DENVER –
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, Lisa Nolan shares her story.
My name is Lisa Nolan, and this is “My DCMA.”
I am a quality assurance specialist at DCMA Denver. My job duties include reviewing contracts, to ensure suppliers comply with specific requirements, including the Federal Acquisition Regulation requirements’ checklist. I examine surveillance plans, process reviews, deliverable product evaluations, Quality Management System element reviews and process audits, to fulfill my work obligations. I have participated in QMS audits, and for the last 9 months, I have been working on Operation Warp Speed.
I have been a part of the DCMA team for more than 11 years. I like working at DCMA because I make a difference in keeping our service members safe at home and in the field. I inspect and accept a wide-range of items, including pumps for the Navy, clothing and textiles for the Army and medical supplies for Operation Warp Speed.
Some of the great things about working at DCMA Denver include seeing the beautiful Rocky Mountains, the wildlife and enjoying the great weather. I also get to travel to Wyoming and Montana for inspections and QMS audits.
DCMA is important to America’s military. A problem with a product in the field could have dire consequences. We are the last line of defense to keep inferior products from being used. The products we inspect and accept need to be top of the line. Our ultimate mission is to ensure the men and women in the military will be safe and return home to their loved ones.
DCMA celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. It was a huge milestone. The DCMA team provides services to keep defective products from being used, which saves lives and reduces injuries to our military personnel.
Twenty years ago, as this agency stood up, I was working at the Rocky Flats Nuclear Plant in Colorado as a quality assurance officer to help clean up and safely close the plant. That area is now known as the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge.
My goal for 2021 is to continue to perform my job to the best of my ability. I make an effort to question what needs to be questioned so I can continue to meet the needs of our military customers. My future career goals include providing guidance to the next generation of QA specialists. DCMA is constantly changing, and I want to ensure those changes are well implemented on my team. I want to pass on my knowledge and mentor new team members.
My favorite hobbies include paleontology and archaeology. I have a bachelor’s degree in archaeology, and my father introduced me to paleontology when I was a little girl. I enjoy digging in the ground and finding something that has not seen the light of day for hundreds, if not millions of years. Many items that I have found are now in several museums throughout the country.
Something unique about me is that I have volunteered in museums in three states. I have been a volunteer for a Denver museum for 25 years as a field paleontologist. I also volunteered at a museum as a collections archivist in Casper, Wyoming, and as a field paleontologist at a museum in Hays, Kansas.