ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Illinois -- A unique connection between the past and the future of contracting at the Rock Island Arsenal took place during the Principal Assistant Responsible for Contracting Leadership Workshop and Secretary of the Army 2015 Excellence in Contracting Awards, held in Kansas City, Missouri, April 19-21.
As Melissa Light, Reachback Branch Chief, accepted the Outstanding Contracting Officer award from Harry Hallock, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Procurement), she was joined by Melanie Johnson, ACC-RI Executive Director, as well as Light's husband and his grandmother, Donna White.
This was not Johnson's first time meeting White … far from it. White used to be a GS-14 in contracting at Rock Island Arsenal, and was Johnson's branch chief at one point.
"[White] spent a lot of her years here in Ammo Contracting and she was the intern coordinator for a long time," said Light. "That's how she ended up meeting a lot of the folks that are still here that would have been interns coming in when she was in that position. It's interesting having Ms. Johnson work for Grandma and now me working for Ms. Johnson."
White started her 36-year career as a GS-2 typist in 1958 and entered procurement in 1972. She spent her last years at Rock Island working in the Weapons Command Policy Directorate leading should-cost teams before retiring from Mainz Army Depot, Germany, in 1993.
"It was great to see Ms. White again after all these years and that she is doing great in her well-deserved retirement," said Johnson. "I worked for her prior to her assignment in Germany, while assigned to the Ammunition Commercial Facility Contracting Branch. Ms. White set high standards for her employees, but was always fair. I am so pleased that she was able to see Mr. Hallock present Melissa with her award."
White said she is happy and proud to see Light following in her footsteps.
"Seeing her get her much-deserved award and re-meeting [Ms. Johnson] and realizing that she had once worked for me many years ago was the frosting on the cake for my trip to Kansas City," said White. "Meeting Mr. Hallock just topped off everything."
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