Sequoia Hopkins, of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Galveston District (SWG), was named the USACE "Outstanding Logistician of the Year".
The USACE Director of Logistics Col. Arvid Hill made the official announcement late May 2025 bestowing the top honor to Hopkins, who handles logistics, facilities, and transportation at SWG.
“I am pleased to announce the recipients of this year's Command Logistics Excellence Awards (CLEA),” Hill wrote. “The CLEA program, established in 2020, was designed to formally recognize the outstanding personnel within the USACE Logistics Community of Practice who have distinguished themselves through professional excellence, achievements, and superior performance.”
The "Outstanding Logistician of the Year" award is presented to an individual in recognition of their personal excellence in the overall management of logistics resources.
The award will be presented in person during the USACE National Award Ceremony, with the date to be announced later.
“Sequoia Hopkins has done a phenomenal job since coming on board the logistics team,” said Travis Byrd, SWG's logistics chief. “Her knowledge and dedication to her position have greatly improved the logistics team. Since she has been on board, she has trained most of the logistics staff in CEFMS (Corps of Engineers Financial Management System) and many of our hand receipt holders on how to use Asset Tracker to conduct inventories. It has been a pleasure to have her on our team here in Galveston!”
Hopkins came to SWG just over two years ago, direct from a deployment.
“I’m supposed to know everybody’s job in our office and help train them as they come on board and help them when they have issues,” Hopkins said. “I take pride in knowing what is going on in our area and advising the commander.”
She came to the Galveston District with a lot of experience and has applied her knowledge of market research to scour logistics websites to creatively acquire maintenance equipment at low costs from other government agencies, saving the district money on equipment rentals.
“I used to work overseas for the Department of Defense, under the Special Forces Command. I learned a lot,” Hopkins said. “I worked on Ali Al Salem Air Base (Kuwait) in a retrograde warehouse, so I managed everything that was coming in and out of theater.”
From the General Services Administration website, Hopkins found a 'like new' hill mower valued at $300,000 available for the cost of shipping and a replacement part and a “T-Rex” forklift and a backhoe from the Defense Logistics Agency for a very low cost. She also puts equipment the district no longer uses up for sale on government property sales websites.
“I started in logistics in 2004 when I joined the Army at 17. Being that young and joining the military I didn’t know what I was really choosing,” Hopkins said. “I soon came to realize that I was great at it, and I decided that I always wanted to leave things better than the way I got them.”