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# Magnificent Seven

By DLA Public Affairs

                Fort Belvoir, Virginia  –              
The Defense Logistics Agency inducted seven honorees into its Hall of Fame in a Sept. 20, 2016, ceremony at the McNamara Headquarters Complex, attended by current and former senior leaders from throughout the agency and the Office of the Secretary of Defense, as well as the families of the honorees. Their induction honors their contributions to DLA through 2015, when each was nominated and then chosen by the selection committee.

 

**Celia Adolphi**

Before Celia Adolphi served as the first civilian deputy director of the Defense Logistics Agency’s Joint Reserve Force, she was in the Army Reserve herself. How she became the first woman in the Army Reserve to attain the rank of major general is just one of the surprising turns her career has taken. 

Adolphi served more than 26 years in the Army Reserve, in progressively demanding logistical assignments that culminated in her selection as the first female brigadier general — active or reserve — in the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps.

When she moved on to a job at the Pentagon, she was central to changing nutrition of troop recipes and menus to support changing physical fitness policies and then, some years later in the procurement of military food service, from warehouse storage to acquisition of a prime vendor. 

“These were big changes for many people, both in the mindsets of leaders as well as the cooks on the ground. Skepticism about whether it would work or not abounded,” she said. “But sometimes you just have to say, ‘Well, we’re going to try it.’ We did, and both initiatives have been successful for many years.”

In late 2002, Adolphi was hired into the deputy position in DLA’s Joint Reserve Force. 

“I was the first deputy, but it really got started when [Army] Lt. Gen. Tom Glisson was the director. He and Army reservist Maj. Gen. Joe Thompson came up with this idea that it would be better to have all of the reservists in DLA under central management,” Adolphi said. 

Adolphi explained that reservists, who make up the majority of DLA’s military forces, were scattered geographically and their assignments were not always strategically in the agency’s best interest. 

“As DLA’s mission to support the military services ramped up after 9/11 and an ensuing need to position DLA personnel in theater, reservists became a vital part of the deployment equation,” she said.

In Adolphi’s nomination, current JRF Deputy Director Robert McCullough echoed Adolphi’s significant accomplishments in building up the Reserve forces.

“During the 2003 to 2005 timeframe, Ms. Adolphi worked vigorously with the Army Reserve to gain approval to convert Army Individual Mobilization Augmentee reservists to a troop program unit,” McCullough wrote. “This single action enabled DLA to establish the Army Reserve Element command to lead the 196 Army reservists assigned to DLA.”

As deputy director, Adolphi implemented DLA instructions that established policies for managing the Joint Reserve Force Directorate and procedures on recalling reservists assigned to DLA to active duty for deployment. Due to her understanding of national policies regarding management of reservists, these instructions are still enforced and continue to govern the directorate’s activities.

“Ms. Adolphi’s caring leadership, attention to detail, unwavering commitment and contributions to the Defense Logistics Agency and the JRF has been significant,” McCullough wrote. “Her unparalleled leadership, vision and continuous customer service focus throughout a long and commendable career identify her as most deserving of the DLA Hall of Fame.”

*— Dianne Ryder*

 

**Krissie Davis**

Krissie Davis volunteered for duty in Afghanistan with no worry of the dangers there. Family and friends — especially her daughter, Angela — begged and pleaded for her not to deploy. But Davis dwelled on the positive and bragged about the important job she had preparing excess military equipment for disposal for Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services. And besides, she believed God could come for her whether she was tucked in bed in her Talladega, Alabama, home or in a warzone.

Loved ones’ fears met reality June 8, 2015. She and Rob DeLong, her “battle buddy” and fellow DLA Disposition Services employee, were heading to the dining facility on Bagram Airfield around 5:30 a.m. when a 105-mm rocket slammed into their Ford pickup. DeLong recovered within seconds but struggled to see Davis through the billowing smoke. 

“I asked her if she was okay and she said, ‘No.’ I really couldn’t see much, but I knew whatever happened was bad,” he said. 

Airmen who saw the blast dashed toward the flames to assist, but Davis’ lower-extremity injuries were too severe for basic first aid. When the ambulance arrived, DeLong crawled in behind Davis. He held her hand on the bumpy ride to the hospital, listening as she talked about her husband, daughter and grandbabies. 

