United States Transportation Command

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Alexandria, Va. (USTCNS) --- The Military Traffic Management Command’s Deputy to the Commander, William Lucas, garnered a Presidential Rank award for significant contributions to the nation.

Lucas is the senior civilian at MTMC, a component of the U.S. Transportation Command, which provides global surface distribution management services to meet National Security Objectives in peace and war. He is quick to point out that the recognition really belongs to the MTMC team.

“Most people have no idea how much impact this command has on everyone from the warfighters whose equipment we are moving into Southwest Asia to the military families moving their household goods. It is a small team, with a huge mission. And the operative term is “team”. We are blessed to have wonderful, dedicated people in MTMC who are motivated, capable and caring,” Lucas said.

A key player and a driving force behind initiatives to improve MTMC’s business processes, Lucas strengthened the command interfaces with its strategic commercial partners, and helped to develop the Voluntary Intermodal Sealift Agreement (VISA). The VISA framework, which includes supporting contingency contracts, assures the Department of Defense immediate access to U.S. sealift assets during a national emergency. Lucas also spearheaded efforts to turn the Command’s $135 million worldwide ocean liner contract into a performance based, best-value contract that supports peacetime and contingency requirements and led to a worldwide 19 percent average reduction in customer wait time.

“The key drivers in this success have been genuine partnering with our counterparts in private industry and replacement of outdated business processes with new procedures that are quicker, simpler and based on more advanced technology solutions, Lucas said. “The results are impressive and positively affect the Department of Defense’s readiness and costs.”

Other innovative approaches to doing business have streamlined the organization, leveraged commercial solutions, revamped financial management and reengineered the household goods and privately owned vehicle programs to improve the quality of life for service members and their families.

“Lucas has been a catalyst for dynamic change by benchmarking best business practices which ultimately allow us to get exactly what warfighters need, exactly when they need it,” said Maj. Gen. Ann Dunwoody, commander, MTMC.

A diverse workforce is important to MTMC’s second in command. As a result of his support for high-grade selections in several key positions, the command has increased minority and female representation at grades GS-12 through 15.

“Lucas is truly an outstanding leader in every respect. He possesses the vision and leadership skills to help MTMC in its transformation from a focus on traffic management to surface distribution management,” Dunwoody said.

Lucas received the award on March 14th at a Pentagon ceremony honoring a number of Secretary of the Army award recipients. The Presidential Rank awardees are responsible for Army programs funded in the billions of dollars. Four of the nineteen Presidential Award recipients were recognized for saving the Army more than $180 million.

"Busy as we are with our three foremost tasks -- the War on Terrorism, Transformation and seeking resourcing for both -- it is still imperative that we take time to recognize and honor distinguished members of the Army team who have attained excellence in their respective areas," said Maj. Gen. Tony Taguba, director of the Army Staff.

Reginald Brown, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, said the vast majority of Army civilians and soldiers are unseen and unsung heroes who exemplify the Army values on a daily basis, often suffering personal sacrifices that go unrecognized.

Speaking about the honorees, Brown said they had met the challenge of making ongoing improvements while saving millions of dollars.

“Lucas is a dynamic leader,” Dunwoody said.