capabilities. “She is unequivocally focused on people, readiness and modernization.”
Adams received a Distinguished Executive Presidential Rank Award as a Senior Executive Service member in 2021. It is the highest annual award for career SES members, with no more than 1% of SES members receiving it each year. She also received a Department of the Army Distinguished Civilian Service Medal from the Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth and a Certificate of Appreciation from Daly.
Adams’ SES accomplishments in the areas of materiel life cycle management, acquisition support, personnel and resource management, industrial base operations and enterprise integration occurred during her work for three commanding generals – Gen. Dennis Via, who welcomed Adams to the AMC executive position; Gen. Gus Perna, who entrusted her with an expanding level of responsibility; and Daly, who reaped the benefits of her stable and continuous leadership while also taking on the bittersweet responsibility of her retirement ceremony.
“From GS-3 to SES Tier 3, your decisions and selfless service have left a tremendous mark on our Army and our nation,” Daly told Adams.
Thanking the three AMC commanders as well as Daly’s wife Cathy and her own family for their support and guidance, Adams said, “I’ve benefitted from the work of those who worked beside me and those who came before me. I’ve benefitted from their guidance, inspiration and encouragement.
Adams’ retirement ceremony included music from the 313th Army Band and a canon salute by the 117th Artillery Battalion. It was shaped by the inspiration of her daughter singing the National Anthem and by quotes on living the best life, including the quote, “We do not remember days, we remember moments” from Italian novelist Cesare Pavese.
“Moments all have to do with people, and they have been big enough to change me and enable my path to AMC EDCG,” she said.
Adams recalled her first job as a government civilian with Redstone Garrison Facilities Engineering. She was a vehicle utilization manager responsible for checking the maintenance of motor pool vehicles. She was issued a tire gauge and baking soda, and was taught how to check a vehicle’s oil. When vehicles came to the motor pool for gas, she would inspect them and check their oil.
“I got the nickname ‘Dipstick’ for telling people to check their oil levels and go to the motor pool when they needed oil,” Adams said, getting a laugh from her audience. “It was a great learning experience for me and set me on a path to be an AMC maintenance manager. With the right training, tools and authority, you can have an impact.”
While working at AMCOM G-3 (Operations), she was focused on doing everything right as a supervisor. But one of her employees taught her that supervising is about more than assigning tasks and overseeing employee performance. It’s also about getting to know employees, learning what’s important to them and then providing them support to excel, she said.
“This moment defined me and is today what This Is My Organization is all about,” Adams said. “We have an obligation not only to the Army, but to each other … Stay aware of the moments in your life. Make every moment count. Psalm 90:12 says, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.’”
| Date Taken: | 06.01.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 06.01.2022 20:26 |
| Story ID: | 421986 |
| Location: | REDSTONE ARSENAL, AL, US |
| Web Views: | 102 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, AMC farewells top civilian recognized for incredible leadership, by Kari Hawkins, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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