COLUMBUS, Ohio –
Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime winners of DLA’s 57th Annual Employee Recognition Awards Program were honored Jan. 23 at the McNamara Headquarters Complex at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, in a ceremony presided by DLA Director Army Lt. Gen. Mark Simerly.
TOP TEN DLA EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR: CHRISSY SCHALL
Chrissy Schall, director of operations for DLA Land and Maritime, earned Top Ten DLA Employee of the Year honors. Schall serves as principal advisor to the commander and deputy commander on daily operations and readiness matters. She previously led DLA Land and Maritime’s Process Management Operations Directorate.
Schall’s nomination lauded her mentorship and leadership skills, saying, “Her contributions have not only addressed immediate operational challenges but have also laid the groundwork for long-term organizational success.”
Under her tenure, Schall identified a strategic expansion need to tackle critical provisioning issues in Weapon System Development initiatives, leading to the creation of two new positions pivotal to the success and sustainability of new weapon system fielding efforts. Further, Schall was credited for her proactive assistance to the Warehouse Management System team which resulted in a system change and savings of $5 million in potential lost sales.
Additional contributions noted in Schall’s award nomination include her role in the development and structuring of the DLA Land and Maritime Risk Management and Internal Controls program, her metrics and data analytics expertise that continues to set the standard Agencywide, and leveraging her business acumen to identify discrepancies and ensure key guidance aligned with the organization's intent.
ACQUISITION EXCELLENCE: STEPHEN SHAW
Stephen Shaw, a procurement analyst with DLA Land and Maritime’s Procurement Process Support Directorate, earned the Acquisition Support Professional of the Year title. Shaw supported the directorate’s innovation mission and worked with internal customers to find efficiencies in existing processes, develop tools and work toward Robotic Process Automation.
Shaw’s nomination noted his “unparalleled creative and innovative solutions to improve throughput of acquisition functions…Stephen is a visionary who programs automation, enabling acquisition specialists to find answers with greater efficiency.”
Shaw’s achievements include the creation of the Continuation Page Builder and improvements to the DLA Warrant Database for contracting officers. The Continuation Page Builder assists buyers to rapidly generate the text required on continuation pages. Buyers can tailor the text based upon a series of menu selections and then paste it directly onto their continuation page or into a word document for review, ultimately increasing the speed, continuity and accuracy of content. Shaw’s work to improve the DLA Warrant Database, which tracks selection, appointment, termination and reinstatement of contracting officers, contributed to DLA Land and Maritime earning a 100% rating from the DLA Warrant Program Manager during the 2024 Compliance Review. Additionally, Shaw was touted for his for his work making information more accessible to colleagues through a series of improvements to the Ask The Analyst tool used by acquisition personnel.
ACQUISITION EXCELLENCE TEAM AWARD: AUTOMATED ONE TIME BUY PROCUREMENT TEAM
DLA’s Automated One Time Buy Procurement Team was recognized for acquisition excellence in managing all aspects of the agency’s automated award program and playing a critical role in the Compliance Agile Project.
The team led by DLA Aviation included the following personnel from DLA Land and Maritime’s Procurement Process Support Directorate: David Beckwith, John Dotchin, Christina Geobert, Douglas Griffith, Rose Hopkins, Susan Knisley, Jason Malmstrom, Natalya Radyk, Kenneth Rumbaugh and Michael Williams.
During the nomination period, the automated award program issued over 400,000 solicitations and over 151,000 awards valued at $1.086 billion. The team also managed the automated program responsible for creating long term contracts, resulting in 4,312 long term contract awards with over 11,900 delivery orders for a total obligation of $141 million to the defense industrial base to support warfighter requirements.
For the Compliance Agile Project, the team collaborated with DLA Information Operations developers to implement a series of capabilities to improve the accuracy of socioeconomic certification data and further develop set-aside capabilities, allowing for increased automation of awards.
The nomination noted that the steps undertaken by the AOTB Team “are leading a broader expansion of automated capabilities across DLA…The outcomes driven by this team’s current and enhanced capabilities demonstrate their commitment to supporting the industrial base and improving Warfighter support.”
See the complete list of DLA 57th Annual Employee Recognition Awards Program winners
Additional photos are available here (CAC-enabled)