MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE ALBANY, Ga. -- For the past several years, Marine Corps Logistics Command has held its annual employee appreciation day at Boyett Park. This time of fun, food and fellowship also recognizes and honors the top employees nominated in a variety of categories for each fiscal year.
One of the categories is Employee of the Year and the 2009 winner is Warner Meadows, associate counsel, Office of General Counsel, LOGCOM. Meadows is a self-proclaimed Army brat born at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., who moved around frequently with his parents.
Meadows joined the Office of General Counsel in May 2008 after retiring from the Air Force in July 2008 holding the rank of colonel. His primary area of focus is fiscal law or appropriations law, which is the area of the law that determines what the appropriate use of government money is.
“We look at the concept of availability and what funds are out there that the commander or director has to spend on whatever mission they are trying to accomplish. We look at the concept of purpose, time and amount or what, when and how much you can spend with the goal of avoiding violations of the anti-deficiency act. This is an area where I am responsible for both LOGCOM and the base,” he said.
The award nomination form reads: Meadows has taken the LOGCOM Fiscal and Ethics Law program to new heights of excellence. He has taken a reactive program and turned it into a proactive program with many accolades across the board. Meadows has quickly become the “go to” guy for fiscal law advice and training.
It continues with: When the Department of the Navy and Headquarters, United States Marine Corps put out a marine administrative message requiring all employees involved in the expenditure of funds to be trained in fiscal law every five years, Meadows went into action. Recognizing that training would cost up to $1,500 per student, he developed a basic fiscal law class that met the requirements at no cost to LOGCOM.
Meadows was nominated by David Rowland, counsel, Office of Counsel, whose nomination continues with: This effort not only trained all the required employees, but saved the organizations thousands in training dollars. More than 500 LOGCOM employees were trained at no additional expense. The same effort was accomplished with the LOGCOM Ethics Program and since Oct. 1, 2008, Meadows has accomplished 522 Ethics Legal Reviews and created several ethics guides for employees.
“The ethics class started with a request by Rowland that it become part of the LOGCOM Academy. I have been very impressed with both base and LOGCOM employees who really want to do their job well, but may need some training on what the right way is. The Office of Counsel can fill that gap by answering questions on everything from the receipt of a gift or giving the boss a gift at Christmas,” Meadows said.
Tracey Madsen, associate counsel, Office of Counsel, has known Meadows for nearly 10 years back when they we were both Air Force judge advocates.
“Excellence has always been his trademark. He was selected three consecutive times to serve as a Staff Judge Advocate, when most colonels only see such assignments once or twice in a career. He has been widely recognized in the Air Force and the Army as an expert in fiscal and contracting law, having been selected by the Air Force Judge Advocate General to teach those subjects at the Army Judge Advocate General school. We are very fortunate to have someone of his caliber and expertise at MCLB Albany,” she said.
In addition to working closely with the comptrollers for Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Ga., and LOGCOM on fiscal affairs, he consults with the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate on ethics issues as well.
“Warner has done an outstanding job since he came here after retirement from the U.S. Air Force. He has worked diligently and tenaciously in meeting our client demands for fiscal law and ethics services as well as in government contracts and public/private partnerships for the depots,” Rowland said.
“I know there was a lot of strong competition and I am very honored to have won this award. I think it is also a big deal because we usually sit in a ‘bad guy’ role as a member of the legal community, but to be recognized as employee of the year says that people respect the Office of Counsel as an advisor to our clients,” Meadows said.
“It is not out of the ordinary to be recognized in the legal community, but it is a huge accomplishment and an honor to be recognized, not by my legal peers, but by my clients who understand that when we do say no, it is because we are trying to help them accomplish their mission,” he added.
Rowland said he continuously receives unsolicited comments from personnel at all levels whom Warner has assisted in some way, including the base, LOGCOM and Maintenance Center Albany.
“Meadows is very thorough in his research and very prompt in reply to legal queries. This is why I nominated him for the Employee of the Year, and we are so delighted the command recognized his outstanding contributions in granting this award,” he said.
Meadows graduated from Enterprise High School in Enterprise, Ala., in 1979. He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Auburn University, a Juris Doctor Degree from Mercer University and Masters of Laws
Degree from George Washington University. After praticing law in Macon, Ga., he entered the Air Force as a judge advocate in April 1986. He and his wife, Sandra, have one daughter, Auburn, affectionately named after his alma mater.