# DLA Aviation employees recognized for outstanding warfighter support in August

/ Published Nov. 10, 2021
RICHMOND, Va, 
Richard Armstrong and Tyrone Paige were selected as Defense Logistics Agency Aviation’s Employees of the Month for August. Armstrong won in the general schedule (GS) 10-13 category. Paige took the award in the GS 1-9 category.

Let’s start in sunny, southern California with Paige, an inventory management specialist out at DLA Aviation at San Diego.

In his nomination, Gerald Walton, the Material Management Cell chief, said Paige consistently demonstrated meritorious action and proved to be hard-working and efficient at his job and is a great asset to the Depot Level Repairable center.

Walton said the manpower dropped from four employees to two in August and Paige was faced with the daunting task of carrying the bulk of the workload. He processed the paperwork for both the Commercial Asset Visibility-Organic Repair Module and the Electronic Retrograde Management System. He normally only works with the ERMS.

It was during this period Paige identified a system bottleneck. Delayed paperwork processing was impacting another activity’s ability to order material without paying full price due to delayed carcass processing. Once he discovered the issue, Paige acted, reaching out for technical assistance in the repairables team and even made several trips over to DLA Distribution San Joaquin, California, to better understand where the disconnect was occurring.

By working the process, Paige was able to uncover the issue; carcasses being returned to inventory were not being closed out in the Navy eRetrograde Management System. He worked diligently to correct the carcass charges, completing over 850 ERMS documents and helping create a process guide.

“Thanks to Tyrone’s hard work, expertise, due diligence and collaboration with both Fleet Readiness Center Southwest and DLA Distribution, he was able to streamline a process in the system that had been flawed and helped prevent potential aircraft production delays,” Walton said.

“It feels great to get recognized for the hard work you do, which sometimes can go unnoticed. Since I’ve been working at DLA, those I’ve worked for have made it known they take care of their folks and recognize stellar performers,” Paige said. “I appreciate that. It feels good to know that I’m working for an organization that puts its employees first.”  

A little more than 780 miles northeast of San Diego is where we’ll find Armstrong, the general schedule (GS) 10-13 category August EOM winner.

“Without the teamwork and individuals on this team, I would have never been able to accomplish everything I have with this organization,” he said.

Armstrong’s a supply systems analyst at DLA Aviation at Ogden on Hill Air Force Base, Utah. Paul Sonnier, a general supply specialist and Armstrong’s supervisor, nominated him for the award.

He said Armstrong resolved one of the critical end item issues for the Air Force B-52 bomber, an air turbine starter assembly, that was delaying repair work on the aircraft. He resolved 21 backorders due to a tech block on the acquisition method suffix code, which annotated the item as sole source. He achieved this by coordinating with product specialists and engineers to revise the tech data package and converting the item to fully competitive.

He also ensured material master data drawings were updated and all tech blocks removed. His initiative and foresight resulted in 228 contracts being awarded and the necessary parts delivered to clear the B-52 work stoppage. 

Additionally, he created and implemented an audit evaluation process in accordance with DLA Aviation’s Industrial Product-Support Vendor GEN III contract. This new audit was adopted by air logistics centers on Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma; Warner Robins AFB, Georgia; and Hill AFB Base, Utah, to evaluate contractor cycle-count audits.

His efforts also ensured audits are properly conducted and necessary inventory adjustments are reported, documented and corrected. This resulted in identifying  and recommending to the IPV Program Office that 40% of bins be removed, driving a potential savings of $2.9 million. Along these lines, Armstrong created and implemented an IPV training guide to educate 720 DLA and 1,301 Air Force employees on understanding the over-arching role of the IPV Program.

“It’s a great honor being recognized both at DLA Aviation at Ogden and Richmond, Virginia. I’ve been with DLA for many years and I’m very thankful for those who’ve been my trainers and supervisors,” Armstrong said. “I have learned so much from them and without those individuals I would not be where I am today in my career.”