BATTLE CREEK, Mich. –
DLA Disposition Services Director Mike Cannon recently announced the command’s Employee of the Quarter winners for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019. Among them is Category I winner Shontavia Ortega, who was nominated by site leadership at DLA Disposition Services at Colorado Springs.
Ortega said she grew up in the small town of Gaston, North Carolina, and graduated from Northampton County High School West in 2001. In 2006, she joined the Army as a logistics supply specialist. She served at both Kentucky’s Fort Campbell and Washington’s Joint Base Lewis-McChord and also deployed to Afghanistan. She was discharged from active duty in 2013 as a sergeant after serving six years in uniform.
Following her military service, Ortega attended Hawaii Pacific University, where she earned a bachelor’s in business administration and majored in management. She joined DLA Disposition Services in 2018 as a material examiner/identifier for the Colorado Springs site before her selection into the DLA Pathways to Career Excellence (PaCE) program.
Her award nomination said “she gives lectures on everything from Material Handling Equipment safety to WEBFLIS use, and has always expressed the greatest pleasure, and competency, when training to the specifics of the office Standard Operating Procedure. Shontavia has been instrumental in setting the pace for Disposition Services this quarter by working collectively to achieve a staggering 39% on-shelf rate, all while averaging an on-board effectiveness rate of 96% at this site.”
Her nomination also said that staff in Colorado was excited for her opportunity to “see her advance herself within the agency” through the two-year PaCE training.
“I’m excited to learn Disposition Services’ entire business model,” Ortega said about her selection for PaCE. “I really enjoy what I do on a daily basis because I get to continue to support the warfighter and the global mission.”
When PaCE concludes, Ortega expects to begin working as a property disposal specialist with environmental duties.
“I know that providing effective logistics support to warfighters is crucial and plays a valuable role in our nation’s security,” Ortega said. “I know DLA’s work is more than mastering numbers and stats every week. I believe it is truly how well you connect with the people you support and how well you can communicate as a team. Together we anticipate, deliver, and strive to be exceptional. I am humbled and honored to be selected to receive this award.”
Additional fourth quarter Category 1 employee of the quarter nominees include Jacob Suazo, from the site at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and Carlos Chapman, from the site at Fort Hood.