Davis died as surgeons fought to save her. At 54, she became the first DLA Disposition Services civilian lost to combat-related injuries. Those who worked with Davis at DLA Disposition Services in Anniston, Alabama, remember her Southern drawl and infectious laughter. Dale Bennett, former director of DLA Disposition Services Mid-America, said she could always depend on Davis’ dedication and sense of humor.

“I could always depend on her to give me the straight truth. She would sometimes use that humor to help me understand operational issues or challenges that her site was experiencing,” she said.

Davis’ three-decade federal career included service with the Bureau of Prisons and Department of the Army. She joined DLA in 1993 and volunteered in 2010 for her first deployment in support of disposal operations at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, and Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan. 

DeLong met Davis during pre-deployment training at Fort Bliss, Texas.

“She kind of took me under her wing because it was my first deployment,” he said. “She knew her job like the back of her hand and knew exactly what she was doing the minute we hit the ground.”

They soon discovered each other’s passion for books and coffee and shared stories about their spouses and children back in America. A week after their arrival, Coachella Purter from DLA Disposition Services at Fort Lewis, Washington, joined their small team. 

“Deployment is a time when people tend to come together and bond. When I arrived, Krissie and I hit it off right away like I’d known her all my life,” she said. “It was clear she was there to get the work done, but she was going to have fun doing it. You couldn’t have a bad day around Krissie.” 

Purter would have been in the truck with Davis and DeLong the morning of the attack if she hadn’t chosen that day to start a new workout program. Davis and Purter both wanted to lose 20 pounds during their deployment, but Davis was saving her workouts for the evening. 

In a blog post to employees, DLA Director Air Force Lt. Gen. Andy Busch said Davis’ death was a terrible reminder of the dangers that still existed, although combat operations were officially over. 

“Even as we draw down from the conflicts we’ve faced overseas, there are still DLA military personnel and civilians in harm’s way facing hardships every day,” he wrote.

*— Beth Reece*

 

**David Ennis**

David Ennis’s career has been marked by notable success — as a leader, mentor, friend, outstanding citizen and mayor of his hometown, Escalon, California. Now he can add to his honors membership in the Defense Logistics Agency Hall of Fame.

Ennis reflected on his most memorable accomplishment as the former deputy commander of DLA’s second largest distribution center, DLA Distribution San Joaquin.

“We were able to bring the consolidation of the distribution depots into DLA — all the different services and different systems together and save approximately 25,000 positions,” he said. “It was something that I was able to benefit from — [as well as] the agency and the taxpayer, mostly from the improvements that we brought throughout the system.”

From 2004 to 2006, Ennis provided distribution services to over 44,000 customer organizations worldwide and sustained military readiness during a time of tremendous organizational change. But Ennis insists on sharing the credit for his many achievements and recognitions.

“I worked with a lot of people from the East Coast, and it was tremendous,” he said. “They helped; they weren’t selfish at all.”  

In 1984, Ennis was voted one of 10 Outstanding DLA Personnel, an honor he counted as the highest in his career.

In his nomination package for induction to the DLA Hall of Fame, DLA Distribution Deputy Commander Twila Gonzales referred to Ennis as a “world-class leader.”

“As the deputy commander, Mr. Ennis brought the highest level of personal integrity, honesty and dedication to an organization challenged by continual change and uncertainty,” Gonzales wrote. “Mr. Ennis exemplifies all the best quality of our senior logisticians and is truly deserving of this recognition.”

As deputy commander, Ennis was responsible for the receipt, storage, issue, shipment, surveillance, care and preservation of over 752,000 line items of materiel valued at $5.1 billion, execution of a $179 million annual operating budget and administration of 1,600 personnel. If those were the only elements of Ennis’s success, they would be stellar enough. But his leadership positions in city government have also been noteworthy.

“When we first met, he was introduced to me as the ‘Mayor of Escalon’ — an honorary title, I thought,” said retired Army Col. John Marx, who served as DDJC commander from 1998 to 2001. “As time passed, I found out that he really was the mayor and that he played a significant role in providing leadership to the people of Escalon.”

In fact, Ennis served three terms as mayor of Escalon. He also served on the Escalon City Council and the San Joaquin County Council of Governors. In 1989, Ennis was named Outstanding Citizen in the Community, and he and his wife Rose still serve on the South San Joaquin County Library Task Force.

