DLA Distribution San Joaquin employee recognized for 60 years of service

Mary Martinez, a support analyst at Defense Logistics Agency Distribution San Joaquin, California, recently achieved a monumental milestone: 60 years of service with the Agency. Her six decades of dedicated service make Martinez the longest-tenured employee at DLA Distribution San Joaquin.

Martinez began her career with DLA in June 1965 as the first employee of the site's summer hire program at the advice of her high school guidance counselor.

"I didn't even know what the depot was. As a kid, we thought this place was a prison because of the fences and all the guards," Martinez said. "I was only 16 years old when I started out here."

As her first summer with DLA Distribution San Joaquin came to an end, Martinez shared that she assumed her tenure would be ending as well. However, her leadership was impressed by her work ethic and personality and requested her by name to extend her employment during weekends and holidays. She continued working part-time throughout the remainder of her high school education.

"When I graduated high school in 1966, I took the civil service exam, passed it, and they asked me if I wanted to be full-time," Martinez explained.

Martinez described her early work in the data systems department as vastly different to how the agency is run today, with punch cards and carbon copies used in place of the current Warehouse Management System.

"You have to understand, we didn't have computers back then, or all this automation," she said. "Everything was on paper."

Over the years, Martinez advanced through administrative and transportation roles, including five years as a lead transportation assistant, before stepping into her current position managing payroll issues, tax forms and travel vouchers.

"I don't deal so much with material anymore," Martinez explained. "I deal with people."

According to Martinez, it's the people she works with who deserve the credit for her longevity with DLA, whether they're coworkers or the customer.

One of Martinez's defining early memories dates to the height of the Vietnam War, when a communication breakdown delayed a vital supply shipment. A military officer called her directly from the field, with gunfire and explosions audible in the background. Martinez quickly identified the missing items and expedited the order. Days later, the officer called back to confirm the supplies had arrived and to personally thank her for going the extra mile for his unit.

As the daughter, wife, mother and grandmother of military members, Martinez says it's easy for her to remember why DLA exists, who she is working for, and to be thankful for the opportunity to serve.

"The troops depend on us, and that's why we're here," she said.

Her efforts aren't lost on her co-workers.

"Mary is passionate about what she does. She cares a lot about people and who we support - the warfighter," explained Tony Zuk, chief, Resource Management Group, DLA Distribution San Joaquin. "Mary has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the warfighter throughout her sixty years of service."

"Mary is one of those rare people who makes sure everyone around her is taken care of, often before she ever thinks about herself," said April Bendickson, management analyst, DLA Distribution San Joaquin. "She is warm, welcoming, generous, fiercely caring, and just stern enough to make sure you know that accepting her help is not optional. She has a way of making people feel looked after, valued, like they always have someone in their corner."

Zuk and his team celebrated Martinez's 60-year milestone Sept. 29 with a certificate of recognition. During his visit to DLA Distribution San Joaquin Oct. 7, Joe Faris, deputy commander, DLA Distribution, recognized Martinez in front of her peers with a Senior Executive Service note, as well as a star note signed by Army Brig. Gen. Kevin Cotman, commanding general, DLA Distribution.

"I really don't look at this as a job," Martinez said as she explained why she has no retirement plans in the near future. "It's a way for me to serve our military, our people, our nation."