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News | May 26, 2016

Small named DLA Aviation Employee of the Month

By DLA Aviation Public Affairs

Defense Logistics Agency Aviation at Ogden employee Melissa Small was honored as the March 2016 Employee of the Month in a ceremony May 19. Small works remotely from Huntsville, Alabama, as a contracting officer aligned with DLA Aviation’s Strategic Acquisition Programs Directorate in Ogden, Utah.

Josh Farr, a strategic contracting officer for depot-level repairables at DLA Aviation in Ogden, Utah, and Small’s supervisor, nominated her for the award.

Farr said Small is the contracting officer for a complex unrestricted bearings source selection integrating customer-direct and DLA-direct solutions.

Farr went on to say that her dedication to seeing projects through is second to none, and cites a recent award of a 5-year, $12.1 million dollar, long-term commercial contract as an example of her dedication.

Small said the commercial long-term contract came about when DLA Aviation team members realized there was a need during the setup of the non-commercial effort in 2014.

“During the summer, both DLA team members and our industry partners took the knowledge and lessons learned during the completion of the non-commercial long-term contract and put a commercial contract in place,” said Small.

Farr also highlighted a second project Small is engaged with that delivers a hybrid, stock and customer-direct solution on a $58 million competitive bearings project. 

He said she collaborated with providers to incentivize productivity and innovation, eliminating unproductive business processes and addressing industrial base vulnerabilities.

 “What a wonderful thing to be recognized by my superiors!” said Small. “It’s truly an honor, but I couldn't have done it without the support of many other people especially my teammates and supervisory staff.  I love my job and the people I work with make all the difference.”

 “While physically located in Huntsville, Melissa performs contracting officer duties for a consumable workload out of Richmond and helps grow our high-performing talent pool at Ogden,” said Farr. “She spends countless hours on the phone providing contracting knowledge and assistance to buyers not familiar with eProcurement, and helps build a cohesive strategic division regardless of location.  She is a prime example how we do things within DLA Aviation to fortify resiliency by assisting members of our geographically dispersed workforce to become more effective in their professional lives to provide effective solutions for mission support.”

Small said she didn’t set out to become a teacher or mentor in any type of way but, her immediate supervisor saw something in her that she didn't. 

“He asked me to take on the role with two of my teammates and it has turned out to be very rewarding and has helped me to grow both personally and professionally,” said Small. “Although it's only been a short amount of time, it has helped me to see more in myself and I look forward to continuing the relationship.”