Retired Army Col. Edward Visker, DDJC commander from 2001 to 2004, also extolled Ennis’s leadership outside of his federal position.

“As a soldier who uprooted his family every two or three years, I had never planted roots. I often envied the bonds that Dave had made with his community and his friends and neighbors,” Visker said. “Outside the office, Dave was completely immersed in service his community as a civic leader at the town, county and state levels. He was always volunteering to lead, support or help a cause that would improve someone else’s life.”

*— Dianne Ryder*

 

**Kent ‘Rocky’ Galbraith**

One of the 2016 inductees into the DLA Hall of Fame, Kent “Rocky” Galbraith, spent 38 years with DLA, beginning as a warehouse worker at Defense Depot Ogden Utah in 1966.

Three years later, he became a GS-5 computer programmer in DDOU Data Systems, the same year the Department of Defense sent its first message using the precursor to the internet. 

“When I first started, we would do our programming on the IBM punch cards. I don’t remember what year we got desktops, but that technology allowed much more productivity.”

Galbraith steadily moved up through the ranks of what became DLA’s Information Operations, working on a wide variety of DLA systems involving everything from finance to human resources to acquisition and distribution, before retiring in 2004 as a GS-15.

The Hall of Fame nomination heralds Galbraith’s service as director of the DLA Systems Design Center, during which he led the agency’s design, development and deployment of the Distribution Standard System the warehousing and distribution system now used throughout DLA and the military services. Its creation was mandated by the Defense Management Review Decision 902, which recommended a standard system to replace the different ones at the DLA depots and the military services.

Galbraith named the billion-dollar DSS project as one of the greatest challenges in his career — yet also the achievement he’s proudest of. 

“The requirement was to build a standard computer system that would run at 26 worldwide supply depots, for all the military services and DLA,” he said. “Our goal was a DoD standard distribution system that would accommodate their individual requirements.” 

His team took each service one at a time, making sure all its requirements were part of the new standard system.

They began the project in 1992 and in 1995 deployed DSS to the five original DLA-operated depots. The following year saw the Army’s systems retrofitted, followed by those of the Air Force in 1997 and the Navy’s systems a year later. 

Along the way, both Galbraith and his team received numerous awards from DoD as well as the Hammer Award from the vice president of the United States. Ultimately, the DSS system saved hundreds of millions of dollars and is still one of the most critical DLA/DoD systems.

Jeffrey Charlesworth, the current DSS portfolio manager, reflected on what made Galbraith such an effective leader of such a vast and complex undertaking. 

“He cared deeply about the mission, and he had great attention to detail,” Charlesworth said. The creation and deployment of DSS “was one of the biggest tasks we’ll ever undertake, because it involved taking over the workload and systems of all four military services to replace them with ours,” he explained.

The necessity of that task was not always universally recognized, Charlesworth noted. 

“It took a lot of negotiation and give-and-take with customers who were not always the most willing.” Fortunately, he said, “Rocky was good at working with people. He was able to relate to people and work things through.”

*— John R. Bell*

 

 

**Paula Kluczynski**

A program that helps transform Defense Logistics Agency employees into leaders is a legacy that earned Paula Kluczynski a posthumous place in the DLA Hall of Fame.

Kluczynski in 2004 was an essential partner in creating the New Supervisor Certificate Program Level 3, which at the time was the only certificate program available in the Department of Defense to offer a two-year systematic program to enhance leadership skills.

“As developer and manager of this groundbreaking program, Ms. Kluczynski oversaw the successful transition of newly appointed DLA supervisors into leadership positions within the agency. Through Ms. Kluczynski’s leadership and management, this program became and is still recognized as an industry best practice across both public and private sectors,” said Angela Scott-Tucker, chief of the Supply Chain Logistics Training Division. 

April 2016 marks 12-year anniversary of the program. 

During her tenure, Kluczynski handled more than 1,700 program graduates and managed more than 700 participants in the program while maintaining outstanding customer service, Scott-Tucker said.

After managing the program for more than eight years until her retirement in June 2012, Kluczynski continued to provide insight and advice to her former coworkers until her death in February 2015. Her 35-year career included other leadership roles from the Office of Comptroller and Human Resources to the Equal Employment Opportunity Office before she joined DLA Human Resources Services in the 1990s.

