TOBYHANNA ARMY DEPOT, Pa. -- A willingness to do more than what is written in their job description earned two depot employees accolades from peers and supervisors.
Robert Knecht and Jennifer Oustrich were selected as Tobyhanna Army Depot's Employees of the Quarter for the third quarter of 2016.
Knecht is the last guy looking for a pat on the back, according to Doug Stevens, chief of Systems Integration and Support Directorate's Welding Branch. "His unwavering devotion to his team exemplifies strong moral fiber and character. He would rather see someone else or the team receive the praise," Stevens said.
As a welder leader, Knecht makes sure employees on the shop floor have everything they need to do the job. Other responsibilities include making sure safety equipment is worn, procedures and guidelines are followed, and jobs are checked for quality compliance prior to inspection.
"This award means a great deal to me," Knecht said. "I'm proud of what we make and what we do to support the warfighter."
Knecht's supervisor described him as a by-the-book kind of guy, which often results in the welding team producing a high volume of work while maintaining standards for quality and accuracy. The team worked at well over 100 percent capacity to help reduce carryover and backlog during the last quarter. And, under Knecht's leadership, the shop maintains a 98.5 percent quality metric.
"Bob's attention to detail, superior performance and customer focus has a direct impact on the branch's on-time delivery rate," Stevens said. "He cultivates strong relationships with personnel outside the shop to ensure mission success and consistently puts others ahead of himself."
Having worked at the depot for seven years, Knecht is known for his innovative ideas that help meet production targets and reduce backlog.
Once he applied his skills to designing and fabricating a point-of-use storage fixture to help personnel access and inventory shop tooling and fixtures. To reduce work stoppages, he worked with shop planners to screen jobs to make sure all parts were on hand before starting each job.
"Life experiences and interactions with other people have taught me not to take anything for granted and to appreciate everything achieved through hard work and dedication," Knecht said.
Oustrich said she will value this award above all others because it came from the people she works with every day.
Her responsibilities as the branch administrative specialist include securing prompt responses to organizational suspense dates, recording the hours worked by employees, assisting with travel and training plans, and keeping a watchful eye on the unit's budget.
"Jennifer is always a pleasure to work with," said Michael Sherin, the Production Engineering Directorate's Air Defense and Counterfire Systems Branch chief. "Her cheerful, positive and professional demeanor is inspiring."
As a secretary, Oustrich has had the opportunity to work on several details and accept temporary promotions that have given her a well-rounded view of how the depot works.
While working in a variety of offices she has learned patience, the importance of being flexible, and how to prioritize tasks and work with different types of people.
"I think it's important for everyone to know that all the directorates can work together for one purpose," Oustrich said. "In the end we're all here for the same reason, and that is to help the warfighter."
It's common knowledge around the branch that Oustrich willingly takes on additional tasks and frequently volunteers to support charitable and youth programs.
"Her files are meticulously accurate and correspondences are professional and timely," said Sherin, noting that Oustrich is regularly praised by coworkers. "She sets the standard for administrative personnel within the directorate."
Oustrich considers herself fortunate because she's able to do a job she loves.
"Of all the jobs I've performed, this by far has been by favorite and most rewarding one," she said. "If you enjoy what you are doing you tend to do the best job you can."
Tobyhanna Army Depot is a recognized leader in providing world-class logistics support for command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems across the Department of Defense. Tobyhanna's Corporate Philosophy, dedicated work force and electronics expertise ensure the depot is the Joint C4ISR provider of choice for all branches of the Armed Forces and industry partners.
Tobyhanna's unparalleled capabilities include full-spectrum logistics support for sustainment, overhaul and repair, fabrication and manufacturing, engineering design and development, systems integration, post production software support, technology insertion, modification, foreign military sales and global field support to our Joint Warfighters.
About 3,200 personnel are employed at Tobyhanna, which is located in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania. Tobyhanna Army Depot is part of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command. Headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, the command's mission is to research, develop, acquire, field and sustain communications, command, control computer, intelligence, electronic warfare and sensors capabilities for the Armed Forces.
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