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News | Oct. 15, 2020

September orientation introduces 50 new associates

By Dawn Sutton DLA Land and Maritime People and Culture

September 23 was the first day of the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime New Employee Orientation for 50 new employees but this orientation was different than previous months. Participants were able to log in via WebRTC and use their webcams to see presenters and fellow employees instead of logging in to watch the PowerPoint presentations. This adjustment made the two-day orientation more interactive.    

DLA Land and Maritime Commander Navy Rear Adm. Kristen Fabry welcomed the new employees and provided insight on DLA Land and Maritime. She also highlighted our warfighter support mission and why DLA is a great place to work.  

After Fabry answered questions from the audience the NEO continued with presentations from 19 Land and Maritime organizations. New employees were given all the information, tools and networking opportunities needed to hit the ground running in their new job, whether on base or virtually. 

DLA Land and Maritime Director of Operations Griff Warren kicked off the NEO by welcoming the group of 22 Columbus and 28 Detachment new employees. This was the largest NEO class in the past four years. Those in attendance represented management and program assistants, quality assurance specialists, general attorney, police officers, purchasing agents, just to name a few. Detachments with new employees included Aberdeen, Mechanicsburg, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Puget Sound.  

Virtual meetings continue to be the norm, not only for onboarding but for all meetings. COVID-19 has challenged DLA Land and Maritime operations and the People and Culture Office continues to contribute toward Land and Maritime successfully meeting challenges. Transitioning from the Defense Collaboration System to WebRTC for a more personal orientation is just one of the many actions taken to make a good process even better.  

Please welcome to Columbus Jessica Clark, Tamarlin Stephens, Paul Leluika, Julie Philips, John Rigney, Walter Chrysler, Gary Freed, Benjamin Maxim, Casey McNamara, Brian Miller, Chasen Neff, Tamarin Osbone, Christopher Reynolds, Nehemiah Sconiers, Mary Janine Sheaffer, Karen Sherrill, Brian Silverman, Hunter Steele, and Aaron Wellman. For the Aberdeen detachment, welcome Victor Maslak and Terrance Thrweatt. For the Mechanicsburg detachment, welcome Trevor Monn, Diane Mordecai, Michael Caldwell and Nicholas Peters. For the Norfolk shipyard, welcome Richard Cromwell, Emily Harris, Franziska Ives, Melba Jackson, Louis Jones, Devin Lasalle, Julia Smith, Shelia Thomas, Joeanna Truitt, LaKeisha Violenusellis and Felicia Weathers. For the Portsmouth shipyard, welcome James Walker and for the Puget Sound shipyard, welcome Hakeem Manning and Cheryl Eposito.

The next NEO will be virtual and held Oct. 28 - 29.  All new employees to DLA Land and Maritime are required to attend in accordance with the agency procedure and at the request of the DLA Land and Maritime commander.  

Tenants of the Defense Supply Center Columbus Installation are welcome to attend. Please contact the Program Manager Dawn Sutton for an invite.