Tobyhanna Army Depot Recognizes Jeffrey Compton

When it comes to leadership, Tobyhanna Army Depot’s Personnel Management Division Chief Jeffrey Compton is always looking for ways he can grow his team so that they can achieve whatever career goals they have. For his dedication to the organization’s mission and his employees, Compton has recently been named TYAD’s latest Supervisor of the Quarter.

Compton, who received the honor for the third quarter of 2023, has over 30 years of federal service under his belt. From February 1992 to August 2012, he served as a member of the United States Marine Corps. While serving, he took advantage of the Marine Corps Enlisted Commissioning Education Program which offered him the chance to go to a four-year college full-time, while maintaining active duty status and pay. Always having had an interest in accounting, he earned an accounting degree and then attended Naval Post-Graduate School to earn a Defense Industry focused MBA.

Upon his retirement from the Marine Corps, Compton transitioned to providing Financial Management for the Headquarters Marine Corps Intelligence Department. Two years later, he returned to Northeastern Pennsylvania and took a job with the Federal Bureau of Prisons before joining Team Tobyhanna in December of 2017. In his nearly six years at TYAD, he worked as a member of the budget team and the Financial Analysis Division before moving into his current role as Chief of the Personnel Management Division (PMD).

When the PMD team was faced with an unexpected challenge this year, Compton worked with leadership so that requirements were clearly communicated up and down the chain of command. Under his direction, he ensured the problem was solved in an expeditious manner by regularly going the extra mile despite any hurdles that blocked his team’s path.

Compton strongly believes in the idea of working as a team. When the PMD was facing these challenges, he emphasized that it wasn’t just him that got the problem solved. It was the effort and support of an entire group coming together to collaboratively solve an issue.

“I didn’t do anything. The team did everything,” said Compton. “They understand the diverse work that is done across the board to support each other in their work. It was really the team and the team’s dedication to come in and execute their programs that made everything work.”

Compton continued to credit the team he works with, stating that he does what he can to encourage them to be leaders themselves.

“Teams, a lot of times, are one-deep in what they do but every one of those teammates steps up and acknowledges that a lot of he programs they run affect the entire depot. I encourage them to take ownership of their programs and to execute their programs,” said Compton. “It is really the team that makes everything go. From a leadership perspective, it is very important to me personality-wise and my leadership style to be supportive of the teammate and to remove any hurdles that they may have from executing their work and getting everything done.”

Director of Resource Management at TYAD Patricia Kratzer lauded Compton for his dedication to TYAD’s mission and willingness to make sure the job is always done right.

“Jeff sets a great example to peers and subordinates by exhibiting dedication, integrity, and a strong work ethic,” said Kratzer. “He makes himself available and provides guidance to his team daily. He understands his significance to mission execution and takes his responsibility as Chief of PMD very seriously.”

Emphasizing personal and professional development is a practice Compton leads with on a daily basis. He said he often challenges his team to ask their own questions, be confident in viewing problems from their own perspective, and to consider different perspectives and how would they change their response depending on that different view. He said he believes challenging open-ended questions helps people grow.

“My goal in leadership is to help develop people and help them in their career as they progress through with whatever their goals, wishes, desires are,” said Compton. “I would not mind that my entire team gets promoted out to take on new opportunities. That turnover is a result of professional development and those folks becoming ready to take that next step, if they so choose.”

Kratzer added that Compton ensures those working on his team are set up for success whether it is today or into the future.

“Those around Jeff respect him and follow his lead. On numerous occasions, he held one on one discussions with several of his team members that required, and benefited from, additional coaching, reassurance, and direction,” said Kratzer. ”He also actively supported several TOBY2035 initiatives during the quarter that focused on people and readiness … and met with peers to discuss challenges and opportunities shared as means of leadership development.”

The Supervisor of the Quarter award – and its companion Employee of the Quarter awards – are TOBY2035 initiatives aligned with the Invest in Our People line of effort. The plan, which has three additional focus areas, strives to position Tobyhanna for success in the coming years as the Department of Defense’s premier worldwide C5ISR readiness provider.