RICHMOND, VA –
New initiatives for fiscal 2020 was one of the topics Defense Logistics Agency Director Army Lt. Gen. Darrell Williams discussed during the DLA Aviation Dynamic Operating Plan review held in the DLA Aviation Operations Center on Defense Supply Center Richmond, Virginia, Oct. 17.
Roughly 50 people from the DLA Aviation enterprise, as well as DLA Headquarters, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, attended in person, while many more attended the meeting virtually from sites across the country.
Williams kicked off the session by presenting a few of his now famous “You Done Good” awards virtually to Aviation employees in Jacksonville, Florida; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Warner Robbins, Georgia.
“Some fantastic work happened here in fiscal 2019, some tremendous accomplishments,” he said.
After the awards presentation, DLA Aviation Commander Air Force Brig. Gen. David Sanford took time to talk about the new initiatives planned or already underway within the Aviation enterprise: peer-to-peer conflict sustainment risk assessment, partnering with academia, process innovation, operational continuity/testing, base improvements and community involvement.
This was Sanford’s first DOP review since taking command in July.
“Anytime you can spend six hours with the director over a day, you can’t ask for much more,” he said.
Sanford said he was happy the Aviation team got the opportunity to clearly articulate to the director the fiscal 2019 successes and strategic plans heading forward in fiscal 2020.
Some of achievements included: aircraft material availability reached 90%, the Navy exceeding the Commander of Naval Air Forces mission capable goal of operational F/A 18 fighter jets and DLA Aviation at Philadelphia had a record fiscal year for contracts awarded.
After Sanford, Williams stressed the six focus areas from his 2018 to 2026 Strategic Plan for the agency have not changed and made it clear the number one priority for the agency remains Warfighter First.
He then laid out six focus areas between the agency and Aviation that are critical for fiscal 2020:
- Warfighter and federal support.
- Defense reform.
- Audit advancement.
- Financial health of the agency.
- Enterprise risk management.
- Innovation.
“The real objective is to make sure that the subordinate command efforts remain aligned with the strategic plan of the agency,” Williams said.
After more discussions, Williams wrapped up the DOP expressing his pleasure with what Aviation accomplished and where its headed in the new fiscal year.
“My assessment would be you are on a glide path to do even bigger things in 2020 in support of our warfighters and the whole of government,” Williams said.
Before leaving to return back to headquarters, Williams toured some of the workspaces and recognized several employees with his personal coin for their performance. He called that part of his visit to Richmond a totally different experience.
“Rather than bring them up on stage, I wanted to recognize them in their work spaces. I believe I was more honored than they were,” he said.
After the director departed, Sanford then reflected on the day.
“I thought it went well. I thought we had a great opportunity to show the director the hard work the folks at Aviation have done over the last year and the innovative efforts planned for 2020,” he said.