Two months after his return home from Afghanistan, Naval Officer William Delao, of Spring Lake Heights, NJ, was notified of his selection to receive the Defense Logistics Agency’s (DLA) Joint Reserve Junior Officer of the Year Award. Lieutenant Commander Select Delao is a non-matriculated student at Monmouth University.
Junior officers (rank of 2nd Lieutenant to Major or Ensign to Lieutenant Commander) from all military services under DLA’s command are eligible to be nominated for this award. Lieutenant Commander Select Delao’s selection for this award was based on the contributions he made to DLA’s mission in Afghanistan as the Expeditionary Disposal Remediation Team Officer in Charge.
DLA is the Department of Defense’s largest logistics combat support agency, providing worldwide logistics support to the military services as well as several civilian agencies and foreign countries. DLA employs about 27,000 personnel (military and civilian) and operates in 28 countries. The agency sources and provides nearly 100 percent of the consumable items America’s military forces need to operate, from food, fuel, and energy, to uniforms, medical supplies, and construction and barrier equipment. DLA also supplies more than 80 percent of the military’s spare parts.
Lieutenant Commander Select Delao will be formally presented with the award from the Director of DLA, Vice Admiral Harnitchek, on December 13, 2011 at Fort Belvior, VA. He will be accompanied by his wife, Jean-Marie Delao (a Monmouth University employee and alumna), his parents, and sister, who have all been tremendously supportive of his military service.