Air Force Staff Sergeant Stephanie Ambler was recognized during a Jan. 27 awards ceremony for being named the Air Force Element (Medical DoD) Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year for 2011. Ambler is a Forensic Toxicology Technician for the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System's (AFMES) Division of Forensic Toxicology. The ceremony was held at the AFMES new headquarters at Dover Air Force Base, DE.

Ambler said she was honored to be recognized at the ceremony and "felt blessed to work with people who would even consider nominating me for NCO of the Year." She will now go on to compete to become the Air Force wide NCO of the Year for 2011.

Ambler joined the Air Force in 2002 and attended basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. Upon graduation, she was assigned to Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas and completed a two-phase, 13-month technical school in Medical Laboratory Technology. She arrived to her first duty station at Royal Air Force Lakenheath, United Kingdom, in October 2004. In June 2006, Sergeant Ambler returned to Lackland for her second duty assignment, where she worked at DoD's largest Blood Donor Center. During her time there she deployed to Balad Air Base, Iraq, from September 2007 to February 2008. There she worked at joint tasking for the Apheresis Team, supplying platelets, plasma, and whole blood to forward operating bases and emergency rooms.

In June 2010 Sergeant Ambler was selected for a new assignment within the AFMES' Forensic Toxicology Division. As a member of the forensic toxicology staff, she was instrumental in assisting with the division's move from Rockville, MD to the new headquarters at Dover AFB in late 2011. Ambler is currently involved with animal rescues and adoptions for unwanted and abandoned pets. She is also in training for the 2012 Rock 'n' Roll half-marathon to be held in Washington D.C. She is attending the University of Delaware, where she is pursuing a bachelor's degree in medical technology.

At the same ceremony, medals were awarded to Army Col. Timothy Lyons, Chief, Division of Forensic Toxicology; Air Force Lt. Col. Edward Mazuchowski, a forensic pathologist for AFMES; Army Maj. Philip Beran, also a forensic pathologist for AFMES; and Air Force Master Sgt. Kelly Vernon, Surperintendent/First Sergeant, AFMES.

Lyons received the Defense Superior Service Medal, while Mazuchowski, Beran and Kelly were awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal. All four were recognized for their service to the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System while it was still part of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, which closed in 2011 in accordance with the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Act.