# DLA director reviews operating plan, hosts town hall at Troop Support

/ Published May 7, 2018
PHILADELPHIA, 
The director of the Defense Logistics Agency spent the day in Philadelphia April 27, discussing Troop Support’s dynamic operating plan with senior leaders in the morning and speaking to the workforce at an afternoon town hall.

“What we don’t measure, we don’t do,” Army Lt. Gen. Darrell Williams said, stressing the importance of measurable objectives laid out in the plan, formerly referred to as the annual operating plan.

Williams, members of his staff and other major subordinate command representatives reviewed how Troop Support plans to advance the lines of effort within the agency’s Strategic Plan: Warfighter First, Global Posture, Always Accountable, Whole of Government and Strong Partnerships.

Williams began by praising Troop Support successes, but especially noted their whole of government effort, deployment support and “boots-on-ground” assistance to customers on location.

“All over the place, I would say there is clearly a very big Troop Support presence,” Williams said. “Thank you for your support to those temporary assignments, as well as to the forward stationing you are doing.”

Troop Support Commander Army Brig. Gen. Mark Simerly then laid out Troop Support’s campaign plan LOEs - Warfighter Support, Strong Partnerships, People & Culture and Performance - before his senior leaders spoke about their contributions. 

Elizabeth McMaster, director of Business Process Support, detailed the successes of Troop Support’s automation efforts, which reduced manual workload to approximately two percent of the MSC’s transactional business, or purchases that are manually awarded by contracting officers outside of the automated system. 

Financial accomplishments of the previous fiscal year were also highlighted by Troop Support, including a record $15.6B in sales and $117M reduction in planned operating expenses overall for the MSC.

Troop Support’s senior acquisition executive William Kenny touted the MSC’s focus on business initiatives, stating that “small business is part of our culture.”

“What Troop Support does [with small business], paces where DLA will end up,” said DLA Acquisitions Director Matthew Beebe.

Williams encouraged the leaders to use and share the Director’s Dashboard tool, which he described as a way to “operationalize DLA support to the warfighter and to the whole of government,” by providing an interface to view how supply issues effect weapon system readiness in the military. 

He implored Troop Support to use the tool to see how what they do every day impacts the warfighter mission and continue to help decrease backorders and increase materiel availability – areas that directly affect readiness. 

“I’m asking each and every one of you to get [the dashboard] loaded on your computer ... look at the areas where Troop Support is having an impact,” Williams said. 

Williams then hosted a town hall event for Troop Support employees. He started by presenting his “Ya Done Good” award to the following employees:
      -  Eve Rettano, Medical 
      -  Kevin Peoples, Clothing & Textiles 
      -  Carly Grabowski, Procurement 
      -  Alex DiCioccio, J8 Finance 
      -  John Riccio, Subsistence 
      -  Christine Tarkett, Industrial Hardware 
      -  Aide Ramos, Construction & Equipment 
      -  Ella Wynn, Command 
      -  Marie Owens, Command Support 

Williams also presented the DLA coin of excellence to Barbara Hopkins, Industrial Hardware, to recognize her 45 years of service to DLA.

“That is indicative of the culture and family nature of the environment of Troop Support,” Williams said. 

The director also addressed the ongoing discussions about increasing efficiencies in DLA’s warfighter support mission.

“We are looking at ways to continuously streamline and improve the ways that DLA provides support to the warfighter and our nation,” Williams said. 

Williams clarified that the discussions are pre-decisional and regardless of the outcome, he does not see a net loss of positions to Troop Support in Philadelphia. 

“Through Brigadier General Simerly, we will continue to keep you and everyone else updated,” Williams said. 

Williams later described how during his travels and interactions around the globe, he’s often reminded of Troop Support’s “indispensability” to the agency’s mission.  

“Your reputation is unsurpassed,” Williams said. 

Before closing, the director shared his appreciation of Troop Support in persistently helping DLA get to the “next level” as support continues to grow through increased demand and whole of government expansion. 
 “Thank you for the support you’ve provided ... thanks for what Philadelphia does for the warfighter,” Williams said.