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By DeCA Corporate Communications
FORT LEE, Va. – Marine Sgt. Maj. Michael R. Saucedo is the Defense Commissary Agency’s new senior enlisted advisor to the director. He reports to the agency in September.
Saucedo follows Army Command Sgt. Maj. Tomeka N. O’Neal who will become the new command senior enlisted leader for the Defense Logistics Agency.
In Saucedo’s previous assignment he was the sergeant major for U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Korea.
At DeCA, he is responsible for advising the DeCA director on all service members’ needs related to the commissary benefit and serving as the agency liaison with the senior enlisted chiefs of the armed services.
“Throughout his military career, Sgt. Maj. Saucedo has demonstrated he will be a staunch advocate for our service members and their families,” said Rear Adm. (retired) Robert J. Bianchi, DOD special assistant for commissary operations. “Being a senior enlisted leader he has a unique relationship with our military community, and we will rely on his counsel to help us understand the issues that affect our customers the most as we deliver their commissary benefit.”
A significant amount of Saucedo’s time from 1994 to 2012 has been spent on deployments. In 1994, Saucedo participated in contingency operations in the Indian Ocean related to Mogadishu, Somalia (Operation Restore Hope) with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU). His unit also participated in Operations Provide Promise and Deny Flight as a component of Joint Task Force Provide Promise.
In November 2002, he deployed to Kuwait and Iraq in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.
Following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Saucedo, then the aviation combat element sergeant major for the 31st MEU, participated in Operation Tomodachi. There, his Marines helped provide humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
In 2012, Saucedo deployed to South Korea where he served as the Marine Aircraft Group Task Force sergeant major during Exercise Ssang Yong ’13 with the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy and Republic of Korea Marine Corps.
In June 2014, Saucedo transferred to Headquarters and Support Battalion, Marine Corps Installations West-Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California.
“In today’s COVID environment, being the senior enlisted advisor to the director and advocate for our active duty service members, retirees, and reserve components is critical,” Saucedo said. “Our service members and retirees expect and deserve the best and safest customer experience that we can provide. In this position, I will have an integral role by communicating the needs of our customers to the DeCA team to ensure a premier customer experience is had by all.”
Saucedo joined the Marines in 1991 as a field radio operator. Upon completion of his basic training, he attended Marine Corps Communication Electronic Schools (MCCES), 29 Palms, California, where he completed the Field Radio Operator Course.
Throughout his career, Saucedo has held a variety of unit- and command-level assignments in the continental United States and overseas. From 1997 to 2000, he served as a Marine security guard (MSG) at American embassies in Mexico City, Mexico; Nicosia, Cyprus; and Tokyo, Japan.
In June 2000, he was assigned to Dhaka, Bangladesh, as a detachment commander. Saucedo was selected as Charlie Company’s Marine Security Guard of the Year for 2000 and later received a meritorious promotion to gunnery sergeant.
In November 2002, he deployed to Kuwait and Iraq in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom during which he would go on to be selected to the I Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) Commanding General’s Jump Command Post Communications Staff as the noncommissioned officer-in-charge.
-DeCA-
About DeCA: The Defense Commissary Agency operates a worldwide chain of commissaries providing groceries to military personnel, retirees and their families in a safe and secure shopping environment. Commissaries provide a military benefit, saving authorized patrons thousands of dollars annually on their purchases compared to similar products at commercial retailers. The discounted prices include a 5-percent surcharge, which covers the costs of building new commissaries and modernizing existing ones. A core military family support element, and a valued part of military pay and benefits, commissaries contribute to family readiness, enhance the quality of life for America’s military and their families, and help recruit and retain the best and brightest men and women to serve their country.
| Date Taken: | 08.03.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 08.03.2020 13:13 |
| Story ID: | 375166 |
| Location: | FORT LEE, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 298 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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