Employees from throughout DLA recognized in annual ceremony

FORT BELVOIR, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES

12.13.2011

Story by Lana Hampton 

Defense Logistics Agency   

FORT BELVOIR, Va. -- Defense Logistics Agency military and civilian personnel were honored during the 44th Annual Employee Recognition Program Ceremony, Dec. 13, at the McNamara Headquarters Complex.

Recognizing the achievements of individuals and teams across the DLA enterprise would not be possible without the dedication and commitment of its supervisors, DLA Director Navy Vice Adm. Mark Harnitchek said.

“Let me thank all the supervisors that took the time to carefully write and document what their individuals or team did,” he said. “You can do lots of great things, but if nobody takes the time to write it down in a way that is easily understandable and makes you want to read it, a lot of great performance goes unnoticed.”

Harnitchek used sports analogies to describe the fierce competition level this year, which included 127 nominations for 37 awards.

“This is the Triple Crown; this is the Olympics; this is the World Series; this is the Super Bowl,” he said.

Harnitchek highlighted the accomplishments of notable nominations not selected as winners to emphasize the level of competition. For example, an employee from Cherry Point, N.C., was responsible for maintaining inventory accuracy that exceeded the activity’s goal by 20 percent in 2010, he said, and an employee who directed a DLA Aviation team that awarded 8,500 manual purchase requests awarded more than $950 million dollars. In addition, DLA Land and Maritime’s Vehicle Support Team secured more than $2 million in material cost reductions and reduced unfilled orders by 35 percent, which contributed to a material availability of 90 percent for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles.

There were 60 nominations for the outstanding personnel of the year award. This year’s 10 outstanding personnel are:

-- Timothy Anderson, DLA Aviation.

-- Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Noel Cruz, DLA Distribution.

-- David Moose, DLA Human Resources.

-- Alberta Petruskevich, DLA Land and Maritime.

-- Veronica Salazar, DLA Aviation.

-- Army Master Sgt. Sandra Britton, DLA Disposition Services.

-- Jeff Cates, DLA Disposition Services.

-- Air Force Capt. Scott Thomas, DLA Energy.

-- Lisa Hosecloth, DLA Aviation.

-- Andres Avila, DLA Energy.

The purpose of the team performance award is to increase visibility of organizational goals, advance the use of teamwork in the work environment and motivate all DLA personnel to improve the level of team performance, officials said. The award recognizes teams that have improved organizational performance by using structured improvement methods or have advanced the principles of teamwork. Twenty-four teams were nominated.

The winners are:

-- Small team category – DLA Combatant Command Support’s Distribution Operations Team.

-- Medium teams – DLA Distribution Yokosuka, Japan’s Detachment Sasebo Team.

-- Large team – DLA Land and Maritime’s Integrated Logistics Partnership Team.

Civilian leadership award recipients are:

-- Tier one, non-supervisor – Nathan Gomm, DLA Aviation.

-- Tier two, supervisor for less than two years – Aybike Arslan, DLA Energy.

-- Tier three, supervisor for two to 10 years – Sandra Shepherd, DLA Energy.

-- Tier four, supervisor for more than 10 years – Frances Placeres, DLA Distribution.

-- Tier five, manager of managers – Joe Perry, DLA Distribution.

Military leadership award recipients are:

-- Field grade officer of the year – Navy Lt. Cmdr. Emily Allen, DLA Acquisition.

-- Company grade officer of the year – Navy Lt. Cmdr. Donna Smoak, DLA Troop Support.

-- Senior non-commissioned officer of the year – Air Force Master Sgt. Melissa Royster, DLA Troop Support.

-- Junior non-commissioned officer of the year – Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Frank Griner, DLA Director’s Office.

DLA Joint Reserve awards went to:

-- Junior officer of the year – Navy Lt. William Delao, DLA Troop Support.

-- Senior enlisted member of the year – Navy Master Chief Petty Officer John Frase, DLA Disposition Services.

-- Junior enlisted member of the year – Army Staff Sgt. Jefferson Robinson, DLA Deployment Support team, DLA Disposition Services.

Equal employment opportunity awards went to:

-- Outstanding Employee with a Disability – Pamela Circo-Webb, DLA Distribution.

-- Achievement in EEO by an organization (Category 1) – DLA Troop Support.

-- Achievement in EEO by an organization (Category 3) – DLA Distribution San Joaquin, Calif.

-- Achievement in EEO by a manager – Patrick Wright, DLA Installation Support.

-- Achievement in EEO by a non-manager – Timothy Abdella, DLA Aviation.

Acquisition excellence awards went to:

-- Excellence in Pre-Award Contracting – Karen Hammack, DLA Energy.

-- Excellence in Contract Administration – Acquisition Operations, DLA Distribution.

-- Excellence in Pricing – Hoa Ta, DLA Land and Maritime.

-- Excellence in Procurement Analysis – Monica Fass, DLA Energy.

-- Excellence in Acquisition Management – Charles McNelley, Jr., DLA Document Services.

The employee of the quarter annual winner was Army Sgt. 1st Class Caleb Whitaker, DLA Energy.

The DLA environmental award went to DLA Supply Chain Sustainability and Hazardous Material Minimization Team, DLA Logistics Operations.

The DLA quality of life excellence award went to the Marketing Office at Columbus, Ohio, DLA Installation Support.

Other award winners not recognized during the ceremony include:

-- Fire Department of the Year: DLA Aviation.

-- Civilian Firefighter of the Year: Capt. Anthony Fuller, DLA Aviation.

-- Fire Officer of the Year: Capt. Rodney Newton, DLA Aviation.

-- Fire Prevention Program of the Year: DLA Distribution Susquehanna, Pa.

-- Department of Defense Heroism Award Recipient: Firefighter/paramedic Andrew Wallace, DLA Distribution Susquehanna.

-- Police Officer of the Year: Officer Gregory Bozovich, DLA Installation Support Susquehanna.

-- Police Supervisor of the Year: Capt. Johnel Wallace, DLA Installation Support.

-- Police Outstanding Unit: DLA Installation Support Richmond, Va.

-- Latina Style Meritorious Service Award: Frances Quinones, DLA Land and Maritime.

-- 2011 NAACP Roy Wilkins Renown Service Award: Theodore Hackney Jr., DLA Distribution San Joaquin.

-- Federal Asian Pacific American Civilian Award for Diversity in Excellence: John Villanueva, DLA Aviation.

• Date Taken: 12.13.2011
• Date Posted: 12.14.2011 15:38
• Story ID: 81369
• Location: FORT BELVOIR, VIRGINIA, US