Top performers honored at annual awards ceremony

The team at Defense Logistics Agency Weapons Support (Richmond) recognized the achievements of its top performers during the 6th annual awards ceremony April 28 in the Frank B. Lotts Conference Center on Defense Supply Center Richmond, Virginia.

Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Launey, commander of DLA Weapons Support (Richmond), opened the event, expressing his appreciation for the recipients and the Weapons Support (Richmond) team as a whole.

"It's a great opportunity to celebrate the winners of our awards, but also to collectively acknowledge the great work that the teams do," he said. "What you do, and what everybody online does every single day for the agency, for the services we support, and for our nation, our allies, and our partners is truly significant."

These events are important as they highlight the successes of the work force, which Launey said helps highlight the importance of the People imperative from the DLA Strategic Plan.

"In our day-to-day jobs, we routinely look at a lot of metrics, costs, figures, and requirements - a lot of numbers and briefings - and we think about analysis and all these different things," he said. "But the thing that holds true every day is the aspect of people. When you look at the priorities of the agency, you think about precision, you think about posture, you think about partnerships. None of that happens without people, and that's why we're here to celebrate.

"Without people, we don't have the precision that we need to make the right decisions and support the warfighter," Launey continued. "We don't have the level of posture that we need to support our global supply chains. And you certainly, without people, can't make those tremendous partnerships with the services, with our suppliers, with each other within the agency, and in all the other different areas that we support every single day. It comes down to people."

Seven employees were recognized during the ceremony, and they are:

• Air Force Tech. Sgt. Tequez Trent, Supplier Operations OEM Directorate, Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year
• Air Force Master Sgt. Michelle Carillo, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Corporation, Senior Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year
• Air Force Capt. Jeffery Regan, Customer Operations Directorate, Company Grade Officer of the Year
• Jared Midavaine, DLA Weapons Support at Ogden, Civilian Category A Employee of the Year
• Alicia Foster, DLA Weapons Support at Jacksonville, Civilian Category B Employee of the Year
• John Villanueva, DLA Weapons Support at Jacksonville, Civilian Category C Employee of the Year
• Jaime Barrera, Supplier Operations Commodities, DLA Superior Civilian Service Award and Global War on Terror Civilian Service Medal

After presenting the awards, Launey celebrated the accomplishments of the award winners and recognized the teams that helped push for the recognition.

"Congratulations to you and to your family members," he said. "Thank you for your support, your patience, your endurance, and for the multiple years that culminated in this award. Thanks to the teams, the supervisors, and the leadership that set our award winners up for success, provided them with support, accountability and feedback, and then did the hard work to get folks submitted so they could be recognized."

He also took a moment to thank the workforce for what they do.

"Sometimes, you may think the work you do in your specific area goes unnoticed, but it certainly doesn't to me," Launey said. "I've said this before, and I'll say it until I'm not here anymore, but when you think about it, right now, an Airman, Soldier, Sailor, Marine, or another warfighter we support - an ally or partner - is on a mission. They are somewhere. Many of them are in locations that we know, and some are in locations that we don't. They're going to do their job, then they will go back, recover at the base where they are stationed, grab some chow, do mission planning, and go back out tomorrow and do it again. They're going to be successful again, and they're going to go back home safe to their families.

"They are going to be able to do that because of you," he continued. "Regardless of your role in providing that military capability and that military power, you are the one making that happen. Now, there are a lot of other people working collectively as a team to make that happen, but you are absolutely part of that national team that is getting it done every single day. So, you are truly the unsung heroes of our operations."