Richmond, Va. –
DeAnne Allshouse and Theresa McKinzie, Defense Logistics Agency Aviation customer specialists were selected as Employees of the Month for February. Allshouse won the general schedule 1-9 category and McKinzie took the award in the GS 10-13 category.
When increasing global aggressions threatened to slow down work for the Air Force’s A-10 fleet serviced at the Air Force’s air logistics complex in Ogden, Utah, McKinzie stepped up to exceed expectations. McKinzie worked long shifts to ensure on-time completion of an ANDON organic manufacture project for the A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft program depot maintenance line.
McKinzie’s nominator, Douglas Baker, chief of the Material Management Branch in the Customer Operations Directorate, DLA Aviation at Ogden said McKinzie’s dedication helped prevent future production line shutdowns in back shops and the A-10 PDM line.
“Theresa was the driving force behind one of the most successful depot-level projects to-date in fiscal 2022,” Baker said. “She led a team of customer support specialists through processing of 15 OM retail buys in record time. Her outstanding efforts led to 15 bridge contracts being awarded to prevent gaps in fiscal year 2022-2023 vendor deliveries.”
McKinzie also created a prototype tracker, which allowed her to track the gated processes hourly, submitted packages for approval to the Emergency Contracts Support Branch and ensured that $1.2 million in emergency retails buys were awarded within days.
“As the leader for this event, Theresa drove the DLA average processing time down from 50 to 9 days—an 82% improvement,” Baker said. “Moreover, her efforts allowed the [air logistics complex] to increase projected production of A-10 aircraft from 13 to 23.”
Customer Operation Directorate’s Priority Cell Section Chief David Jorgenson nominated DeAnne Allshouse, customer support specialist, for her contribution in resolving an A-10 depot-level work stoppages.
Allshouse expedited coworkers’ packages, ensuring all ANDON packages kept moving through the OM A-10 gate process. She also pulled data from numerous DLA and Air Force systems to update and provide metrics twice a day to senior leaders throughout the project.
“DeAnne processed one third of the 15 OM retail buy packages in record time, and her efforts contributed to $1.2 million in working capital funds being allocated to serve as 15 bridge contracts to avoid shutting down production lines,” Jorgenson said.
Jorgenson added that Allhouse’s efforts also helped the complex increase aircraft production while also providing opportunities to train her coworkers in alternative methods for obtaining immediate status updates, broadening her peers’ skill sets and enhancing overall team dynamics.