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Show HILLTOP TIMES TIMES March 20, 2008 AF colonel to head DLA Ogden BY WILL DANIEL Defense Supply Center Richmond Public Affairs R ICHMOND, Va. — Defense Logistics Agency officials have selected Air Force Col. Sarah J. Smith to command DLA Ogden when it stands up April 13 at Hill Air Force Base. No stranger to DLA, Smith is currently commander of Defense Distribution Depot Hill. The Air Force's Ogden Air Logistics Center will transfer the supply storage and distribution function of aviation items to DLA Ogden as mandated by the Base Realignment and Closure 2005 legislation. A formal ceremony to activate the DLA aviation supply chain site will take place April 11. It will be a combined ceremony, also de-activating the Air Force's 709th Maintenance Support Squadron. Approximately 231 employees of the squadron there will transfer in place to DLA. Smith was in Richmond, Va., March 3-7 to attend the DLA Aviation Academy, and March 10-13 to join other DLA supply storage and distribution commanders for briefings with Defense Supply Center Richmond leadership. "The Aviation Academy was great," Smith said. "It brought together a cross section of people at DSCR interacting with key people, and it was a great honor and thrill having (retired Air Force) Lt. CoL (Howard) Baugh talk with us." Baugh was a member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen of World War II. He spoke to the group about wh+tf it was like being an African American learning to fly in a segregated Army Air Force. "Here in the site commanders' conference we're talking face to face with the people we''ll be talking to long distanjce," she said. "We are the fade of Richmond, and this is thej kick-off of pulling together that nationwide team." f Before she left Richmond, Smith sat down with public affairs for an interview about fhernewjob. / Q. What do you want to accomplish as the new com- Col. Smith mander of DLA Ogden? A. First and foremost, I want it to be seamless to the Air Force and our warfighter customers. We're bringing great expertise to the Air Force mission, which especially now in wartime is critical. We can't have the slightest hiccup. From there, I want to improve already excellent processes. Lean processes aren't going to stop. We bring a lot of expertise with us from the Air Force. We have to have continuous improvement. Q. What do you want to emphasize to the Air Force employees who are becoming DLA employees? A, Welcome. You are valued members now of the DLA team. Please continue to improve the DLA team just as you improved the Air Force team, and use your expertise to continue supporting the warfighter with all the pride you've always shown in performing your duties. Q. How will this detachment and BRAC overall help the Air Force's mission at Ogden ALC? A. It will allow the supply chain to have a focus on the entire process. By having that focus we will strive to become more flexible and seamless in meeting warfighter demands. Q. How has your previous experience prepared you for this job? A. I understand the customer's perspective. I spent approximately 23 years in aircraft maintenance, and I understand it when customers state that they need a part and they have a workaround until they get it. That's a fact of life in supply chains, but I want to use my knowledge of the supply chain to bring people together through communication to reduce workarounds, and to work them smartly when they do have to happen. Everyone in DLA and Team Hill is working and striving to do his or her best with the ultimate goal being support to the warfighter. I want to be able to use my experience to help them focus on that goal and to make their ability to perform their duties as smoothly as possible. Q. What do you want Richmond employees to know about DLA Ogden's mission, and how can they help you accomplish that mission? A. Communicate, communicate, communicate. DLA Ogden is the physical face of Richmond to Air Force customers at Hill AFB. Everything DLA Ogden does will reflect on DSCR, and I want Richmond people to understand that our intent is to burnish Richmond's already excellent reputation. And the people who are becoming DLA Ogden are the right people to do this. *• + Smith assumed command of DDHU in June 2006. Prior to her assignment at DDHU, she worked on materiel readiness and maintenance policy, and aviation maintenance issues in the Office of the Secretary of Defense in the Pentagon. She also worked in the Air Force Materiel Command Inspector General office at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and later was chief of AFMC's Depot Maintenance Division in the Logistics Directorate there. Between those two assignments, she held command positions at Warner Robins Air Logistics Center; ^ Robins AFB, Ga. Defense Supply Center Richmond is the aviation supply and demand chain manager for Defense Logistics Agency, and serves within the DoD as the primary source of supply for more than 1.2 million repair parts and operating supply items. DSCR's mission is to provide best value aviation weapon systems and environmental logistics support to America's armed forces — on land, at sea and in the air. Gen. Carlson: Keep in mind, 'What have I improved today?' TO THE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE MATERIEL ENTERPRISE: lat have I improved today?" That's a question Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne urged airmen to ask themselves in his Letter to Airmen on Air Force Smart Operations 21. I thought it appropriate we reflect on this as we review some of the improvements and progress that have taken place as