BATTLE CREEK, Mich. –
Won Sok Chang will say he is a discoverer of sorts.
The Seoul native and family man clocks in each morning to accept property from U.S. military units at his office in Gimcheon, South Korea, and the search for answers never ends. What is this piece of equipment? Is it still useful? What are the rules for offering it to reuse customers? Do we need to destroy it?
“The most enjoyable part of my role is [discovering] regulations for various types of property and learning how to handle them,” said Chang, a former Republic of Korea Army special forces airborne intel operator who has accumulated nearly a decade of U.S. government service. “I believe that we can only accomplish our mission of protecting the public when we are all doing our best in our roles.”
Now serving as a Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services material examiner and identifier, Chang was recently recognized as a sub-command employee of the quarter for the second time since transferring to the organization from a role as a local national employee with the U.S. Army in 2020.
“When I worked at Camp Humphreys, I had the opportunity to visit [DLA] for the turn-in of general property,” said Chang, who had previous government roles as both a driver and a logistician. “I was impressed by the fact that Disposition Services had different regulations for handling different types of items. So, I wanted to be with DLA because they have such an established and systematic system.”
Chang called his recent employee of the quarter designation an honor and said he wanted to express his gratitude to agency teammates.
“My coworkers and I communicate with eye contact,” Chang said of the language barrier that comes with sharing a worksite with American coworkers. “All of my colleagues are very trustworthy and passionate about their services. We are dedicated to the performance of the mission based on that trust.”
Chang was credited with his instrumental role in helping the Gimcheon site achieve recent successes in its warehouse production metrics by Material Examiner and Identifier Supervisor Alfred Turner. During the reporting period, those metrics included the processing of 7,193 disposal turn-in documents, maintaining an “outstanding” 2.7-day customer wait time, 1.3-day average unprocessed receipt backlog, and “excellent” 38% “On-The-Shelf” rate average.
“He often performs a large portion of receipt inputs due to his expertise, attention to detail and commitment to quality,” Turner wrote. “This quarter he input approximately 34% of the DTIDs without any errors requiring inventory adjustment. His exceptional performance is a testament to his exceptional skills, professionalism, and commitment to excellence.”
Turner also cited Chang for his informal warehouse leadership and positive impact on the team.
“I always do my best!” Chang said.