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News | Nov. 9, 2015

Commander recaps successful 2015 in Columbus, provides glimpse into the next year

By Michael Molinaro DLA Land and Maritime

On “Back to the Future Day,” the commander of DLA Land and Maritime reviewed a successful Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 while looking ahead to 2016.

Inside the Building 20 auditorium on Defense Supply Center Columbus Oct. 21, Navy Rear Adm. John King hosted his quarterly town hall in front of a packed room and discussed this year’s Combined Federal Campaign, safety, FY 15 metrics, and recognized several associates for achievement.

“I am very grateful that I have the opportunity to be the commander of DLA Land and Maritime,” King said. “I get to go out and hear all of the terrific comments and great feedback. I am very proud I get to hear it all.”

Summarizing the past year, King said that Land and Maritime was in the same company as the local Ohio State Buckeyes and his beloved New England Patriots, teams that had very good years ending in championships. Metrics across the board backed up the commander’s sentiment.

Building on the successes of 2014, Land and Maritime had sales 18 percent above plan, resulting in additional obligation authority of over seven percent. Aged backorders more than five years old were completely erased from the books, and the forward stocking status was at 100 percent, ensuring that the war fighter was well supplied. Strategically, small business was more than 53 percent of Land and Maritime’s sales, a number that left the commander impressed.

“That is an amazing (number) when you think about the weapons systems that are out there,” King said. “They’re all manufactured by major vendors. And here we are awarding over 50 percent to small business.”

In addition to the financial stewardship on display in 2015, King was pleased with how the Army Supply Plan was unfolding, and reaffirmed his commitment to Land and Maritime’s drive to institutionalize the focus on People and Culture with the creation of the new P&C directorate.

Looking ahead to 2016, King said Land and Maritime is going to develop a more robust and mature CPI program, identify more appropriate time-to-award goals, prepare for the launch of Better Buying Power 4.0 which will be logistics and sustainment-focused, and continue to have the right engagements with senior leaders from the Army and Marine Corps, making sure those services understand the value Land and Maritime brings to them.

King took time to recognize several associates. Mary Jo Dust earned the Superior Civilian Service Award for her work while deployed to Camp Arifjan, Kuwait in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. Capt. Kevin Barber was named the DLA Junior Reserve Officer of the Year. The nominees for the DLA 48th Annual Awards were announced.
Four associates took home Associate of the Month awards for the past quarter, including:
•    June—Travis Robertson, Procurement
•    July—Karen Day, Procurement
•    August (tie)—Kevin Grover, Maritime Customer Operations, and Stacy White, Maritime Supplier Operations.

The first Better Buying Power Star Awards given to associates or teams who perform actions that exemplify one or more of the eight tenants of Better Buying Power were handed out. For more on the BBP stars, go to: https://origin-today.dla.mil/landandmaritime/Lists/News%20Article%20Lists/CustomDispForm.aspx?ID=2580