In addition to her program accomplishments, how she approached her work is also part of her lasting impact.

“Through my history of working with Paula, first as a DLA supervisor with assignment to the Level 3 program, then as a DLA Training forward presence and co-worker, I personally witnessed Paula’s approach to daily work duties in a fierce, determined manner,” said Jacqueline Nelson, program manager for DLA Training. “But Paula also found the time to work with others ... in a patient and kind manner.

“Her approach ensured others, including myself, learned properly to provide quality service to the DLA workforce,” Nelson said.

Before undertaking a new challenge, Kluczynski would also put in a good deal of time and effort to research and manage a large number of details, aiming to “begin with the end in mind,” according to Bill Velbeck, program analyst with DLA Training.

She would display great authenticity in her leadership and teaching as well, Velbeck said.

“I had the privilege to co-teach a number of leadership classes with her over the years. The course we taught together included a discussion of ethics. Paula always opened that discussion by reciting the oath of office that we all took, then asking the new supervisors what that oath meant to them,” Velbeck said. 

“When it was her turn to say what it meant to her, she told a story of a visit she made to the Marine Corps Boot Camp at Parris Island. She invariably became tearful as she described watching the young men and women training to put themselves in harm’s way in order to protect our country. I know that everyone in the room was moved by Paula’s sincere emotional reaction to that experience.”

Whether it’s her passion or her actions, Kluczynski’s impression is still felt in DLA and applied to its training. 

Committed and determined, yet humble, Kluczynski approach served as a role model for how to look at training, Nelson said. Her work will live forever within DLA Training because she walked the talk of true and great leadership.

“Paula left a legacy of dedication and a stubborn insistence on quality that we still talk about today,” Velbeck added.

 “Paula relished and took great pride in being recognized as the subject matter expert within DoD and the private sector,” said her husband, Al Kluczynski. “She was asked to brief her program at many high-level meetings, to include [with the Department of] Homeland Security when it was first created.”

 “From Paula’s perspective, I believe she would express her tremendous appreciation for management putting their trust in her and providing her with the tools she needed to develop this program,” he said. “DLA’s investment in her will have tremendous benefits for decades to come.”

*— Christopher Goulait*

 

**Al Thompson**

Retired Navy Vice Adm. Al Thompson had been commander of then-Defense Supply Center Columbus for only five days on the morning of 9/11. He was in the middle of “welcome” orientations with key staff when a messenger slipped into the room and whispered in his ear, “Sir, you’re needed in the command center.” The mission he was responsible for was about to expand. 

“It became clear shortly afterward that there would be significant combat operations in the Middle East, so we became completely focused on gearing up to support those operations and anticipating what the material requirements would be,” he said. 

Seven years later, as director of the Defense Logistics Agency, Thompson oversaw the return or disposal of that same equipment while simultaneously leading the surge of equipment for an additional 30,000 troops deploying to Afghanistan. 

Thompson was inducted into the DLA Hall of Fame for being “truly the right DLA leader at the right time,” said DLA Vice Director Ted Case.

Warfighter support was a focal point of Thompson’s tenure as DLA director. Spare parts for the all-terrain version of the mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle, known as the M-ATV, were so critical that Thompson led a group of DLA officials to the manufacturing site to create a sustainment plan.

“We met with the president of Oshkosh and went through our contracts to make sure that when M-ATVs began deploying to Afghanistan, we had parts support already synchronized,” he said. 

Thompson also oversaw the massive shift of cargo from DLA’s commercial supply line to the Northern Distribution Network, a series of rail, water and road links enabling the transport of goods to U.S. and NATO troops serving in Afghanistan. Nearly 80 percent of the cargo that passed through the NDN was DLA material, and Thompson built strong partnerships with military and U.S. Transportation Command officials to reduce the time and cost of supplying troops via the NDN. 

Many of the results of Base Realignment and Closure 2005 decisions also occurred during Thompson’s three years as director. He ensured effective integration of procurement and industrial support activities previously handled by the services as DLA took on 50 new operating sites and nearly 6,000 employees from the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. DLA sales grew by $10 billion over three years and were accompanied by consistently improving annual customer satisfaction surveys, according to his nomination packet.  

