# Employee Spotlight: Arlene Davidson 

/ Published Aug. 21, 2019
RICHMOND, VA, 
**Name: **

**Organization:**

**Years of DLA Service:**

**What is your job title, and what do you do, specifically?**

I’m an inventory management sustainment specialist with Defense Logistics Agency Aviation’s Customer Operations Directorate at Cherry Point. From a monthly Gross Demand Plan (GDP)  report, I research and review thousands of national individual identifying numbers and local system numbers, which have been assigned to me, for two industrial activity planner codes, gathering information to insure items are healthy and doing what I can to make them healthy, so that material is available-all in support of our warfighters.

**What do you like most about your job?**

The challenge of reviewing and researching approximately 30 system applications and sites for each item on my report.

**What is your fondest memory of working for DLA Aviation?**

My fondest memory of working at DLA Aviation is when I got the word that I gotten the job I applied for here at Cherry Point.

**What would you say has been your major contributions to your organization this year in your job?**

I would say the major contributions I’ve made to my organization are lending a helping hand to others, giving assistance to co-workers when they come to me with a question or a need-regardless of how big or small, being a member of our Culture Advisory Committee and assisting with a team building event that took place last fall.

**If you could speak directly to the warfighters you support, what would you tell them?**

I would tell them that they have my respect, admiration, appreciation and that they are in my thoughts and prayers.

**What was your first job?**

Babysitting at the age of eight when my mama went back to work.  My youngest of three siblings was two years old at the time. Later, when I was around 11, I began babysitting my cousins and other young children in the neighborhood and for members of my church.

**What advice would you have given yourself 10 years ago?**

The advice I would’ve given myself 10 years ago is to never give up.

**Where do you see yourself five years from now?**

Retired

**What is the most surprising/unexpected thing others do not know about you?**

I’m pretty sure people would be surprised to know that I used to climb around on the top of the CH-53 helicopter making repairs.

**What is your biggest pet peeve?   **

My biggest pet peeve is the lack of respect we have for each other in today’s world.

**What are some of your passions outside of work?**

The things I’m passionate about outside of work are my family and doing home projects, such as painting a room or furniture pieces and working in my flower beds.

**What’s the most thrilling/adventurous thing you have ever done?**

Visiting some friends in Spain was the most adventurous thing I’ve done. While I was Europe, I was also able to travel over to Portugal, and actually got a chance to stand on the Rock of Gibraltar and look out over the Mediterranean Sea. I was truly amazed at how small I felt in comparison.

**If you had a theme song, what would it be and why? **

“It is Well with My Soul” is my song because the words and the message give me strength, courage and comfort.

**If you could pick a personal motto, what would it be? **

Do unto others as you would have done unto you.

**Who is the most influential person(s) in your life...past or present?**

My parents-who are both no longer with me-because of the love they gave to my three sisters and myself, as well as to each other for how hard they both worked to provide for our Family and for the values and examples they set for us.

**Who is your favorite actor and why? **

My favorite actor is Jimmy Stewart. I love his character George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life.”  His character was an ordinary man with hopes and dreams. When those changed, he fell in love, got married and started a family and kept his family’s business going against all odds. He saw himself as a failure and that the world would have been a better place without him. He finds out with the help of an angel needing to earn his wings, that his life affected so many other lives. In my opinion, Mr. Stewart was very believable in his portrayal of this character because he was able to display so many human emotions: anger, disappointment, sorrow, fear, joy, gratitude and humility.

**What is your favorite military aircraft?  Why?**

The CH-53 helicopter because I used to help repair them as a mechanic’s helper when I first came on board at Fleet Readiness Center East in 2006.

**If you could start your life over again, what would you do differently?**

I am not quite sure I would do anything differently (we all say we would), but I believe all of the experiences I have had in my life, have made me the person I am.

**What is your proudest accomplishment?**

The accomplishment I’m most proud of is going back to college and getting two additional associates degrees 25 years after getting my first one in 1978.

**What five things could you not live without?  **

My family, my faith, water, my Bible, my glasses

**What is/are your favorite book(s), television show(s) or movie(s)? **

I enjoy reading anything but science fiction and violence, but my passion is reading about history.  As far as movies, any movie that comes on Hallmark.

**What type of music do you most enjoy?**

I enjoy praise and worship music, and because I’m a Carolina girl, I also enjoy beach music. Then of course, there is Country. Love it.

**Have you had a mentor that helped you grow in your career? If so who, and how did they help?**I have been fortunate to have supervisors, both in the civilian world and in the government, who encouraged me and recognized my abilities.

**Have you ever been a mentor to a co-worker or other employee?  If so, how did you help them grow?**

I am not exactly sure I would call myself a mentor, but I have always tried to lead by example.  As an office manager in the civilian world, I never asked anyone to do anything that I myself had not already done or was not willing to do.