a result of the Develop and Sustain Warfighting Systems (D&SWS) process improvement teams. The Air Force Fuels, Vehicle, Equipment Support Agency (AFFVESA) has been vigorously focusing on improving the supply chain for several classes of materiel including individual equipment and petroleum, oil and lubricants.1 They have mapped out and defined the roles and responsibilities of the ALCs and MAJCOMs as they relate to the scope of supply chain operations. These efforts will complement our expeditionary nature by strategically aligning the activity under a single agency establishing a single materiel control process whether at home or deployed. Our Product Lif ecycle Management (PLM) team is enabling airmen in the field to more effectively perform purchasing, repair, maintenance and production work. They recently completed an initial highlevel plan to migrate product configuration data to a Data Vault concept. The plan is tied to the Expeditionary Combat Support Systems (ECSS) release schedule and enables a clean and accurate product data structure throughout the product's life cycle. To further improve our life-cycle processes, we are deploying the Acquisition and Sustainment Tool Kit. This tool puts a number of kneepad checklists and references in one user-friendly Web-based planning aid. Our focus for 2008 is continued implementation of these initiatives and others that drive toward a strategic supply and repair enterprise and enhanced lifecycle performance of weapon systems. I challenge everyone to ask "what have I improved today" and to continue to foster a culture of continuous process improvement as we move closer to our goal of "Streamlined & Integrated Life Cycle Management... One Materiel Enterprise." I remain your fellow wingman, General Bruce Carlson Process Owner JOHN SCAGGS/U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. William C. Gurney, command chief for Air Force Materiel Command, describes his personal communication style as "the eternal optimist." AFMC's command chief emphasizes communication, understanding one's role 'the eternal optimist." Air Force Materiel Command Public Affairs "I'm always looking for the positive elements," he said. "I try to take a step back and view RIGHT-PATTERan issue from all angles." SON AIR FORCE Gurney said a predominant BASE, Ohio — The intelligence background that stigma that airmen assigned took him to several foreign tb" Air Force" Materiel Co'm-"" countries along with an 18mand are not part of the month assignment as command Global War on Terror fight chief for Ogden Air Logistics is one the command's top Center and the 75th Air Base enlisted member is working Wing at Hill AFB have shaped to correct. his outlook. "There are segments of "My experiences have people — ranging from enlisted members within AFMC to those helped me to see new places and cultures. Those experiencin other Air Force major comes also have disciplined me to mands — who equate being in put myself in the other person's the 'fight' by having their boots shoes and to understand difin the sand/1 said Chief Master Sgt. William C. Gurney, AFMCs ferent perspectives. I am very cautious in how I communicate seventh command chief. to others and in how I engage in "First and foremost, the Air the decision-making process," Force is in the fight every day," Gurney continued. "And AFMC he said. has deployed and continues to Prior to his February arrival, deploy airmen to Afghanistan the chief attended a one-week and the Middle East — from course with the Air Force Enmission support personnel, to terprise Management Semisecurity forces, to explosive nar at the University of North Carolina. ordnance disposal, to vehicle operators and many other ca"The course teaches you how reer fields. to face extremely tough decisions as an institution in a sys"In addition, far away from tematic approach, such as budthe front lines, AFMCs work get cuts and, in the Air Force's force has its fingerprints all over game changing technolocase, the need to recapitalize gy, a topic addressed by the Air our fleet," Gurney said. Force Chief of Staff (Gen. T. "It's challenging, because Michael Moseley) in his recent the Air Force has to make cuts White Paper," Chief Gurney to a lot of the programs that said. "This is a critical aspect to airmen have grown accusboth today's fight and our stratomed to," he continued. "That tegic vision and is a big part of can create a mindset among what our command is about." some airmen that their benIn his current position, which efits/services are going away or eroding. We have to be careful he assumed in February, Gurthat we don't let that permeate ney is responsible for the traintoo much and keep our focus ing, education and readiness of AFMCs 12,700 enlisted airmen. on taking care of our airmen and their families. There is a Regarding AFMCs strategic lot of truth in the phrase *We vision for its enlisted airmen, enlist the individual, we retain Gurney stresses that constant the family.'" communication is crucial. "It's critical for people in His concern is one reason senior positions to provide that why Gurney says he is an advolinkage so our airmen undercate for AFMCs enlisted men stand where they fit in and have and women and their families. the broader picture of what we "I want AFMCs enlisted are doing as an Air Force becorps to know that they can cause we also have to focus on approach me anytime with what is going to happen five, 10 a question or concern. They or 15 years from now," he said. deserve our thanks for performing so admirably in these Gurney describes his perchallenging times." sonal communication style as BY MICHELLE GIGANTE W |