DLA director visits Camp Arifjan, recognizes service members and civilians

By Sgt. 1st Class Naurys MarteOctober 29, 2016

CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait - U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Andrew Busch, director of the Defense Logistics Agency, visited Camp Arifjan during his tour of the operations overseas and took time to recognize service members and civilians during an award ceremony and luncheon, August 28, 2016.

Busch presented the Joint Service Commendation Medal to Army Lt. Col. Cheri M. Baker-Pillow, deputy commander, DLA Support Team -- Kuwait, and to Navy Lt. Marquita F. Pfannenstiel, military assistant with DLA.

Also, the following DLA service members and civilians received recognition for their accomplishments: Army Capt. Shawnette Haynes, operations officer; Army Sgt. Matthew Edwards, expeditionary disposal remediation specialist; Ms. Julie McMillan, war support representative; Ms. Ketwana Wright, administration officer; Ms. Maria Spicer, support operations officer; Ms. Tanya Librojo, accountable officer; and Mr. Richard Williams, transportation specialist.

"This trip is about hearing about a lot of great work that you are doing," said Busch.

Haynes received recognition for being an outstanding planner. Edwards received his outstanding assistance with transportation. McMillan received hers for working diligently on improving the number of parts available for watercraft. Wright received recognition for ensuring excellent administrative details. Spicer received hers for preparing a detailed schedule and agenda for the mission. Librojo received hers for reducing and eliminating Kuwait's aging inventory. Williams received recognition for implementing the use of U.S. Army watercraft to significantly reduce transportation costs from Qatar and Bahrain.

Col. Terence J. Lewis, commander of DLA support team-Kuwait, expressed his gratitude for the service members and civilians at the ceremony. "This is a great occasion to recognize people who are doing a great job; thank you very much," said Lewis.

Besides recognizing their achievements, Busch also expressed the need for DLA to do in-theater interactions with service members and civilians. "When I'm thousands of miles away at Ft. Belvoir, and I look to see what kind of policies we need to write or what kind of resources we need to allocate, coming out here and hearing it from you and hearing from our customers is the best way to do that.

"I get an immense amount of information in these very brief trips," said Busch.

Rear Adm. Vincent Griffith, director of DLA logistics operations also recognized the members' accomplishments and pointed out that "the exchange I've seen is positive and is incredible, so you are doing a great service. Thank you for all the effort."