Photo By Jon Connor | Joy Krush, a supervisory human resources specialist, Civilian Human Resources Agency,...... read more read more
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ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. – Her father would’ve been mighty proud.
His daughter, Joy Krush, followed the path her father laid many decades before in the field of human resources. He would’ve been proud because his daughter was presented the 2020 William H. Kushnick award here Dec. 9 in a virtual ceremony attended by colleagues and family.
In August 2021, Krush became division chief of the Healthcare Service Center, Defense Health Agency, Civilian Human Resources Agency, located at RIA. Previously she served as chief, Centralized Army Functions Division, Civilian Human Resources Agency, Midwest Region, RIA.
Hosting the ceremony was Carol Burton, Senior Executive Service, CHRA director.
“Joy has more energy than anybody I ever met in my life,” Burton said during her remarks.
Burton praised Krush for helping recruit key medical professionals in a world of chaos when the COVID-19 pandemic took off in early 2020. She said that Krush’s work was a game-changer for the Army and the Department of Defense as a whole.
“What a big deal that was, phenomenal, the work,” Burton said of Krush’s efforts. “And, what an honor it is to be with you.”
The William H. Kushnick Award was established in 1968 by a group of citizens who served on the staff of the secretary of war during World War II. The award is sponsored by the Army Civilian Personnel Alumni Association, an organization of former and current Army Civilian personnel.
Her award read in part: “Her success in recruiting hard-to-fill medical positions for the U.S. Army Medical Command stands chief among her many accomplishments. Ms. Krush led process improvements to significantly enhance the Army’s ability to fill key medical positions in a time of war and through an unprecedented national health pandemic.”
“I’m so honored to receive this award,” Krush said at the ceremony, explaining that she was now being awarded amongst what she called the “giants” in the Army career field of human resources. “I’m so humbled to join the ranks of those” [before me].
Based on a highly competitive nomination process, a panel selects an Army Civilian in personnel administration based on their most outstanding singular achievement. The award is approved by the secretary of the Army.
Kushnick was the War Department’s director of civilian personnel from 1941 to 1946, and is credited with helping to define the Army's civilian personnel program, decentralizing authority for the program, and helping establish levels of responsibility for civilian personnel management.
Krush, a GS-14 supervisory human resources specialist, has 47 years of federal service.
This division includes the Medical Centralized Recruitment Cell, the U.S. Army Network Enterprise Technology Command Centralized Recruitment Cell, and up to February 2021, the Army Career Development Program, until it was realigned with CHRA’s Army Civilian Career Management Activity.
Krush hails from Texas and began her career as a GS-05 intern with the U.S. Army Materiel Command at Corpus Christi, Texas, in August 1974.
That was the same year her father, Thomas Coleman, retired as an Army Civilian personnel officer at Red River Depot in New Boston, in northeast Texas. He served in World War II and went onto make a career in the human resources field.
“I learned HR at my father’s knees,” Krush explained. “It was from him that my love of country and HR really grew.”
In 1980, she was promoted to a GS-12 as a team leader because of her high degree of technical expertise. In this role, she became known as an expert in pay setting, Reduction In Force, Merit Promotion programs, the Priority Placement Program, and a variety of special recruitment programs. She assisted many organizations in developing strategic recruitment plans and became a key adviser to upper management.
In 1991, Krush was promoted to a GM-13 assuming her first supervisory role. This was during a time of multiple realignments with significant reduction in force activity. She was designated as chief of the Realignment Management Office to coordinate a variety of missions. During this time, she was recognized with multiple awards for her significant contributions in her career.
Krush said one learns human resources through experience, varied experience and working outside one’s comfort zone.
“It’s more than a technical competence … it’s a passion to learn and excel,” she said, comparing it to learning things like golf or a musical instrument. “You will get better and better. Life is like that.”
Krush said she would do it all over again as her career has been rewarding, challenging, and has given her a sense of purpose.
“There is no feeling better than to know that you have made a difference to an organization,” she said. “You do it by putting your whole heart into it, by winning, and by always remembering – ‘Why are we here?’”
So, with a Kushnick award and 47 years of an HR career, is retirement next?
“I made a career of human resources just like my father did,” Krush said in an after-ceremony interview. “Retirement is not on the horizon.”
Her new mission, she said, is to be part of the solutions that are needed as the various branch services combine their healthcare agencies under the Defense Health Agency. “I want to see that through,” Krush said.
“I think that working for the federal government, for the Department of the Army, is a wonderful career and a wonderful opportunity,” she said, “and there are some extremely hard working people.”
| Date Taken: | 01.03.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 01.03.2022 13:41 |
| Story ID: | 412373 |
| Location: | ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, ILLINOIS, US |
| Web Views: | 187 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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