The Road to an OBE - Val Ferguson OBE @ Westlands @ 18.00

VAL FERGUSON OBE

The logistics of supplying troops for the battlefield of Iraq was an intriguing and fascinating aspect of the talk given to the Club by Val Ferguson.  Val’s career started on a somewhat less dramatic way, spending 15 years as a PE teacher,  latterly in the Middle East.  She had, however, determined that she would put a time limit on her PE career.  So, in 1987, she joined the Ministry of Defence (MoD) as a civilian employee.  It was this change of employment that was to bring her great fulfillment, and lead to the awarding of an OBE.

Val’s posting in the MoD was initially focused on the organisation and maintenance of an effective supply chain to the Navy, with particular emphasis on the work of the Fleet Auxiliary.   Val saw that the monitoring systems then in operation for the movement of supplies were lacking in effectiveness, particularly in the tracking of equipment as it moved from the warehouse to the frontline.  Her work on this explored ways of improving the effectiveness of the existing systems, and her success in developing new approaches led to two official commendations.  

The most dramatic period in her career was undoubtedly in connection with the war in Iraq.  At that time, Val was looking at the complexities of the IT systems of the Army, Navy and Air Force, each of which had systems which were, to all intent and purpose, unable to link with each other.  So supplies for one part of the Army could be held in store by the Navy, without the ability to track their whereabouts.  Val illustrated this by reference to the tragic death of Sergeant Stephen Roberts where the unavailability of appropriate body armour led to his death.  Delays in procurement of suitable armour, and its deployment, were subsequently found to have been the main contributory factor in his death.  Ironically, the appropriate body armour became available some seven days after he was killed.  This tragedy became a focus for Val’s further work in seeking the integration of the three supply systems.

Inevitably there was resistance to proposals to change the systems operated by the three services.  However, Val, working in a small team, developed the prototype of a system which could effectively provide a means of linking the separate systems.  This was submitted under a staff suggestion scheme designed to give incentives to staff to bring forward innovative ideas.  Following a thorough evaluation of the proposal, it was adopted, with savings to the system of an estimated £23 million in the first year.  The outworking of this has led to a Joint Demand Tracking System whose effectiveness has been demonstrated in Afghanistan.  Subsequently, recognizing the benefits in such approaches, there has been agreement that NATO countries should share stock numbers for materials.

In recognition of her leadership and personal achievement in the development of improved systems for logistical support for military operations, Val was awarded an OBE.  Her investiture took place in Buckingham Palace in December 2005.

Speaker’s Host Alan Lee thanked Val for a very interesting talk that demonstrated how innovative approaches can bring great benefit, and he congratulated Val on the award of her OBE.  Members joined Alan to show their appreciation.