Photo By Capt. Matthew Gilbert | Spc. Michael Dial, 913th Engineer Company, 194th Engineer Brigade, Tennessee National...... read more read more
NOVO SELO TRAINING AREA, Bulgaria – Michael Damon Dial, a United States Army soldier with the 913th Engineering Company, 194th Engineer Brigade, Tennessee Army National Guard, receives a promotion from private first class to specialist during Operation Resolute Castle 2016 on Friday, May 27, 2016 at Novo Selo Training Area, Bulgaria.
Spc. Dial, now 22 years old, enlisted in the U.S. Army November 25, 2014. He completed basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina and was assigned to the 913th Engineering Company, Lavinia, Tennessee. He is the son of Scott Dial and Tracy Abel and a 2012 graduate of Union City High School. He lives in Union City, Tennessee. When not attending monthly National Guard drills, he works at Williams Sausage in Union City.
The 913th Engineering Company is currently one of several Tennessee Army National Guard units participating in Operation Resolute Castle 2016, a NATO-led mission involving several military construction projects in Eastern Europe designed to improve the region’s strength and economy. The operation spans across Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, and Estonia.
In addition to an opportunity to improve these regions, it is an opportunity for U.S. Military Service members like Spc. Dial to continue to improve their skills.
Spc. Dial’s military occupation specialty is a wheeled vehicle mechanic, referred to in the U.S. Army as a “91 bravo.” The 913th Engineer Company operates over 30 pieces of heavy construction equipment at Novo Selo Training Area, including 7 dump trucks, 2 excavators, 6 scrapers, 4 road graders, 4 bulldozers, 2 high speed compactors, 2 vibratory rollers, 1 light medium tactical vehicle, 3 HMMWVs, and 4 transfer trucks. It’s Spc. Dial’s job to keep all that equipment running.
“As maintenance, we’ve kept our brothers in arms moving and operating so we can continue to grow and expand these bases here,” says Spc. Dial.
It hasn’t been any easy job. But even when intense rain caused mud and equipment problems, Spc. Dial kept the equipment running so the 913th Engineer Company could deliver hundreds of loads of gravel per day.
“We’ve completed the previous rotation’s job due to a weather delay. And then we’re moving on to the next phase,” says Spc. Dial.
1st Lt. Andrew Brooks Wilson, the officer in charge of the 913th Engineer Company and Spc. Dial’s boss for the last year, has noticed this type of work ethic and said the promotion was “well deserved,” saying that he Spc. Dial “is very proficient at his job and he excels amongst his peers.”
But Spc. Dial plans to keep improving.
“As an overall experience in Bulgaria, it’s been my first time overseas and I’ve learned a lot in my chosen career field. I can’t wait to come back next year.”
This chosen career field was not something Spc. Dial picked lightly – being in the U.S. Army is something that he thought about his entire life.
“I enlisted to do my duty as an American Citizen. It was always a dream of mine to become a soldier since I was a little boy. I always respected seeing soldiers and looked up to them as my heroes.”
And now – at just 22 years old – he is one of those heroes.
Article by 1Lt. Matthew Gilbert, 194th Engineer Brigade, Tennessee National Guard
| Date Taken: | 05.27.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 06.03.2016 11:45 |
| Story ID: | 199864 |
| Location: | NOVO SELO, BG |
| Web Views: | 301 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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