FORT LEE, Va. –
My DCMA showcases the Defense Contract Management Agency’s experienced and diverse workforce and highlights what being a part of the national defense team means to them. Today we meet Darkeesha Sims.
My name is Darkeesha Sims, and this is “My DCMA.”
I am the executive assistant for the Financial and Business Operations executive director, Pamela Conklin, and I work at the DCMA headquarters located on Fort Lee. My job duties include: providing administrative support to the FBO executive director and deputy director; managing internal and external taskings for the directorate; providing top-notch customer service; and greeting everyone I pass in the DCMA hallways with a smile.
I have been a part of the DCMA team for seven and a half years and I like working with the agency because being prior active-duty Army, I am passionate about supporting the warfighter.
Some of the great things about working at my location include the people. I absolutely love my coworkers and I love what I do. Being at headquarters, I get to interact with people from all over the agency. My favorite thing is when someone I know via email visits headquarters and I get to meet them in person. This location is specifically dear to me because Fort Lee is where I started my Army career as a quartermaster officer. I am originally from Petersburg, Virginia, so I am surrounded by my family. Plus, living right outside of the installation means a really short commute for me.
DCMA is important to America’s warfighters because we help provide and ensure the safety of the equipment necessary for them to do their jobs every day. As I reflect on the agency’s 20th anniversary, from my perspective, I think DCMA has done a great job remaining relevant and agile. The world is changing and we have to change with it. It will be exciting to see the new ways DCMA will continue to support the warfighter.
Other than the agency directors and a few of my dear friends departing for other opportunities, I think the most notable change for me while working at DCMA is the technology. We have gone from Blackberries to iPhones; from a shared server to the Sharepoint 360 platform; and our desktops were replaced by laptops. But the one thing I appreciate the most is my dual monitor setup, which is one of the reasons why I prefer to come into the office rather than telework.
This is the year of information, which includes personal and professional development for me. I will not end 2020 in the same place where I began. My future career goals include continuing to serve in positions where I can positively impact and influence others. Upon retirement from government service, I would love to continue serving people as a life coach, specifically for teenage girls.
Some unique things about me are that I have a fraternal twin and I served as the mascot for Old Dominion University during my freshman and sophomore years there. My favorite hobbies include cooking, traveling and socializing.
DCMA has been around for 20 years, and it’s awesome to think 20 years ago I was a first lieutenant stationed at Camp Stanley, Korea, serving as the assistant S3 as an operations officer with the 602nd Aviation Support Battalion. I absolutely loved Korea.