|
|
|
Photographs of more than 20 past commanders hang on the wall at Combined Arms Center-Training, and Dianna Allen has worked for all of them.
Allen received her 45-year federal service pin Jan. 9, although she’s been eligible for it since July. She’s worked on post for all of those years, beginning with a GS-2 job she began out of high school in 1966.
“I started out as a clerk typist, then I advanced to secretary,” she said.
Since 1977, she’s worked at the organization now known as CAC-T. It has changed names throughout the years, and Allen has worked at nearly every building on post and under various headquarters throughout the Army even though she remained at the same organization. Since 1984, she’s worked for the CAC-T commander, sometimes known as the deputy director or deputy commander for CAC-T under the Combined Arms Center. Her title now is secretary to the deputy commander for CAC-T.
“On the wall are all the generals and officers; I’ve learned something from each one of them,” she said. “They each have their own style of doing things. You just have to learn to go with the flow, adjust, because you can learn all these new things each time.”
CAC-T’s current leader is Col. Robert “Pat” White. His title is deputy commander, Combined Arms Center-Training. CAC-T’s mission is training, and includes the National Simulation Center, the Army Training Support Center, the Mission Command Training Program, and many other training functions.
White noted that when Allen began her career, Lyndon Johnson was president of the United States and gas was 34 cents a gallon. She seen CAC-T go through more than six name changes.
“If you’re looking for someone that’s agile and versatile, look no further than this woman here,” White said.
Allen grew up in the Leavenworth community, graduating from Leavenworth High School in 1966 at the age of 17. She got a job a few months later as a clerk typist for the Materiel-Organization Division in Bell Hall. She used skills like using a typewriter and stenography shorthand every day.
“It really was the best job and closest to home,” she said.
Throughout the years she considered other jobs, but when she looked at the benefits and pay, she decided to stay on as a Department of the Army civilian.
“When I looked at the “real world” out there, and I saw the pay difference, this is just a good paying job and a good place to be,” she said.
Allen is married to John Allen, an emergency room technician at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Veterans Affairs Medical Center. She has a son, Jeffrey Jones, by her first marriage, who is a 16-year Army veteran, and two grandchildren, Julie and Joshua. The Allens are raising another grandson, 10-year-old Chandler Allen.
Allen said living in Leavenworth has been one of the biggest draws to her long stay as a government employee.
“This is where I’ve grown up, my parents were here, and it’s close to Kansas City but you’re in a small town,” she said.
Allen survived her first reduction in force in the 1960s, and several more since then. Her seniority helped her in more recent years, but it didn’t in the beginning. She said the key to keeping a civilian job during a reduction in force is to adapt and be open-minded to learning new things.
“I was willing to move, so I just adjusted to different jobs and went on and learned more,” she said.
Photographs of more than 20 past commanders hang on the wall at Combined Arms Center-Training, and Dianna Allen has worked for all of them.
Allen received her 45-year federal service pin Jan. 9, although she’s been eligible for it since July. She’s worked on post for all of those years, beginning with a GS-2 job she began out of high school in 1966.
“I started out as a clerk typist, then I advanced to secretary,” she said.
Since 1977, she’s worked at the organization now known as CAC-T. It has changed names throughout the years, and Allen has worked at nearly every building on post and under various headquarters throughout the Army even though she remained at the same organization. Since 1984, she’s worked for the CAC-T commander, sometimes known as the deputy director or deputy commander for CAC-T under the Combined Arms Center. Her title now is secretary to the deputy commander for CAC-T.
“On the wall are all the generals and officers; I’ve learned something from each one of them,” she said. “They each have their own style of doing things. You just have to learn to go with the flow, adjust, because you can learn all these new things each time.”
CAC-T’s current leader is Col. Robert “Pat” White. His title is deputy commander, Combined Arms Center-Training. CAC-T’s mission is training, and includes the National Simulation Center, the Army Training Support Center, the Mission Command Training Program, and many other training functions.
White noted that when Allen began her career, Lyndon Johnson was president of the United States and gas was 34 cents a gallon. She seen CAC-T go through more than six name changes.
“If you’re looking for someone that’s agile and versatile, look no further than this woman here,” White said.
Allen grew up in the Leavenworth community, graduating from Leavenworth High School in 1966 at the age of 17. She got a job a few months later as a clerk typist for the Materiel-Organization Division in Bell Hall. She used skills like using a typewriter and stenography shorthand every day.
“It really was the best job and closest to home,” she said.
Throughout the years she considered other jobs, but when she looked at the benefits and pay, she decided to stay on as a Department of the Army civilian.
“When I looked at the “real world” out there, and I saw the pay difference, this is just a good paying job and a good place to be,” she said.
Allen is married to John Allen, an emergency room technician at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Veterans Affairs Medical Center. She has a son, Jeffrey Jones, by her first marriage, who is a 16-year Army veteran, and two grandchildren, Julie and Joshua. The Allens are raising another grandson, 10-year-old Chandler Allen.
Allen said living in Leavenworth has been one of the biggest draws to her long stay as a government employee.
“This is where I’ve grown up, my parents were here, and it’s close to Kansas City but you’re in a small town,” she said.
Allen survived her first reduction in force in the 1960s, and several more since then. Her seniority helped her in more recent years, but it didn’t in the beginning. She said the key to keeping a civilian job during a reduction in force is to adapt and be open-minded to learning new things.
“I was willing to move, so I just adjusted to different jobs and went on and learned more,” she said.
