Meet The Troops 2012: Dave

So last year, in the week leading up to our Support The Troops event, we put some profiles out here.

Profiles of the troops that we were directly supporting and helping.

So, who are we helping with our event on December 13th?

You’ve read the primer on why we’re doing this.

You know we’re helping local Michigan people in the military stationed overseas.

You’ve got the event booked in your calendar and you’ll be there.

You read the Frequently Asked Questions about the event and you’re ready.

You might have even taken the time to read the profiles and updates from last year.

Well, now let’s meet one of the people we’re doing this for this year.

It always helps to put a face to a name to a cause so that there’s a connection.

Well, this time around, there’s an even better connection…

Enter PFC David Rieves.

David is a member of the Michigan National Guard and attached to the 1461st Transportation Company.  Dave was recalled to Active Duty and shipped to Afghanistan last month.

Since he’s a member of the Michigan National Guard, all the members of his unit are Michigan natives.   Dave is a graduate of Lapeer East High School and prior to getting deployed he was a student at Grand Rapids Community College.

Even more interesting is that Dave’s dad, Mike Rieves, has been an IT Recruiter in Detroit for 20+ years.  Mike has stopped by a few of our events, and is planning on stopping by Thursday night to have a look at what we’ve got going on.

A note from Dave:

My unit is part of the 1461st CMT HET Platoon out of Jackson Michigan.  Our company deployed to Afghanistan a couple months ago.  Our main component is at Camp Leatherneck but myself and 24 other Soldiers are based out of Kandahar Airfield.

Our main mission is vehicle recovery.  Basically we recover damaged vehicles such as MRAP’s and Strikers that either broke down or were hit by IED’s.  That means that we put together a convoy and go out in the field to pick these vehicles up, and then drop them back off for repair or disposal.  We also deliver new equipment that arrives in-country.  We drive a vehicle called at HET (Heavy Equipment Transfer) which is the biggest wheeled vehicle that the Army has and we are pretty constantly on the road since things are constantly getting blown up.  We have been boots-on-ground for just short of 3 months and have already done just over 40,000 miles of convoys. We do a lot of FOB (Forward Operating Base) hopping, delivering stuff all over the Kandahar province. 

Attached is a picture of our main vehicle we use, loaded up with a broken vehicle.

Respectfully

PFC Rieves

So…reminder time:

Event Thursday night: http://www.ITinTheD.com/event/december-2012/

Frequently Asked Questions for Thursday night: http://www.ITinTheD.com/4556/dec-13-2012-faqs/

The Meet The Troops set of entries from last year: http://www.ITinTheD.com/category/meet-the-troops/

See you Thursday night!