# PaCE program prepares entry-level associates to be tomorrow’s leaders

/ Published Feb. 13, 2024
COLUMBUS, Ohio, 
The Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime Pathways to Career Excellence Program graduation ceremony on Feb. 6 in the Operations Center Auditorium marked the end of two years of hard work for 85 newly minted logistics professionals ready to tackle new challenges throughout the agency. 

“There is no greater pleasure for me than watching motivated professionals like yourselves celebrate this milestone in your careers,” DLA Land and Maritime Deputy Commander Kenneth Watson told the graduates.

                Lashana Crone, Career Management Division chief for Defense Logistics Agency Human Resources and DLA PaCE program manager speaks at the DLA Land and Maritime Pathways to Career Excellence program 2022-2023 graduation ceremony Feb. 6 in the Operations Center Auditorium. The event marked the completion of a two-year program that trained associates in the contract specialist, quality assurance and supply disciplines.                            PaCE Graduation Ceremony at DLA Land and Maritime                            Lashana Crone, Career Management Division chief for Defense Logistics Agency Human Resources and DLA PaCE program manager speaks at the DLA Land and Maritime Pathways to Career Excellence program 2022-2023 graduation ceremony Feb. 6 in the Operations Center Auditorium. The event marked the completion of a two-year program that trained associates in the contract specialist, quality assurance and supply disciplines.            SHARE IMAGE:Download ImageImage DetailsPhoto By: Arthur Hylton/DSCCVIRIN: 240206-D-DM952-7966

“It’s a waypoint that I hope you remember for a long time on a journey that will continue to intensify and broaden you from this point forward,” he added.

Lashana Crone, Career Management Division chief for DLA Human Resources and DLA PaCE program manager, said PaCE not only expands the knowledge and technical expertise of the agency but trains the leaders of tomorrow.

“They’ve engaged in the entire business of DLA Land and Maritime with the end goal of building a broader perspective and comprehension of agency responsibilities and processes,” she said.

The classes of 2022 – 2023 came from all walks of life and backgrounds ranging from recent college graduates, military veterans and career pivoters  to internal candidates wanting to try something new or advance their careers within DLA.

Shannon Irwin, part of the Class of 2023, spent 25 years in the restaurant industry prior to joining DLA as an intern through the former corporate internship program several years ago. The program allowed her to transition from being a purchasing agent in pre-award to a contract specialist in post-award on the Industrial Hardware team.

“The PaCE program was a great opportunity for someone like me who has worked at DLA Land and Maritime in a similar capacity to grow and advance to the next level in my career field,” she said.

Deante’ Trudo, who is also part of the Class of 2023, came on board as a part of that same corporate internship program where he worked part-time while finishing his degree from Park University and converted to the PaCE program upon graduation. He was interested in the supply side of DLA and will remain a customer account specialist on the Maritime acquisition team.

“I love the opportunity to be able to directly support the warfighter,” he said, noting that as a CAS, he gets to interact with military customers directly, solving problems in real time.

PaCE is a two-year GS 7 target 11 training program combining formal certification and on-the-job training for qualified selectees, said Carlton Edwards, the DLA Land and Maritime PaCE team lead career program specialist for the supply discipline.

Edwards said it encompasses an array of learning experiences from an initial four to five months of local foundational training in the DLA Land and Maritime PaCE Center with the balance of the program in the form of on-the-job training augmented by formal classes to reinforce the technical concepts learned in the trainee’s respective work areas.

“I was able to see some different aspects of the business that I wouldn’t normally be able to see,” Irwin said of the well-rounded aspects of the program. “It was invaluable to me to get that big picture of how things work – but more importantly – seeing why things are the way they are.”

Edwards said the program is competence-based and offers interactive and hands-on training where the participants in each cohort can lean on each other as well as their instructors and supervisors to learn critical concepts needed for them to be successful at their chosen vocations within DLA Land and Maritime.

“It was awesome,” Trudo said of the learning he experienced with his cohort. “I would absolutely recommend this to others who are interested in working in logistics.”

The program has recently expanded its capacity and will be adding 110 new “Pacers” every six months in the acquisition, technical support, quality assurance and general supply career fields, said Tommy Botts, chief of the PaCE Center.

Botts said that the center will be ramping up outreach efforts in a variety of ways to continue to add fresh faces who bring new innovative ideas, energy and initiative to move the organization forward.

“It’s a good program because it eases one into federal service and builds that camaraderie, that personal network needed to have a long successful career as a civil servant in DLA or elsewhere in the federal government,” Edwards said.

Members of the 2022 PaCE class and their chosen disciplines are:

Contract Specialist:

Andrea Botts, Regina Collette, Robert Edgar, John Hamilton and Madison Laughlin.

Quality Assurance Specialist:

Jacob Abram, Paul Barkley, Frederik Cosse, Jr., Samuel Fetty III, Aubrey Harris, Ronald Hill, Trent Hutchins, Christopher Ireton, Zachary Johnson, Craig Presley, Andrew Reichelderfer, Matthew Schiefer, Collin Serraglio, David Westby and Robert Zimmer.

General Supply:

Dharar Abdus-Sabur, Leah Barker, Cordell Beck, Renee Ellis, Andrew Embrey, Samantha Johnson, Christy King, Pamela Krumm, Daniel Martin, Michael McCombs, James McGarvey, Jordan Reed, Jana Reichelderfer, Kristina Roshon, Mark Scheidegger, Ryan Thomas, Wilson Tran and Cynthia Whitney.

Members of the 2023 PaCE class and their chosen disciplines are:

Contract Specialist:

Philip Adu-Adjei, Garrison Ball, Michael Blaha, Staci Boykin, Chris Deason, Paul Doerfler, Anastasia Faber, Caitlin Ferry, Jilian Gambill, Abigail Graf, Michael Grinstead, Jeremy Hart, Lorie Huff, Eugene Ingram, Shannon Irwin, Jennifer Long, Jill Marchky, Santiago Martinez-Rivera, Jacob McGee, Zachary Mullins, Michael O’Connor, Allison Fisher, Grant Thurmond, Blake Tushar, Daniel Woodford and Travis Yerian.

Quality Assurance Specialist:

Jonathan Agan, David Bardsley Jr., Ronald Elick, William Gardner, James Geobert, Jeremiah Hanley, Michael Kaylor, Marquis Leatherbury, Houston Leluika, Donald Phillips and Matthew Scur.

General Supply:

Shawn Doliboa, Jacob King, Leah Luich, Zena Parks-Reaves and Deante’ Trudo.

**For more information on the program, visit**DLA Pathways to Career Excellence (PaCE) Program.