As Thompson visited installations during the BRAC implementation, he recognized that service members were often confused about who did what at DLA, or if DLA was even involved. The need for a new naming convention struck him at a DLA Distribution facility in Puget Sound, Washington, where he saw a sign that read “Defense Supply Center Columbus Puget Sound Detachment.” 

“First of all, if I was a DLA team member who worked there, what does that name say about what I do? Second, people don’t like names of an organization they work for [whose] geographic location is 2,000 miles away,” he said. “And frankly, it was way too many words.”

He called together a team of senior leaders from throughout the agency and gave them this mission: clean up and clarify the titles of DLA’s field activities. The initiative was named “We Are DLA,” and it united the agency’s 27,000 employees.

The movement was more powerful than Thompson envisioned.

“As I visited various field activities, working-level employees would come up to me and say they thought it was fantastic, because it made their mission clearer when they were communicating with customers,” he said.

 *— Beth Reece*

 

**Paul Zebrowski**

Who could the Defense Logistics Agency turn to help stand up a new office, modernize the way it does business or stabilize support for an entire supply chain after a scandal? In each case, Paul Zebrowski answered the call.

“I have always enjoyed solving problems: the thornier, the better,” Zebrowski said, summarizing much of the work he did for DLA.

Zebrowski cited rebuilding the DLA Troop Support Clothing and Textiles industrial base as the most difficult challenge he faced in his 34 years with the agency. 

“Several key members of C&T management were removed due to alleged illegal activities involving government contractors,” Army Brig. Gen. Charles Hamilton, commander of DLA Troop Support, explained in his nomination justification. “The events during this time left the workforce extremely vulnerable. Paul’s confident, methodical approach to returning normalcy to the workplace allowed employees to recover and return to the world-class support they were known for.”

Both employees and vendors needed support in the aftermath of these events, aided by Zebrowski as the Clothing and Textiles deputy director. Town hall meetings, an expanded Employee Assistance Program and supervisor counseling helped steady the workforce, while enhanced relations with vendors and trade organizations reinforced the supply chain.

“He led C&T out of a very dark time, healing a shattered industrial base and strengthening a workforce,” said Keith Ford, current deputy director of Clothing and Textiles. 

Steadying Clothing and Textiles is often the first thing mentioned about Zebrowski, but it’s not what he considers his most enduring mark on DLA.

“While rebuilding the Clothing and Textiles industrial base was the most difficult challenge that I faced, I think that helping that organization modernize its business practices and management structure was my lasting contribution,” he said.

In 1987, Clothing and Textiles only had five computers for 500 people, kept excess obsolete items in inventory and had shortages of required items. In 1989 there were no shortages, and excess items were reduced, thanks to improved acquisition strategies and a vibrant new supplier base. Employees became linked by an internal network in 1990. Then in 1995, Clothing and Textiles deployed the Department of Defense’s first internet-based catalog and ordering system, which eventually became part of the DoD Electronic Mall.

 “His unique in-house, on-the-job training sessions, C&T University, are still a practice today. His business acumen led C&T to change into ‘tip of the spear’ support to many customers,” Ford said.

Zebrowski also changed the way contracting was handled in the organization.

“Historically at DLA, contracts were awarded using sealed bids for periods of time ranging from three months to a year,” Ford explained. “Under his leadership, C&T staff executed some the first best-value acquisitions in DLA and implemented the use of multi-sourcing and long-term contracts. These techniques are now considered the standard for DLA contracting.”

Acquisition expertise led to Zebrowski moving from the field at DLA Troop Support to the headquarters with DLA Acquisition, where he finished his career. Assisting with the creation of DLA Acquisition was one of his other top accomplishments, and he noted it reflected the recognition of acquisition as a pillar of the agency’s mission.

“He was a pioneering leader whose guidance and expertise influenced many policies and daily practices that are still implemented throughout DLA,” said William Kenny, executive director of Contracting and Acquisition Management for DLA Troop Support. “From his understanding on mandatory sources to ensuring contracts were compliant with Federal Acquisition Regulations and garnered the right completion, Paul’s knowledge on procurement and acquisition matters was beyond impressive.”

*— Christopher Goulait*

 

 

 

 

 

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