Exchange Europe and Southwest Asia (SWA) region leaders recently traveled to Exchange stores in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan and Qatar for the first time since taking up the mantle of leadership.
Marla Smith Randolph, senior vice president; Col. Don Nowlin, commander; and Sgt. Maj. Lemakius Gardner, senior enlisted advisor, who all took over their positions after the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in March 2020, have been utilizing Microsoft Teams for meetings because of COVID-19 restrictions. Randolph, Nowlin and Gardner are responsible for about 4,000 associates in more than 25 countries across three continents, in 1,000 facilities, which support half a million customers.
“As a commander of such a large footprint, I believe it’s crucial to have that face-to-face interaction with associates, troops and command leadership,” Nowlin said. “It reinforces the partnership between us and keeps the dialog open.”
For nine days, the Exchange’s Southwest Asia Regional Vice President Ken Limtiaco escorted and introduced the leaders to the associates who are keeping the troops supplied with necessities—along with a taste of home.
“Our leadership did not have the opportunity to visit SWA in the past two years due to travel restrictions from COVID,” Limtiaco said. “It’s not easy to do what we do, but our spirits are high and our focus is on the service we provide to the community and to our Warfighters who sacrifice so much to serve our Nation.”
The Europe/SWA leaders met with command leadership, participated in a Popeyes grand opening and presented Talal Zayadneh, the store manager for Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, a coin on behalf of Chief Operating Officer Jason Rosenberg. Zayadneh was recognized in the December edition of Operation: Call Out, in which Rosenberg honors the work of stellar associates.
“As a leader it’s important to me to be out in the field,” Randolph said. “I want to see the work they’re doing and believe acknowledging their efforts in person validates the time they have been putting in to make sure our Warfighters are always taken care of.”
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