Source: United States Navy
Rica L. Hamilton works for the Naval Medical Readiness Logistics Command (NMRLC), Williamsburg, VA, and is the assistant property manager and transportation officer.
In that capacity, her responsibilities include supporting the senior transportation management specialist and property administrator. Shortly after the property administrator departed, she volunteered to fill the gap which lasted for 22 months. During this time, she managed the command’s operating materials and supplies, and managed four warehouses on Cheatham Annex, Williamsburg, VA, two military pre-positioned ships, and five locations outside of the United States (OCONUS).
Also, in the absence of the senior transportation management specialist, Hamilton coordinated shipments of the material globally via rail, aircraft, trucks, ships, and other well-known global logistics civilian entities.
After serving honorably in the United States Army for nearly 23 years, she retired from her position as a transportation management coordinator, where her first duty assignment was with the 403rd Transportation Company, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
While on active duty, Hamilton earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Organizational Leadership and a Master of Arts degree in Human Resources from Columbia Southern University.
In discussing the successes, she experienced at her position, she described the most important aspects of the roles she played and what was most significant in achieving her work-related goals.
“I would have to say the most important efforts I was involved in was support to warfighters in various countries at numerous times. Often, these missions are executed with short notices,” she explained. “On multiple occasions, coordinating transportation for various requirements with minimum information presented unique challenges.”
Supporting both the property administrator and transportation officer required more hours than the workday permitted. “In those situations, I did everything I could, even past the normal working hours, so that I could expedite the information needed to accomplish the mission,” Hamilton said.
However, when she reflected on what made her a success, Hamilton described the importance that interpersonal skills were at her command, and her ability to remain flexible while not compromising the mission.
“At NMRLC, understanding people and keeping lines of communication open with my leaders, peers and the contractors, was a vital part of mission success,” Hamilton said. “Keeping abreast of the latest changes pertaining to my responsibilities was also key. Most importantly, much of my success was due to the assistance I received from my colleagues. Coming from Army Transportation to the Navy Logistics highlighted interesting and different aspects of how the two services conduct business, but the team at NMRLC has been very understanding and helpful.”
When thinking of her professional career, Hamilton shared a time when she was in the Army and influenced those she mentored.
“I started a mentorship program with one of my subordinates that grew to more than 20 Soldiers during my last deployment, and some were not from my organization,” she said. “Many of them were in the paygrades of E3 and E4. Today, all of them are E7s and above. There is no greater joy for me than to help people. I still get calls, text messages and emails from many of them.”
Hamilton influenced many lives while she was in the Army and still has an impact on service members who are deployed through her contributions at NMLRC.
Lead by Cmdr. Matthew Marcinkiewicz, NMRLC Williamsburg, is responsible for building and maintaining rapidly deployable medical systems to support contingency operations, humanitarian assistance, and real-world events and exercises around the globe.
With civilians like Hamilton on the team, NMRLC will continue to achieve mission success.