PHILADELPHIA –
The commander of the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support asked new participants in the agency’s two-year training program to embrace DLA’s warfighter support mission.
“The main reason we are here every day is to support the warfighter,” Army Col. Mark Simerly said. “And I ask you all to embrace that ... to take on that creed: Warfighter First.”
Simerly spoke to DLA Troop Support’s latest class in the Pathways to Career Excellence program Aug. 17 in Philadelphia. The program is designed to train entry-level personnel for advancement to the journey-level in professional, administrative and technological career fields through on-the-job assignments, cross training, rotational assignments and formal training.
The PaCE program is “how we grow the future at DLA Troop Support,” Simerly said.
The 137 participants in PaCE Class 34 range from recent college graduates to some with 25 years of work experience. Seventeen percent are veterans.
Simerly told the PaCE participants that the items Troop Support provides through its five, diverse supply chains touches individual service members every day.
“Each of you are going to own a part of that, to perform a critical role in supporting the warfighters,” he said.
He described his expectations for PaCE participants and said they come down to three things: trust, discipline and commitment.
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Trust: “It’s my responsibility to inspire, build and share trust in the organization,” he said. “The basis of what we do is integrity.”
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Discipline: “To treat others, always, with dignity and respect.”
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Commitment: “Commitment to team success, commitment to excellence, commitment to satisfying the demands of our customers.”
“If you can accomplish those three things here, you will be successful,” he said, “and you will be well postured to continue with us.”