RICHMOND, Va. –
Employee Spotlight regularly features outstanding non-supervisory personnel from throughout the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation and DLA Installation Support at Richmond teams.
Name: Arthur Robertson, III
Organization: Defense Logistics Agency at Jacksonville, Florida, Customer Operations Directorate
Years of service: three years (With DLA)
What is your job, specifically? I am an equipment specialist. My job encompasses building Material Master Records, coordinating with the Fleet Readiness Center Southeast customers and engineers alike for all technical quality issues. Equipment specialists are the final eyes that verify the accuracy and completeness of the records for our procurement department to make their awards. Additionally, I am the command culture council chairperson for DLA Aviation at Jacksonville. The council’s responsibility consists of performing local surveys to measure the command’s climate outside of the Denison survey. Our team was recognized as number 2 in Denison Culture Survey completions for the entire organization with an 80 percent completion rate. Brig. Gen. Day lauded our efforts for our local program, saying he was extremely impressed with our diligence.
How does your work impact the overall mission of the DLA Aviation team? Technical quality plays a major role in the mission because we have to ensure that the technical side of the process is complete. The warfighter has to be able to get the correct part with the right revisions to perform the mission. There is a very small margin for error and we have to ensure all the I's are dotted and all T's are crossed.
What type of training and education helps your work in your current role? I have a Master of Science in management with a logistics specialty. This degree includes quality, technical report writing, analysis, operational risk management and a myriad of other areas that helps me in my job performance. I have a very proactive approach in everything I do and I own my processes, meaning, I take pride in everything that I do.
What knowledge, advice or suggestion can you offer to benefit those in your field, or even the entire workforce? In technical quality, we believe that we have to be diligent in our processes. Making one error with the material master could cause a domino effect along the entire process to final disposition. Own your processes, know your skillsets, be that "go to" subject matter expert and you will always prevail.
What do you like most about your job? I enjoy technical quality because I am a technical type of person. I love researching and finding solutions to problems. I am a 30-year, war veteran and my job is part of the puzzle that supports the warfighter to the utmost. I was that F-18 technician on the flight deck, who was launching and recovering aircraft and troubleshooting (researching), and who needed those parts. Now, I am on the other side supporting the mission. I look at my job from the perspective of the men and women in the field as if I was still there and I will do whatever is necessary to support that warfighter.
If you could speak directly to the warfighters you support, what would you say? Move over, reactivate me and I will be the first one in line to support my country. I have obligated over 30 years of my life to my country and wouldn’t mind doing more. Tell me where to sign. I love my country. God, family and country is what I live by.
What was your first job? My first job at DLA was as a customer support technician in Jacksonville, Florida
If you had a theme song, what would it be and why? My theme song would be “I believe I can fly” by R. Kelly. The song explains that whatever you want or believe that you can do in life can be achieved. We have a commitment to excellence in supporting the F-18 program and some people feel that the demand is not possible, but I feel that if I can see it, then I can do it. We all have to adapt and overcome and be resilient, which is one of DLA’s key values that we see expressed everywhere you look throughout DLA.
Do you have a personal motto? "Life is a fight for territory, and once you stop fighting for what you want, what you don't want will automatically takeover." -- Mr. Les Brown (motivational speaker)
What is your proudest accomplishment? Completing my masters at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.
How has mentoring enriched your career? I enjoy the feeling when I can mentor others on their successful paths. I believe in helping others before myself. I try to align myself with positive people. It's better to be alone than in the wrong company.
What has been the highlight of your career so far? This spotlight interview and trying to make a difference with the Culture Council.
What do you enjoy doing when not at work? I enjoy playing tennis, gardening, singing, and spending time with my wife.
Who is the most influential person in my life…past or present? My wife is my hero because she battled breast cancer and never gave up. She never showed signs of weakness and she kept a positive outlook on everything, even when I was stressing over it. When she was sick, I felt sick, but she pushed me to complete my career. Not many like her.
What five things could you absolutely not live without? God, wellness, having a sense of security and complete happiness.
What type of music do you enjoy? Love ballads