# Anniston’s Woods selected as Employee of the Quarter

/ Published Aug. 27, 2018
ANNISTON, Ala., 
Marcus Woods, vehicles and artillery division supervisor at DLA Distribution Anniston, Alabama, was selected as the Employee of the Quarter for the second quarter of fiscal year 2018.

Woods manages the processing of Major End Items and Components of End Items for receiving, storage, and shipping operations at the Anniston distribution center. This operation preserves MEIs and COEI for the Army, Marines, National Guard and Army Reserve. A few of these MEIs include the M1 Abrams tank, M88 recovery vehicle, M113 series troop carriers, and M109 Paladin howitzer, required by the warfighter for combat readiness.

The primary goal of his operation is to provide preservation services to protect, preserve and maintain the combat functionality of the warfighters’ heavy equipment and arms. In addition to quality efforts, Woods must ensure these assets are preserved and ready for global distribution.

During the past quarter, Woods influenced his team of 15 individuals to provide preservation services for over 600 MEIs and 3,000 COEI items requiring Preservation, Packaging, Packing, and Marking.  This consisted of at least 1,200 quality inspections and resulted in over $1 million in preservation revenue, including direct support for the President’s FY-17 European Reassurance Initiative vehicles and the 15th Armored Brigade Combat Team, a 30 percent increase to the combat team’s size and a 200 percent increase in workload for this team, compared to the past three years.

“Due to Mr. Woods’ ability to lead and adopt to reduced resources and increased workload, each requirement was met, including the required levels of quality and time requirements for each Material Release Order,” explained Christopher M. Evans, DLA Distribution Anniston vehicles and artillery division chief. “He also provided support to other divisions within DLA Distribution Anniston, highlighting the remarkable resilience of both Mr. Woods and his branch.”

Woods supervises detailed preservation specifications and quality inspections of both receipts and shipments, including PPP&M actions.  As a result of his expertise and motivational techniques, quality inspections for shipping resulted in zero incidents of non-compliance in 167 inspections, adding to the team’s record of having no accidents or equipment damage for the quarter.  Induction inspections resulted in the identification of ammunition inside of vehicles before routing to the de-fueling station and placement into long-term storage.

On a national level, Woods’ influence led to a new combat team receiving all required items, in the right condition, and with the right level of preservation for successful fielding, a program his team will support for the next four years.  

Likewise, Woods was able to adapt his team to handle fluctuations in workflow.  His scheduling flexibility enabled the team to modify preservation schedules to support customer requirements, including resource realignments to other operations.  These actions led to the direct support for over 1,000 warfighters including the 15th ABCT fielding and the President’s ERI, a global effort.

Woods’ team assisted other divisions with PPP&M, material handling, and induction activities. He organized his team into four sub-units to facilitate the division requirements, resulting in four three-person teams.  

“The accomplishments are attributed to Mr. Woods’ ability to adapt his team to change and multifunctional cross-training of employees which enabled his team to provide instant services for both external and internal entities while supporting the DLA’s Director’s focus on global posture,” said Evans. 

Because of Woods’s efforts, the V&A preservation team continues to be able to provide MEI for global customers in an effective manner for DLA.  

“This team embodies DLA’s values of integrity, diversity, resiliency, innovation, accountability, and excellence,” explained Evans. “Mr. Woods’ stalwart actions reflect great credit upon the V&A division, DLA Distribution Anniston, and the Defense Logistics Agency.”