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JULY 1, 2010

Master Sgt Chrystal Fleming (right) is pictured with Navy Reserve Rear Admiral Ray English, who presented her with a Defense Meritorious Service Medal.

Orofino reservist receives medal

   Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA - Orofino resident and Army Reserve Master Sgt. Chrystal M. Fleming has been awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal in recognition of exceptional service during her recent six-month deployment to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

   Fleming is a logistics specialist assigned to Defense Reutilization Team 1 (known as DRT-1), Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA. The DRT is part of the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS), headquartered in Battle Creek, MI – itself part of the Defense Logistics Agency, Fort Belvoir, VA.

   Fleming received the medal in a special ceremony held here June 12 during a drill weekend. Navy Reserve Rear Adm. Ray English, director of the Defense Logistics Agency Joint Reserve Force which oversees DRT-1, presented the medal.

   While deployed to Iraq, Fleming served as a site surveyor, contracting representative, scrap-sales leader, and property-disposal specialist for DRMS. She worked at five different forward-operating bases during her deployment.

   The citation accompanying the award credits Fleming’s “consistently positive leadership” for “significant contributions to mission success.”

   The award narrative highlights her work at Camp Adder, Iraq, in particular. “As a result of her expertise and customer focus, a service contract [with a local Iraqi company] was arranged and awarded, significantly contributing to the responsible drawdown of forces in Iraq,” according to the citation.

   Fleming was deployed to Iraq from Sept. 26, 2009 through March 24, 2010. She returned to reserve duty here June 12-13.

   Fleming said that about twenty others from the unit were deployed at the same time, and she had the opportunity to interact in Iraq with some of her colleagues from the DRT-1.

   “It was a really good deployment,” she said. “Deploying as a unit was nice because I worked with people I knew,” she said.

   Fleming is the daughter of Donnie Isaacks and Ken and Barbara Rash, all of Orofino. The master sergeant is a 1988 graduate of Orofino High School and a 1994 graduate of Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, with an associate’s degree in bookkeeping. She has served in the Army for 22 years.

   Fleming and her husband, Eric, have two children, Eric Jr., and Tasha.

   As the Department of Defense’s combat logistics support agency, DLA provides the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, other federal agencies, and joint and allied forces with a variety of logistics, acquisition and technical services.

   The agency sources and provides nearly 100 percent of the consumable items America’s military forces need to operate, from food, fuel and energy, to uniforms, medical supplies, and construction and barrier equipment. DLA also supplies about 84 percent of the military’s spare parts.

   DRT-1 is part of the Defense Logistics Agency’s Joint Reserve Force, which supports the DLA mission by providing a globally-responsive reserve force of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines who are trained and ready to deploy.

   DLA has about 26,000 employees worldwide. DLA’s business revenues were nearly $38 billion in Fiscal Year 2009.

   For more information about DLA, go to www.dla.mil.