COLUMBUS, Ohio –
Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime selected Mark A. Brown to fill its Acquisition Executive position and inducted him into the Senior Executive Services rank in a March 9 ceremony at the Defense Supply Center Columbus’ Operations Center’s auditorium. The event was officiated by Land and Maritime’s Commander, Navy Rear Admiral Michelle Skubic.
After welcoming Brown’s family and special guests, Skubic touched on hiring deliberations leading up to Brown’s selection to the Land and Maritime leadership team. “The men and women of the SES corps are selected for their leadership qualifications, not just their technical expertise,” Skubic said.
“The selection process is time-consuming, but not without its rewards. Mark, thank you for stepping up to this leadership opportunity, and for your patience during this protracted process. Becoming fully vetted as an SES involves many wickets you must go through and we truly appreciate your patience navigating that process.”
After her remarks, Skubic presented Brown with the Meritorious Service Medal for his mission contributions during his tenure as the Land and Maritime Procurement Process Support director; a position Brown held for almost six years.
Land and Maritime Deputy Commander Steve Alsup congratulated Brown for his selection to the leadership team and the importance of his transition into the SES cadre. Alsup offered words of encouragement to Brown and recounted the history of the SES corps and major tenents that guide its members.
Alsup described the SES emblem and highlighted the keystone and its location on the SES flag. He explained that the keystone is the last part of a structure to be put in place and it serves to hold the entire structure together. Relating the keystone’s purpose to that of an SES member, Alsup identified the keystone as the structure that reflects the characteristics of SES members
Alsup also shared with those attending that the Office of Personnel Management identified five Executive Core Qualifications as essential requirements for entry into the SES ranks. The qualifications are Leading Change, Leading People, Results Driven, Business Acumen and Building Coalitions. He then gave a brief description of each ECQ and how Brown has successfully executed them during his Land and Maritime tenure.
Immediately after Alsup’s remarks, Skubic led Brown through the recitation of the Oath of Office with his wife Gail and family looking on. After completing the oath, Skubic presented Brown with an SES flag and pin, permanently identifying him as a new SES member.
Brown thanked
Land and Maritime members who helped coordinate the induction ceremony and former Land and Maritime leaders in the audience who had a huge hand in helping him in his DLA career. He presented flowers to his wife and daughter as an expression of his gratitude for standing by him during the challenging times throughout both his military and civilian careers.
Reflecting on the responsibilities that came with his new position, Brown took the opportunity to speak directly to the Land and Maritime acquisition workforce.
Brown recalled the story about how his military acquisition career began with a phone call and subsequent meeting that left him without employment. After responding to a newspaper job advertisement, he soon realized he’d have to join the Navy to gain employment. He shared that initially he didn’t react positively to that possibility.
“To make a long story short, four months after that original conversation I was attending naval officer candidate school, so I think I can say that the recruiter was very good at his job,” Brown said.
As he got more specific in his remarks, Brown pledged several commitments to the Land and Maritime workforce. He promised to embrace transparency in his leadership approach; to be truly accessible as he’d been in his previous position; to practice speed in handling paperwork and use pragmatism as a guiding principle during his leadership tenure. “What you see is what you get with me, I’m a pretty simple guy,” Brown said. “I want to put parts on contract. I want to see material availability go up and backorders go down…and whatever tools we need to use to accomplish the goal of supporting our warfighters, we’ll employ.”
Brown closed his address by challenging the workforce to always look for ways to improve themselves and encouraged each worker to be fearless in execution of their daily duties. “Get the best price you can, make the buy and move on…As long as you’re doing the right thing for our customer I’ll have your back,” he said.
“I look forward to working with you and ask each and every one of you to come to work focused on working hard and supporting our men and women in our military services,” Brown said in conclusion.
A congratulatory reception immediately followed the induction ceremony.