Page 16 - FCA Diamond Point Dec 24-smg review

AT THE FOREFRONT

Defense Finance and Accounting Service (Cont’d)

My children Reco, Aaron Jr., and Brian are here today – I love you guys. I am proud to be your

father, and I know Bryant and baby Aiden are watching us all today. Bryant made me a better
person observing him strive & fight for life for 18 years and be the joy in the room always with the
biggest smile. You are models of good men and what it means to well represent your family.
Christine and CJ – my daughters-in-law thanks for joining the family and sharing your joy with us.
This has been a good journey. I am convinced most people get to this point with lots of others
helping. In my case, there’s hundreds of people who have seen something in me and influenced my
future.

These 19 years have been special to me. I have learned from every success and failure. While not
everything that we tried worked out exactly as planned, we had more successes than failures. The
key step for us is to always to assess what we did in comparison to what we were supposed to do
and then figure out what else we could do to improve. Continuous improvement is the coin of the
realm. Leaving the foxhole better than you found it is a basic principle, and I trust that I have left
every position better and am confident we have placed good leaders in positions to continue the
DFAS legacy of Integrity, Service, and Innovation.

Rest assured, the challenges will continue to come your way. Let me leave you with some advice.
Stand your post; remain grounded in core values; remember your ethical compass; look, listen,
and learn; plan and execute to standard, and you will have more victories than failures. There is a
Sioux saying: “We will be known forever by the tracks we leave.” Remember, to grow your
replacements, focus on the future, build high value teams, employ a unity of effort, and “Act well
your part, regardless of all circumstances for therein all honor lies.”

TEAM of TEAMS – ONE TEAM! ONE MISSION!

Deputy Director Operations Out.

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