Photo By Tech. Sgt. Sara Kolinski | Darik Frye smiles with his wife, Amanda Frye, and children Chase and Remington Frye...... read more read more
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BARNES AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Massachusetts – After countless tries with all the military branches, active and reserves, 27-year-old Darik Frye was finally given a chance to be in the military as he had planned since high school, at Barnes Air National Guard Base.
After high school Frye enlisted with the active duty Air Force to be a Pararescueman. When he did not pass the rigorous training in 2011, Frye separated from the Air Force, but regretted it and has been trying to re-enlist ever since.
Coming from a military family, Frye knew that he wanted the comradery, support, and benefits that the military provide, and after a six-month waiver process, 104th Fighter Wing recruiter, Staff Sgt. Kayla Gallagher, helped Frye enlist on Dec. 7.
“I knew back in February he would be enlisting with us,” said Gallagher. “It was just a matter of when.”
Although recruiters turned down Frye repeatedly, he continued to persevere in an attempt to achieve his goal. He had an entry-level discharge, meaning it was neither honorable nor dishonorable, which meant he required a waiver in order to re-enlist in any military branch to prove he would be a good asset to the unit.
“He told me that he knew it would take a while and he knew it would be a lot of hard work,” said Gallagher, “but he promised me that it would be worth it and I never ever doubted that.”
Gallagher worked with Frye getting all the documents and paperwork, putting together a waiver package, and getting it through the proper routing.
“Here they obviously understood that this is what I wanted and they were willing to work for it,” said Frye.
He said that the recruiters at the 104FW were understanding and willing to help him, leading to his enlistment into the 104th Fighter Wing Security Forces Squadron.
“It feels great,” said Frye. “It almost doesn’t feel real still because it was almost eight years to the day that I originally enlisted on Dec. 28, 2010 so I don’t think it’s going to hit me yet but it does feel good and I’m honored to be given the opportunity again.”
| Date Taken: | 12.11.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 12.11.2018 16:00 |
| Story ID: | 303061 |
| Location: | WESTFIELD, MA, US |
| Web Views: | 395 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Recruit’s perseverance brings him to the 104th Fighter Wing, by TSgt Sara Kolinski, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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