FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md. –
Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services Northeast Region Director Beth Ford recently convened her directorate’s leadership team for a summit at Fort George G. Meade.
This marks the third summit Ford has hosted since the region was established in October 2020 after splitting from the East Region. She said each gathering strengthens support to the warfighter by fostering collaboration and improving business practices.
“The first day of the summit is called Directors Day,” Ford said. “We focused on leadership, this is our key group, our group that impacts all of our employees within our region.”
Throughout the week, guest speakers covered topics such as human resources, operations, and safety.
One of the speakers, Army Col. Woodward Caldwell, DLA Disposition Services deputy director, shared his perspective as a former DLA Disposition Services customer.
He thanked attendees for their support and emphasized the importance of ensuring military customers have access to quality property.
“The goal is to get more of the property that is turned in on the shelf where military customers can access it,” Caldwell said. “But the property needs to be quality. There is no use putting items on record if no one wants it.”
Bernie Ponce, receipt and warehousing branch chief, reinforced Caldwell’s point during his presentation.
“I just wanted to foot stomp the importance of kind, condition, count,” Ponce said. “That’s the very first step in our process when receiving property, so if we don’t do this right, then everything else on the back end isn’t correct.”
“My expectation going into this was that each supervisor that came here this week left with something that they could take back and improve warfighter support and the workplace culture,” Ford said.
“I think this summit will pay dividends,” Ford said. “These are the leaders that make that change. These are the leaders that drive that new ethic.”