Mr. Soots came to the VA after a 25-year career in the Air Force. Mr. Soots has more than 30 years of logistics and administrative experience in all levels health care. He is a native of Lenoir, N.C., and graduated from Hawaii Pacific University. He retired from the Air Force in 2009.

Mr. Soots has direct oversight of the eight administrative areas within the complex health care organization to include Business Office, Engineering, Fiscal, Human Resources, Logistics, Privacy / Freedom of Information, Prosthetics, Safety/Emergency Mgt. and Strategic Planning.

During his military career, his positions include the Director of Consolidate Storage Kaneohe Marine Corps base Hawaii, Pacific Air Force Propulsion Superintendent for 3,500 personnel at nine different bases in the Pacific theater, providing cradle-to-grave logistics management and lean initiatives as regional manager in production processes for over 750 aerospace propulsion engines valued at $3-billion dollars.

Mr. Soots VHA career begin as the Chief Logistics Officer in 2012 overseeing $110-million dollars’ worth of equipment, $50-million dollars’ worth of contracts, $30-million budget for all disposable medical supplies, 2.5-million reproductions, 1.5-million pieces of mail, 120,000 packages and distribution of 6,000 burial flags throughout the state of South Carolina. He has a varied background that includes consultative and administrative, educational and leadership roles. Mr. Soots establishes solid and viable partnerships to effectively and efficiently align with and support key strategic and business initiatives. He also builds and retains high performance teams by hiring, developing and motivating skilled professionals who are goal oriented, mission focused, results driven and value based.