# Employee Spotlight: Joe Krouse

/ Published Aug. 4, 2017
Richmond, Virginia, 
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***Employee spotlight regularly features outstanding non-supervisory personnel from throughout the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation and other DLA employees on Defense Supply Center Richmond, Virginia. Organizational directors may submit names of employees they wish to feature in this column to DLA Aviation Public Affairs. For more information, call (804) 279-3139.  ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________***

**Name:** Joe Krouse

**Organization:**DLA Installation Support at Richmond, Environmental Division

**Years of Service**:Nine months

**What is your job title, and what do you do, specifically?**Environmental Engineer. I help ensure compliance with local, state and federal environmental regulations through the implementation of an environmental management system that is registered under the International Organization of Standards (ISO) 14001 protocol. I am also responsible for pollution prevention and sustainability initiatives to satisfy goals under Executive Order 13693, Planning for Federal Sustainability in the Next Decade. 

**What do you like most about your job?**The ability to think outside of the box concerning compliance and sustainability practices. There are always new issues that pop-up that require problem-solving.

**What would you say has been your major contributions to your organization this year in your job?**I have taken the lead role in transitioning our environmental management system to the latest ISO 14001 standard which is the guidance that helps minimize negative effects on the environment, comply with applicable laws and make continuous environmental improvements on Defense Supply Center Richmond, Virginia.

**What aspect(s) of your current job gives you the most personal satisfaction?Why?**I enjoy working with a supportive team and seeing processes improved to help the organization run more efficiently. It is satisfying to see plans come to fruition which make a positive impact on the installation.

**What was your first job?** My first job out of college involved obtaining soil samples and having them analyzed for petroleum contamination related to residential underground home heating oil tanks.

**Where do you see yourself five years from now?** In five years I will have a busy life with a six-year-old daughter and a “soon-to-be” five-year-old son. 

**What are some of your passions outside of work?** I enjoy spending time outdoors whether it be exploring everything the city of Richmond has to offer or traveling outside of the U.S.I have recently taken interest in playing pinball and I homebrew beer when I get a chance.

**What’s the most thrilling/adventurous thing you have ever done?** I paid a visit to “The Crystal Maiden” that lies within the Actun Tunichil Muknal cave at a Maya archaeological site located in the Tapir Mountain Nature Reserve in Belize, a small country on the eastern coast of Central America.

**If you could pick a personal motto, what would it be?**I try and live by the words as written by Confucius; “I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand.”