GEN William G.T. Tuttle, Jr., USA (Ret.) Award for Business Acumen in Defense and Government

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Feb. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Center of Excellence in Logistics and Technology (LOGTECH) held its Annual General William G.T. Tuttle, Jr., USA (Ret.) Award dinner at the Paul J. Rizzo Executive Education Center in Chapel Hill, NC on the evening of February 2, 2012. The Institute for Defense and Business (IDB) and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School partner on development and delivery of a suite of LOGTECH programs. The U.S. Army Materiel Command is the DoD Executive Agent for LOGTECH. 

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The event brought together select leaders from the U.S. Department of Defense, The Department of Homeland Security, other government agencies and the private sector to recognize the achievements of a program graduate in applying business principles to government challenges. The attendees consisted of participants, students, and program faculty participating in the LOGTECH Program for Executives in Logistics and Technology, the Depot & Arsenal Executive Leadership Program (DAELP), and the IU-UNC LogMBA. Members of the IDB Board of Directors, the 2011-2012 class of IDB Executive Fellows, and representatives from companies sponsoring DAELP corporate residencies also attended.  Mr. John Johns, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Maintenance Policy & Programs gave the keynote address. The evening also included the graduation of participants from the LOGTECH Executive Program. Graduates consisted of flag and field grade officers, as well as senior civilians and a representative from the defense industry. Also graduating were representatives from the Thai government and the private sector.

General Tuttle himself presented the annual General William G.T. Tuttle, Jr., USA (Ret.) Award for Business Acumen in Defense and Government to Lieutenant Commander Cielo Almanza, SC USN, COMPACFLT N4, Future Plans Division. The award is given to a participant in the prior year's LOGTECH Advanced Programs in Logistics and Technology who best demonstrates a return on investment to his/her organization by successfully leading his or her organization in applying the lessons learned in the program. The IDB developed this award to recognize an exceptional business application in Defense and Government.

"This project is an outstanding example of the logistics, business, and organizational management skills LCDR Almanza honed while in the LOGTECH Program," said Rear Admiral Glenn C. Robillard, Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics Fleet Supply and Ordnance in his nomination of LCDR Almanza for this award.

Executive Education Optimizes Port Visit Management

The Commander Pacific Fleet, Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Fleet Supply and Ordnance (CPF N4) team in Future Logistics Operations Division (CPF N40) recognized high variability and inconsistency in port visit processes resulting in premium pricing for service and support. LCDR Almanza and the N40 team applied business principles to assess how the process "should" look with a goal of streamlining the process. LCDR Almanza developed an interactive way to share data related to contracted and preferred services in each port. (That data was previously manually assembled into a PowerPoint slide deck by each staff before each port visit.)

With the new system, the managing staffs have access to all the information they need prior to each port visit and now also are able to provide reviews to further inform future users. Each year 300 to 375 port visits occur in the Western Pacific costing more than $50M. LCDR Almanza moved the system from a reactionary nonstandard process to an efficient and convenient process for ships visiting any ports in the western Pacific. The system provided accountability that ended expensive practices like paying for non-contracted water taxi rentals when the cost was already covered under a regional port visit contract. It also helped maximize Navy refueling to avoid very high port fueling costs. To date the efforts produce monthly cost avoidance ranging from a few thousand dollars to an instance of $500K at a single port visit. These savings allowed the Commander, Pacific Fleet to increase the number of theater engagements with partners and allies, strengthening theater and national security.

Other award nominee finalists included: Major R.E. Flannery, USMC, Naval Supply Systems Command; Mr. David Floyd, Professor, Defense Acquisition University (DAU); and Dr. Frances G. Holt, Executive Director, Navy Munitions Command.  "All of the GEN Tuttle Award finalists displayed the type of innovative business practice improvements that are the hallmark of the LOGTECH educational experience, and we are proud of what they and all of their classmates have accomplished," noted Mark Cramer, President of the IDB and Executive Director of LOGTECH.

About the IDB:

The Institute for Defense and Business (IDB) is a non-profit research and education institute formed in 1997 by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the state of North Carolina. The IDB offers a series of educational programs for the military, government, non-governmental agencies, and private sector, in the areas of logistics, life cycle management, organizational change, and stabilization and economic reconstruction.

For more information:  Please contact either Theresa Esposto Raines, Director of Industry Relations at [email protected], or April McGill, Manager, Federal Accounts at [email protected] or call 919-969-8008.

SOURCE Institute for Defense and Business