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JBLM master sgt. top NCO in DLA

Crystal Fleming shines as the best at the Defense Logistics Agency

Defense Logistics Agency Director Navy Vice Adm. Alan Thompson, Army Master Sgt. Crystal Fleming and DLA Disposition Services Director Twila Gonzales pause during the ceremony naming Fleming the DLA 2010 senior noncommissioned officer of the year. /DLA

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FORT BELVOIR, Va. - Army Master Sgt. Crystal Fleming, a member of DLA Disposition Services' reserve element at Joint Base Lewis-McChord was named the Defense Logistics Agency 2010 senior noncommissioned officer of the year.

Fleming received her award Dec. 14 in a ceremony at the McNamara Headquarters Complex.

Fleming has served in Iraq three times, once in a Fort Bragg, N.C.-based signal unit in 1991 and twice as a member of a Disposition Remediation Team.

She says her best memories are of her most recent deployment, when her team deployed as a group. That deployment figured large in the nomination for the honor, written by Navy Cmdr. Alan Schmitt.

He noted that Fleming "emplaced and trained" her team members and went on to do field assignments herself. She "demonstrated exceptional leadership while providing strong mentorship to the soldiers and sailors assigned to her," Schmitt said, "projecting confidence and enthusiasm to motivate them by setting the example for them to follow."

Asked how it felt to win the honor, Fleming talked about her team instead.

"I was very proud for our DRT team," she said. "We're a very close-knit group and work great together."

The fact that she could lead by going forward, Fleming said, was one of the most enjoyable parts of her most recent deployment.

"We traveled all the time and got to help people [at the forward operating bases] set up to clear their bases and remove their scrap," she said. "So we were helping them leave things in good order."

Fleming joined the Army in 1989 and trained as a logistics specialist, then went to airborne school at Fort Benning, Ga. From there she went to Fort Bragg, N.C., just in time to deploy for the first Gulf War. Fleming moved to the Army Reserve in the 1990's. After 9/11, she returned to active duty briefly at then Fort Lewis. She began her service as a Disposition Remediation Team member in 2004 in Texas and then transferred to the Lewis-McChord unit in 2006. She lives in Idaho, a short six-and-a-half hours from where she performs her weekend duties. "Except sometimes in the winter the pass is closed," she said, "but my unit is always understanding about letting me make up missed drills."

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