RICHMOND, VA –
“Audrey is a caring and compassionate leader who acts as a role model for those around her. Her faith in her employees to carry out tasks, whether large or small, garners a work group full of confidence and drive.”
These are the words Troy Thomas, the Materiel Planning Division chief for Defense Logistics Agency Aviation’s Planning Process Directorate, used to describe Audrey Berry in his write up nominating her for the October DLA Aviation Leadership Award.
Berry is the chief of the division’s Original Equipment Manufacturing Branch.
“I am still feeling humbled that people see my efforts as a strong contribution to the Aviation team and warfighter support,” she said.
It’s this humility that earned Berry the award.
“When interacting with Audrey, it’s clear she understands the individualized needs of her team and makes every effort to ensure that they feel a sense of belonging and appreciation for their hard work,” Thomas said. “By developing metrics tied to material availability with materiel planner input, the planners have a sense of ownership and motivation to meet and exceed their goals.”
As a result of this teamwork, Thomas said materiel availability of Diamond MA (any national stock number ordered more than 500 times within a calendar year) improved from 93.72% to 98.70% and Crown Jewel MA (any NSN ordered 80 times or more within a calendar year) from 90.35% to 92.66% in 2020.
“With their focus on these team-established metrics, they realized their full potential and strive for greatness. Inspired by Audrey’s leadership, they are constantly evolving and looking at other ways to improve their organization,” Thomas said.
Thomas said through Berry’s coordination with DLA Aviation’s strategic supplier alliance partners, her team also provided customers with 87.26% parts MA across 17 initiatives and through her constant support and encouragement, her team has provided exceptional support to both internal and external customers, reaching across various OEMs through joint steering groups to achieve greater collaboration and communication.
He said this increased interaction has paid dividends for the branch and division, both at an employee level and overall team performance.
“For me, teamwork is key! My branch steps up to [do] anything I ask of them, my peers are always ready to share information and support to get things done,” Berry said.
“So far, the best part about the recognition has been reading the emails from all my teammates across Aviation who are virtually celebrating with me and sharing stories of how well we work together to do well! We share the same visions to get the job done.”