Ann C. Bradway distinguished herself in assignments to line and staff units at Defense Supply Center Columbus, Ohio, and DLA Headquarters over a 36-year career. Frequently hand-selected by managers and commanders to blaze a trail on strategic and transformational programs, Bradway made meaningful contributions to programs such as Weapon System Management, Consumable Item Transfer, Business Systems Modernization Concept Demonstration, and Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles. In 1988, Bradway accepted an assignment at DLA Headquarters at Cameron Station, in Alexandria, Va., as a supply management representative. During this assignment, she led a number of agencywide logistics programs, including the agency’s first realignment of federal supply classes between centers and the initial consumable-item transfers from the services to DLA. In 2002, when Defense Supply Center Columbus faced another key strategic transformation effort, the command tapped Bradway again for a leadership position. She was reassigned as the director of the Maritime Supplier Operations Group, which included the first-line business units to enter the BSM Concept Demo. Once again, she blazed the trail in this key transformational leadership position, enabling the successful roll out of the largest enterprise resource planning effort ever attempted in the Department of Defense. She went on to lead the Maritime Supplier Operations group, managing 1.7 million items with annual sales of more than $1.5 billion. Also praiseworthy during this assignment was Bradway’s leadership in logistics support to the Navy’s premier Nuclear Reactor Program, maintaining very high performance requirements as well as her leadership overseeing the negotiation of several strategic partnerships with key suppliers. Her keen technical skills and her ability to develop and lead teams of all sizes contributed greatly to the success of Defense Supply Center Columbus.
Retired Rear Adm. James P. Davidson served as executive director for supply operations from July 1989 to August 1991. During this period, he led DLA’s innovative and comprehensive responses to Defense Department logistics consolidations that greatly expanded the agency’s distribution and inventory management functions, while simultaneously meeting the incredibly demanding task of supporting more than 500,000 U.S. forces forward deployed during the first Gulf War. Davidson’s accomplishments during his two-year period at DLA are even more remarkable considering the sudden surge in support requirements in Southwest Asia tied to operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm beginning in August 1990. As director of DLA’s operations, Davidson led DLA Headquarters and field activities to historic levels of support meeting a nearly fourfold increase in demand across DLA and requiring 24/7 operations. DLA met this unprecedented challege by ensuring 100 days’ worth of support in DLA commodities on the ground in theater prior to commencement of ground operations, as required by U.S. Central Command. With this success in the first Gulf War, DLA earned recognition as the premier Defense Department combat support agency within DoD. His deep understanding of logistics issues and his exceptional leadership qualities were truly transformational. During this period, DLA rapidly evolved from a DoD behind-the-scenes wholesaler to a true front-line global logistics combat support agency partnering with the services and combatant commands. He was the indispensable catalyst in meeting his era’s exceptional support challenges while creating the foundation for the superb DLA and DoD logistics capabilities of today. He has continued to play a crucial role in shaping DoD logistics practices as a leading consultant across the full spectrum of the defense logistics industry, including chairing the National Defense Industrial Association’s Logistics Division for six years.
Retired Army Maj. Gen. Ray E. McCoy served several tours of duty in key positions at the Defense Logistics Agency. His first Defense Logistics Agency assignment was in August 1988 as the director of the National Inventory Control Point (Supply Operations), Defense Industrial Supply Center Philadelphia. In this position, he was responsible for managing the integration of newly acquired industrial spare parts inventory resulting from recent Base Realignment and Closure decisions. In 1990, he became executive director of Quality Assurance, Defense Contract Management Command, Cameron Station, Va. In this senior leadership position, McCoy was responsible for integrating quality control initiatives from the military service components into a single Defense Department quality control program. As a result of McCoy’s demonstrated leadership skills and management expertise in overseeing this consolidation and realignment initiative, DLA’s director called on him to become the commander of DISC Philadelphia. With his DoD experience and his in-depth knowledge of supply operations, inventory management and customer relations, he began to put in place enhanced program initiatives that made the integration of new line items of supply seamless, transparent, and readily available to users. In the area of material management, McCoy implemented programs that leveraged resources through the use of long–term business arrangements. This change in business practices for consumable spare and repair parts from a “just in case” inventory mentality to a focus on “just in time” acquisition and delivery constituted a major paradigm shift in management and acquisition of material. In June 1995, McCoy returned to DLA after serving as the Army Materiel Command Chief of Staff for 18 months to be the agency’s principal deputy director. In this position, he continued to provide the top quality and strategic leadership as before. He was instrumental in overseeing another 800,000 consumable items transferring to DLA without staffing increases and improving warfighter support with their integration into DLA’s systems. He spearheaded the efforts to consolidate warehousing operations and distribution centers throughout DoD.
