# Aviation recognizes February 2023 Employees of the Month 

/ Published May 18, 2023
RICHMOND, Va., 
Defense Logistics Agency Aviation’s February 2023 employees of the month Nathaniel Steele and Thomas ‘Tommy’ Simpson have worked diligently to keep materials moving for the safety and support of fleet readiness at DLA Aviation.

Employee of the month is awarded to DLA Aviation non-supervisory civilian employees. Two recipients are selected based on individual general schedule pay levels – one from GS 1-9 (Category 1) and one from GS 10-13 (Category 2). Recipients receive a coin, a certificate of achievement and a cash award.

Nathaniel Steele is a material handler within DLA Aviation at Warner Robins Commodities Maintenance Group’s Storage and Distribution Division on Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. He was selected as the Category 1 winner.

Steele is being recognized for his superior work ethic, leadership, and performance in February 2023 while skillfully managing a shop service center.

Steele’s supervisor, Materials Expediter Earnestine Joseph, said in her nomination that while Steele was engaged in managing SSC operations, he also picked material to be issued to the mechanics and ensured the accurate delivery of parts while reducing the average delivery time from 90 minutes to 57 minutes. During the inspections of the material, Steele skillfully identified quality deficiencies in roughly 100 aircraft fire bottles which he then rerouted for repairs.

Steele was also commended for assisting the inventory team in identifying discrepancies during their monthly inspections, an effort that resulted in an impressive inventory accuracy rate of 98.50%, well above the DLA standard of 95%.

Joseph states that Steele has selflessly stepped up above and beyond in his commitment to deliver correct and serviceable parts in support of the warfighter.  

Tommy Simpson is a weapons system program manager within DLA Aviation’s Customer Operations Directorate’s Navy Customer Facing Division in Richmond, Virginia on Defense Supply Center Richmond, Virginia. He was selected as the Category 2 winner.

Simpson is described as “a relentless warfighter advocate” by Navy Customer Operations Division Chief, Navy Capt. Ronald Hoak, as Simpson found the means to work through material shortages and fiscal restraints to maintain the availability of vital parts.

While facing critical shortages, Simpson sustained the highest levels of material support by swiftly assembling proficient teams focused on flight line readiness. Through his expert management of the communication between key players, 67 backordered items were resolved and expedited to delivery thus avoiding grounding of the fleet and the cannibalization of other aircraft.

When Simpson was alerted to a safety issue related to the tail assembly of the Navy’s MQ-8 Fire Scout helicopter, he identified and removed all constraints to enable emergency buys on three critical parts. His quick action avoided more lengthy and elevated procurement actions and readied the fleet of MQ-8’s for inspection.

Material vital to fleet readiness was kept moving in the pipeline as a direct result of Simpson’s skill and persistence, and he continues to set the example as program manager.