GERMERSHEIM, Germany –
Lawrence Bruner, materials handler supervisor at Defense Logistics Agency Distribution Europe, has been awarded the Global Distribution Excellence: Vehicle and Material Handling Equipment Operator Supervisor/Leader of the Year award for his efforts in the distribution center’s Theater Consolidation and Shipping Point, or TCSP.
According to DLA Distribution Europe commander Army Lt. Col. Krista Hoffman, Bruner consistently went above and beyond the standard call of duty, exceeding the command’s expectations as the night shift TCSP supervisor, especially in support of anti-Ebola efforts under Operation United Assistance.
During a 14-day surge of materiel support, Bruner led his shift in accomplishing their routine nightly workload while simultaneously supporting the short-fused humanitarian relief operation. He spearheaded critical support functions, including Material Release Orders fills, truck loading, placing Vehicle Load Orders, and tracking incoming transshipments. These actions ensured MRO consolidation and routing to the correct destinations.
“His team’s successes were a direct result of his unflappable leadership, goal-setting workload management, and personnel optimization,” said Hoffman.
In support of the distribution center’s global mission, the team loaded over 3,500 dedicated trucks that provided time-definite delivery to 14 countries in Europe and Asia at least once weekly. They also received over 4.8 million pounds of critical mission cargo from Ramstein Air Base and re-distributed it directly to Warfighters, DoD units, and contractor/agencies and shipped over 20 million pounds of export mission stock/cross dock containerized cargo destined for combatant commands.
As part of a humanitarian support mission pledged by the U.S. State Department to the Ukrainian Armed Forces tackling the Russian threat, Bruner lead his team to load over a dozen trucks transporting 25,000 cases of Meals Ready to Eat within 12 hours of notification from United States European Command.
Under Bruner’s leadership, in 2014 overall, the team processed approximately 250 to 300 lines nightly; offloaded and processed 628 40 ft. containers of stock; offloaded and processed 38 463L air pallets per week; and offloaded and processed 42 intra-theater referral backhaul trucks per week.
“Mr. Bruner’s daily contributions ensured that material passed through our distribution center rapidly and without error. He took time to mentor co-workers and subordinates in and out of his division in the execution of their duties. He is part of the reason that today’s Warfighter is prepared for their mission. His actions and selfless service throughout 2014 have immeasurably contributed to his division’s tremendous success,” said Hoffman.