Philadelphia –
More than 100 Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support employees and service members were honored for their achievements during a quarterly awards ceremony July 30.
“This is, by far the best thing I’m going to do this week, and that’s recognize excellence,” said Army Brig. Gen. Gavin Lawrence, DLA Troop Support commander, who hosted the ceremony.
Employees were recognized for achievements in a number of areas, including federal service, superior service and humanitarian efforts.
John Finchen Jr. was named Employee of the Year for 2018.
“I am honored to be recognized as the Troop Support Employee of the Year,” Finchen said. “I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my teammates, for without their outstanding commitment and support, I would not have received this honor.”
Finchen served as DLA Troop Support’s Construction and Equipment representative to the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, which was working to restore the power grid in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.
“In my time in Puerto Rico, I worked with USACE, [the Federal Emergency Management Agency], and the C&E team providing temporary power solutions and power grid restoration efforts to track more than 32 million critical electrical items in support of this mission,” he said. “I am proud to have been part of this disaster response mission that helped restore power to those in dire need.”
Thomas Smith, who works in the Industrial Hardware supply chain, received the Superior Civilian Service Award for serving as the liaison officer to the Combined Joint Force operations for DLA Support Team-Kuwait. In this role, he ensured the delivery of more than $50 million worth of critical items for tactical units through coordinated support with various DLA major subordinate commands.
“It was the most rewarding experience working with the DLA Support Team-Kuwait, and I am honored with receiving the Superior Civilian Service Award for this deployment,” Smith said. “I was fortunate to be a part of a DLA support element that coordinates and tracks delivery of both common and critical items for the warfighter.”
Smith said there has been “no greater sense of accomplishment” than working directly with the military customer in their field of operations.
“My duties as a DLA Liaison Officer assigned to the Combined Joint Task Force provided mission support for Operation Inherent Resolve and Spartan Shield in Iraq and Syria,” he said. “It gave me the opportunity to fully observe the logistics process from industry to end-user. Most notable was the collaborative level of effort given to every logistics obstacle to find a logistics solution. For me, the award received for this service will be a permanent placard that will long hold the memories of challenges and accomplishments shared with those who serve.”
In addition, more than 20 employees were presented with certificates of appreciation for their support of this year’s Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day event.
Additional awards presented during the ceremony included:
SUPERIOR CIVILIAN SERVICE AWARD (Team Award)
Puerto Rico Power Team
DIRECTOR’S STRATEGIC GOAL AWARD
Suspended Stock Tiger Team
DIRECTOR’S STRATEGIC GOAL AWARD
DLA Department of Defense Support to Customs Border Protection Working Group
Kim Angeny
John Finchen Jr.
Marko Graham
DIRECTOR’S STRATEGIC GOAL AWARD
The DLA Support Team, Kuwait
Christopher Harmer
Akilah Jackson
Lt. Col. Susan McMullen, USAF
John Skillman
Thomas Smith
DLA LARGE TEAM OF THE YEAR
The Enterprise Hurricane Response Team
ACQUISITION SUPPORT TEAM OF THE YEAR
Allen Costello
Rosemary DeMatteo
Dennette Gibson
Marsha Museka
Brian Schott
SUPERVISOR OF THE YEAR
Daniel Turner
EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH
Linnette DeLaCruz
Michael Snyder
Brian Turchiano
CERTIFICATE OF ACHIEVEMENT
Christopher Harmer
CAREER SERVICE AWARDS
Brian Davis – 35 years
Gregory Davis - 35 years
Tina Piotrowski - 35 years
Gwendolyn Williams - 35 years
Kuo Nam Lo - 30 years
Colleen Lyons- 30 years
Andre Olden- 30 years
HUMANITARIAN EFFORT AWARD
Dorothy O’Connell
CERTIFICATE OF ACHIEVEMENT
Christopher Harmer