‘Just Call Gina’ Dickerson Retires After Nearly Four Decades of Supporting Soldiers and Airmen

Gina Dickerson of Springfield retired on Dec. 12 after supporting the Illinois National Guard's Soldiers and Airmen for more than 37 Years.
For the last 13 years, Dickerson has supervised the Defense Travel System section within the Illinois' United States Property and Fiscal Office earning her the informal title of "DTS Guru" and her ability to fix problems in the sometimes-ornery system led to a common refrain for those who travel in the Illinois National Guard - "Just call Gina."
Col. Brian Creech, the United States Property and Fiscal Officer for Illinois, said he would tell service members to go through their unit's administrative staff before calling Dickerson. After all, one person shouldn't be the primary go-to for a 13,000-member organization.
"I've been guilty of saying 'Just call Gina, she'll know how to fix it' myself. And she would fix it," said Creech, who presented Gina with the Illinois Military Medal of Merit in honor of her decades of service to the Illinois National Guard.
The truth is that Dickerson had been helping Soldiers and Airmen long before the Defense Travel System and she has seen the military transition through multiple systems. Gina began her civilian career with the Illinois Army National Guard in May 1987. Her plan was to stay one summer and see how she liked it. She stayed.
"Back then, all we worried about was sand-bagging (for floods)," Dickerson said. Then came Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990 and 1991. Then after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, "life really changed," Dickerson said.
Brig. Gen. Lenny Williams, now the Assistant Adjutant General - Army of the Illinois National Guard and the Commander of the Illinois Army National Guard, recalled Dickerson and her team showing up at a unit demobilization site around 2003 or 2004 with her arms wrapped around these stacks of "old-school travel vouchers."
"Gina said 'Don't worry about it. We are going to take care of you.' And they did. I don't recall any of those hundreds of vouchers coming back for any corrections or revisions," Williams said. "They cared that deeply about our Soldiers."
Williams often asks Soldiers about what their legacy will be. "Gina's legacy will last for generations to come," he said.
From 1987 to 2000 she worked in the Military Personnel Office performing a variety of duties. Among them was taking phone calls from family members of Soldiers who were deployed to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Gina would do her best to answer their questions, but even more so, she would serve as a trusted friend to these family members as they went through this difficult time.
Gina has a special place in her heart for those deployed in harm's way and their families. Her older brother, Michael Calandrino, was killed in action in 1969 during the Vietnam War.
Gina began working in the United States Property and Fiscal Office in 2000 where she continued her work supporting Soldiers and Airmen. She started in USPFO as a travel voucher examiner. In 2006, she was promoted to Financial Services Supervisor where she oversaw a complex financial operation that included travel vouchers, vendor payments, military pay, and technician pay. In addition, she was a key member of the Soldier Readiness Process (SRP) team that would ensure that Soldiers' financial records were reviewed and validated prior to mobilizing in support of operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and many other locations around the world.
Over the last 13 years, Gina has worked as the Lead Voucher Examiner for the Defense Travel System along with managing the Government Travel Card program.
Gina played a pivotal role in leading the USPFO and the Illinois Army National Guard through a period of transformation as the organization evolved from a Ready Reserve in 1987 to the operational force it is today serving all around the world. She provided financial records support to thousands of Soldiers that participated in events following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and in the ongoing Global War on Terrorism. She was instrumental in implementing new financial systems that in many cases replaced legacy systems that were more than 30 years old.
"It means a lot knowing that I made a difference to individuals and to our service members," Dickerson said.
She lives in Springfield with her husband of 31 years, Mike. Her son, Derek, is a teacher at Washington Middle School.