JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. –
Jeremy Liehr, a materials examiner and identifier for the DLA Disposition Services at Lewis site, was recently named one of three Defense Logistics Agency Employees of the Quarter.
Liehr has been with the agency for nearly three years, and deployed to Afghanistan at the start of 2018, where he was told he’d be serving as equipment manager for disposal operations throughout the country.
“This was my first deployment and, to be honest, I was not sure what to expect,” Liehr said. “It was a lot of responsibility. … I wanted to do nothing more than devote my time and energy into successfully completing my tour and running the equipment as if it was my own.”
Liehr is the first Disposition Services employee recognized by the agency for outstanding personal accomplishment in 2018. He was cited for tracking and accounting for nearly 160 machines and work vehicles across four sites within theater and overseeing the management of parts orders and spares inventories, equipment mileage and hour reporting requirements. He performed hand receipt inventories, equipment transfers, surveys, oversaw maintenance contracts and maintained equipment readiness at better than a 90 percent rate. The nomination notes that Liehr consistently met mission requirements normally handled by personnel well above his paygrade.
Liehr said the award was an honor and totally unexpected. He credited his success during the six month deployment to the direction and encouragement of the agency leadership downrange.
“Our site chief and area manager mentioned [the nomination] after the fact and told me that I was going to go places if I stayed on the track I was on,” Liehr said. “I will say I busted my hump during this deployment and it was not easy at the time, but I could not have accomplished this mission without the mentorship from Mr. [Craig] Barrett, who served as our area manager during most of my tour. He was able to push me and show me things that would detach me from my comfort zone and make me a better employee in the end. I also had Mr. [Greg] Dangremond as the site chief who saw my potential and pushed me as well. These two men were a vital part of my success.”
“Jeremy Liehr is literally indefatigable,” Dangremond said. “He is most comfortable outside his comfort zone!”
Liehr grew up in an Army family and his soldier spouse has served for two decades. They recently relocated from Germany to Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Seattle, where he just joined a new Disposition Services team and is working toward his goal of becoming a disposal support representative.
“DLA has given me the opportunity to work for a great organization and has been there for me when my spouse was put on orders,” Liehr said. “In the end, our mission is to serve and support the warfighter, but my mission is to serve DLA as an employee as long as they will give me the opportunity.”