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News | March 28, 2022

Tour provides DLA Aviation glimpse into their role in keeping Virginia Army National Guard helicopters flying

By Leon Moore, Public Affairs Specialist DLA Aviation Public Affairs Office

More than a dozen members of Defense Logistics Agency Aviation’s Supplier Operations Original Equipment Manufacturer Directorate toured the Virginia Army National Guard’s Aviation Support Facility in Sandston, Virginia, March 17.

The facility, located adjacent to the Richmond International Airport, provides full-time support to Army aviation units including flight operations, safety, maintenance, standardization and training. The AASF and its annex at the Chesterfield County, Virginia, airport supports a number of Army aircraft including 18 UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopters, three HH-60 Black Hawk medical evacuation helicopters, four UH-72 Lakota light utility helicopters and a C-12 twin turboprop passenger and cargo aircraft.

Rob Baker, deputy director, Supplier Operations OEM Directorate, said a few months ago, senior leadership within the directorate started monthly leadership events/lunches to get the leadership team back to interacting face-to-face again as they wait for the agency’s final re-entry plan to be finalized. To stop the spread of COVID-19, the DLA Aviation workforce force has been primarily teleworking for the last two years.

“We have hired a few new folks at the management level over the past two years and these events allow our leadership team to build a rapport with them and for some folks to actually meet in person for the time,” he said.

“Over the past couple of years, it has become easy to lose sight of the importance of what we do for some of our teammates,” said Sherri White, integrated supplier team lead within the Aviation Engines & Auxiliary Components Division “After the tour, I shared this experience with my team to remind them and help them understand that all of their efforts are not only appreciated, but they are more important than ever.”

Deputy chief for the Aviation Rotary Wings and Auxiliary Components Division, Angelia Booker said the trip was very inspiring.

“It really put a direct impact of the importance of what we do every day and the lives that are in our hands. I could actually envision a part that I awarded being put on the UH-60. The detailed information shared was very interesting,” she said.

The tour was led by Virginia Army National Guardsman Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Romero. In his civilian job, Romero works as a product specialist within DLA Aviation’s Supplier Operations Commodities Directorate’s Joint Commodities/Instrumentation Division.