FORT SILL, Okla.-- When transportation assistant Glenda Clipp heard she was going to receive a performance award she was surprised because she believed that she was just doing her job.
Clipp worked as part of the passenger travel office team at the Directorate of Logistics, which provided travel support to the 434th Field Artillery Brigade. The team assisted more than 15,000 Soldiers graduating from basic training during a 10-month period.
"I was shocked; it's just something that we do for the Soldiers," said Clip, who has been at DOL since 2007.
Clipp and her co-workers John Cochrane, Ricardo Delgado, Rodney Morgan and Clifford Sampson were recognized for their work by the Fires Center of Excellence Director of Resource Management Aug. 17. They were part of 11 DOL employees on three teams, who were honored for superlative job performance in support of the Army Training and Doctrine Command.
The diligence of the employees in the passenger travel office was commendable, and the team excelled in providing outstanding support to ensure that all trainees reached their destinations in a timely manner, according to their Army Commendation award citation.
Delgado agreed with Clipp that they were just serving the Soldiers and their families. He said it feels great to be recognized and that it was a team effort.
"It was a lot of focus, patience and getting along with the other team members," Delgado said, referring to how the team worked together. He also attributed their success to their friendly work environment.
Latrine contract
Whenever a unit performed an exercise and needed chemical latrines placed on ranges, it would call a private company and pay for the service with a credit card. Prices ran anywhere from $44 to more than $200 per unit. It was not very cost effective and during a year, thousands of latrines were rented.
Contract specialists at the Plans and Operations Division devised an analysis and development of a postwide blanket purchase agreement for latrines with DOL being the ordering and paying officer, according to the award citation. The initiative will save the Army money.
For their efforts the team of Karen Jordan, Henry Cara and Ellen Morris, of the Plans and Operations Division, received awards.
"It's great that they (TRADOC) recognize us, but I would do it whether I was recognized or not," said Morris, logistics contract specialist. "It was a team effort, and we are here to serve our Soldiers."
The savings go beyond money, Morris said. "We also save each unit from having to do the workload."
Jordan, Plans and Operations Division chief, said she felt honored with the award and noted that it came from another command, TRADOC.
A major portion of the work to change to a blanket agreement was the analysis, Jordan said.
"We were figuring out that we had an opportunity to excel and going after it," she said.
Increased workload
In April, a contract that provided field and sustainment level maintenance support to Fort Sill was about to expire and then units would be without maintenance support, said Rhonda Hutchins, Plans and Operations Division logistics contract specialist, in an e-mail interview.
DOL agreed to accept the additional workload to modify the contract under a short deadline. With the assistance of the directorates of Contracting, Resource Management, DOL's Maintenance Division, and World Technical Services, the DOL base operations contract was modified to include the Fleet Management Expansion workload, Hutchins said. The transition went smoothly and there was no lapse in service to the units.
Hutchins, Arthur Johnson and Jim Rees were recognized for their work on the contract with commendation certificates and monetary awards.
Equipment specialist Rees, who described himself as a numbers cruncher, said the work entailed taking cost estimates, identifying skill sets for the requested work as well as equipment needed and man-hour projections.
"To me, I was just doing my job," Rees said. "They asked me for some information, and I ran it down."
Teamwork
Jordan emphasized that the award recognitions were a reflection of the support and partnership between TRADOC and the Installation Management Command, which DOL is a member.
"We have an integrated spirit of 'Team Sill,'" she said.
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