From 2000 to 2007, Charles E. Nye led the planning effort to bring Defense Logistics Agency Distribution closer to warfighters while simultaneously developing the capability to rapidly respond to disaster relief. Nye established a deployable distribution capability and fixed distribution facilities in Kuwait, South Korea and Guam, along with theater consolidation and shipping points in Kuwait and South Korea. These efforts significantly enabled DLA to provide more efficient and effective support to Department of Defense warfighters serving in the U.S. Central Command and U.S. Pacific Command areas of operation and resulted in timely support to warfighters in the region. This enabled DoD to realize a cost avoidance of $4.15 billion when compared to traditional operations. DLA Distribution now maintains regular contact with combatant command elements in all geographic areas and is an active participant in their planning cycles. The model Nye established led to additional distribution centers being positioned in Afghanistan, Bahrain and Okinawa, Japan, along with TCSPs in Afghanistan, Okinawa and Yokota, Japan, and Guam. In January 2006, DLA Distribution received a formal task to build a deployable depot team to respond to natural disasters within the continental United States. The process from tasker to operational capability was completed in five months. With the establishment of this capability, Nye proved the team’s capability within the construct of DLA’s first-ever Joint Concept Technology Demonstration, the Node Management and Deployable Depot. During this period, Nye evolved the team’s focus to expand from CONUS-only to be able to support geographic combatant commander contingencies worldwide. Its true value was realized when the commander of USCENTCOM petitioned the secretary of defense to establish a DLA Distribution capability at Kandahar, Afghanistan. Ever since its establishment, this critical distribution center at the tip of the spear has provided warfighters in country with mission-critical resources. With a fully operational disaster relief and contingency operations capability ready to deploy on short notice, DLA Distribution Expeditionary has proven to be a force multiplier for DLA.
O. Clyde Panneton has distinguished himself through exceptional civilian service to the Defense Logistics Agency and the Department of Defense during a career spanning 34 years of service, 27 of which were with the Defense Logistics Agency. During the period January 1975 to March 1995, as chief of the Personnel Management Division, Office of Civilian Personnel, DLA Administrative Support Center, Panneton demonstrated the qualities of professionalism, technical expertise, personal dedication and integrity that contributed significantly to the successful accomplishment of the mission of the center and the Defense Logistics Agency. He exercised control and supervision over a wide range of complex and sensitive programs, including recruitment and staffing, special employment, incentive awards, employee benefits, drug testing, employee assistance, labor relations, and leave administration. These services were provided to more than 4,000 employees in a wide variety of occupations ranging from senior executives to wage system personnel. During Panneton’s tenure, he worked a variety of critical agency initiatives, including the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure process. During this period, Panneton developed and successfully implemented an unprecedented number of personnel program changes resulting from the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, which abolished the U.S. Civil Service Commission and distributed its functions among three agencies. This greatly increased the complexity of the Civilian Personnel Office’s mission as it had to work with three organizations under transition versus one established agency. He provided the director of human resources and key agency officials with sound and timely advice on a multitude of complex problems relating to recruitment and employee relation matters. Panneton’s in-depth knowledge, experience, judgment and interpersonal skills earned him the reputation as the go-to expert for any question or concern related to civilian personnel matters.