Supply corps member named as DLA officer of the year - Fernando J. Harris, Defense Logistics Agency - Brief Article

Navy Supply Corps Newsletter, May-June, 2003

A Supply Corps officer is this year's Officer of the Year for the Defense Logistics Agency. LT Fernando J. Harris, SC, USN, Executive Officer at Defense Supply Center Richmond (Virginia), was honored in December at DLA headquarters, Fort Belvoir, Va.

Harris was nominated for his work as a contract specialist and customer team chief in the Corporate Contracting Branch, Supplier Operations Division. There he negotiated two long-term contracts valued at an estimated $200 million, providing coverage over a 10-year period for more than 2,500 national stock numbers. Highly praised for his innovation and take-charge attitude, Harris was directly responsible for supporting the small business infrastructure by negotiating two initiatives valued at more than $10 million.

As a customer team chief he played a pivotal role in coordinating with the Navy to resolve fleetwide readiness and supply support issues for the F-14, F/A-18 and E-2C aircraft and the J52 engine. "As the team lead I helped develop relationships with DSCR's Navy West Coast customers," Harris said.

"As Supply Corps officers, we are required to be well rounded and able to handle most situations," he said. "We are taught that you do not need to know everything, but we must know where to go to get the information."

Harris has served in his current position since November 2002. Defense Supply Center Richmond is an inventory control point for nearly 700,000 supply items in more than 200 commodity classes.

Defense Supply Center Richmond Public Affairs