A Williston native will be inducted into the Defense Logistics Agency Hall of Fame Wednesday in Washington D.C. for implementing medical supply efficiencies.

Captain Terry R. Irgens, MSC, USN (retired) will be recognized for extraordinary leadership and support as Director of the Defense Supply Center, Philadelphia's Medical Material Supply Chain and for his continuous outstanding mission support between 1990 and 1994.

In logistics, he was responsible for maintaining supplies for the military which consisted of ordering, delivery and keeping many items in cold storage for the Army, Navy and Air Force. At one time, he oversaw $700 million in medical supplies.

He previously was inducted into the center's Hall of Fame in July of 1996 for his contributions to improving its military health care system.

"I am very surprised. It's a big honor," Irgens said of his newest accolade. Irgens is a 1964 graduate of Williston High School. His father Jim Irgens ran the Irgens Rexall Drug. Terry Irgens earned a pharmacy degree at the North Dakota State University in Fargo.

He entered the Navy in 1969 and retired with the rank of captain in 1996. He served as a pharmacist in the Navy during the Vietnam era.

Between his tenure, Irgens advanced with several promotions in South Carolina, Rhode Island and Maryland for the military. Irgens later earned master degrees in hospital pharmacy and hospital administration through NDSU while still in the Navy.

As director, Irgens led the Medical Material Supply Chain during the first Gulf War and into the creation of Medical Prime Vendor, the first prime vendor program activated in the Department of Defense.

His superiors recognized him for refocusing the supply chain in using more efficient commercial business practices to best support customers. These changes reduced costs and boosted efficiency.

Irgens was known for thinking ahead. When computers were a novelty in the mid 1980s, he obtained one of the initial four IBMs and demonstrated the personal computer's ability to organize and manipulate data. His action prompted the Medical Supply Chain into the PC age, and shaped the medical supply chains use of modern electronic capabilities. While earning his master's degree, Irgens designed a special program for his thesis in computerized pharmacy information system.

During the First Gulf War, Irgens pioneered the forward extension of the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) onto the battlefield by deploying a medical officer to serve in Saudia Arabia to coordinate medical logistics support efforts on the battlefield. His mission's success paved the way for the expansion of the DSCP and the DLA role of forward logistics.

Among his peers, Irgens is best known for being the "father" of Medical Prime Vendor. His visionary leadership directly led to implementing electronic data interchange for the creation of Prime Vendor. Prime Vendor is credited with reducing acquisition costs, inventory investment and warehouse infras-structure. It also improved DLA's readiness support on the battlefield.

As Medical Prime Vendor’s director, Irgens is lauded for recognizing opportunity and potential for improvement. Reports credit him in engaging in strategic partnerships with the Military Services Medical Logistics Offices and Department of Veterans Affairs. Through these partnerships, the agencies involved were able to produce and expand efficiencies for entire federal health systems of the military.

"The success of DLA's Medical Supply Chain today is due in large part to the expertise, innovation and leadership of Captain Terry Irgens, MSC, USN (retired)," stated his nomination papers.

The retired Irgens now resides in Myersville, Ma. and is employed with IBM, where he is managing director for the Defense Health Care Operations. He and his wife, Karen Hovland Irgens, have three grown children and five grandchildren.