PHILADELPHIA –
Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support Commander Army Brig. Gen. Mark Simerly kicked off his final town hall of the year with a brief video highlighting events from the last quarter, Dec. 11, 2018 in Philadelphia.
After celebrating employee achievements and command-sponsored events in the video, Simerly then recapped a snapshot of fiscal year 2018 support and accomplishments:
- Total sales valued at $17.6 billion dollars
- $3.2 billion dollar meals-ready-to-eat awards
- New tactical uniform for the United States Air Force
- Construction and Equipment supply chain provided ongoing support to Hurricane Florence, Matthew and Typhoon Yutu.
Despite the historical record high sales volume accomplished over the last fiscal year, Simerly congratulated the employees most for their continued support to the warfighter.
“We do not measure the quality of our support through our sales,” Simerly said. “It is an indicator of the demand for what we do, but the demand is for what we do and how we do it. It is a great compliment to you that the warfighters continue to come back to us for the critical items and commodities that we offer.”
To ensure DLA Troop Support continues to provide excellent support to our customers, the inaugural DLA Troop Support Declaration of Innovation was established to encourage employees’ ingenuity and creativity. The first recipients of the award were Robert Fagan, an acquisition specialist in Clothing and Textiles and a Subsistence supply chain team for their support and contributions to improve how the organization does business.
“We see this as way to recognize innovation that always takes place but to stimulate and incentivize new innovation,” Simerly said. “Innovation is the oxygen to modernization, we have to find ways to encourage the richness and depth of innovation in our formation.”
He then discussed the results of the recent DLA Culture/Climate survey and praised the employees for the significant improvements taken place as a result of the previous survey.
“We saw a pretty significant improvement from the 2016 survey,” Simerly said. “What took place between 2016 and 2018 represents a culture shift within the organization. We want to consolidate our gains, sustain that success and continue to improve the culture and the climate within the organization.”
General Simerly brought the Town Hall to a close with a surprise visit from Santa Claus who wished holiday greetings to all employees.