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    ‘Flag ladies’ provide valuable, unique DLA asset

    ‘Flag ladies’ provide valuable, unique DLA asset

    Courtesy Photo | DLA Director, Navy Vice Adm. Mark Harnitchek, signs his initials in a hand-embroidered...... read more read more

    PHILADELPHIA, PA, UNITED STATES

    12.30.2011

    Story by Strategic Communications DLA 

    Defense Logistics Agency   

    PHILADELPHIA - The highly skilled embroiderers within Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support’s flag room provide a unique service not only to the organization, but to the country, producing flags for the military services and the White House.

    Thirteen “flag ladies” hand and machine embroider various battalion and brigade flags for military units, in addition to the presidential and vice presidential flags.

    “It’s a very unique function within the DLA organization and not anything you’ll find [anywhere else] in the federal government,” Lisa Vivino, a branch chief within the Clothing and Textiles Dress Clothing Division, said.

    Vivino highlighted this exclusivity as one of the flag room’s chief benefits to DLA Troop Support and its mission.

    “There’s a lot of history and ceremony that’s behind what we do,” Vivino said. “You won’t find it anywhere else; it’s strictly unique to DLA Troop Support and what we do as an organization in supporting the warfighter.”

    According to Vivino, the embroidery specialists normally produce about 300 flags as requested by government agencies unless it’s an inaugural season, when the number of flags produced triples.

    While the average hand-embroidered flag can take between 14-21 days to complete, the presidential flag can take up to 45 days, as its intricate design requires 15 thread colors and flawless mirror-effect imaging, Vivino explained.

    She further described the “human factor” involved in making these flags as artistry not reproducible by machinery.

    “The people that work here are a very creative and artistic group,” Vivino said of the embroiderers. “There’s a love of what they do, and they recognize the emotional significance of what they do and who these flags are for. There’s a great deal of pride there.”

    Flag room supervisor Carlos Cortez also relayed the emotional significance of the flags, reflecting on previous customers who have sent emails and pictures of their flags, and how much the feedback meant to the employees.

    Embroiderer Rowena Lee expressed loving her job and feeling good about the work she does in the flag room.

    “I’m proud I can [serve] the country,” Lee said.

    Ngoc Phung Thi Le, another embroidery specialist, agrees with Lee and also expressed loving the work she does.

    “I’m happy to work here,” Le said. “I think the work we do is very [proud], and we try to do the best.”

    Cortez described his role as supportive, calling on his own sewing and tailoring background as he supervises the artists.

    “For the most part they know what to do,” Cortez said. “They get the work done almost without me.”

    Functioning within the Clothing and Textiles Directorate, the flag room’s history dates back more than 150 years within DLA Troop Support, formerly known as the Schuylkill Arsenal, which started the flag-making business soon after the Mexican War.

    The presidential flag is used for all of the president’s public appearances; additional flags are displayed in various rooms in the White House.

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 12.30.2011
    Date Posted: 01.05.2012 16:15
    Story ID: 82068
    Location: PHILADELPHIA, PA, US

    Web Views: 199
    Downloads: 0

    PUBLIC DOMAIN