FLORENCE, Ariz. - Seven days into pre-deployment training and a traditional fist to the chest later, an Arizona Guardsman donned his next enlisted rank during a promotion ceremony at the Florence Military Reservation.
The pugilist was Sgt. 1st Class Timothy C. LeFever who pinned his son, Pfc. Timothy E. LeFever, after receiving his promotion to specialist from the 860th Military Police Company commander Capt. Devin Taylor.
“I’m very proud to pin my son today,” said 53-year-old LeFever, “and it is great to be going on the same deployment.”
Both LeFever men are currently training with the 860th MPs in preparation for an upcoming deployment to Afghanistan. The unit will be participating in Counterinsurgency Operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
As a civilian, Sgt. 1st Class LeFever lives in Tucson and works in the Federal Prison System. As a soldier, he said that this will be his third deployment having previously been to Afghanistan and Iraq.
He is a cook by trade, but his 25-years of military service has taken him down very different paths such as providing logistical support during the establishment of combat out posts in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and quarters manager for his battalion while in Iraq.
“You can give me any task at this point in my career and I can figure it out,” he said.
But this deployment is more than problem solving for Sgt. 1st Class LeFever. He said he is very proud to have this chance to serve with his son. “Who has this chance? Who gets to deploy with their son?”
In addition to the honor he feels, going with his son has given his family peace of mind knowing that dad is there to provide additional over watch for his son.
“There were some waterworks,” said 25-year-old Spc. LeFever when he described telling his mother he was deploying. He said he had put off deploying after watching his mother stress when his step-brother deployed to Afghanistan.
“But she definitely felt better when she knew my dad was going on this one,” he said.
Spc. LeFever, who served as a JROTC company commander at Red Mountain High School in Mesa, is currently a police officer in Mesa and has been serving as an MP in the Guard since December 2009.
He said his interest in military service started from listening to his father’s stories about training and deployments, “You get to shoot different guns, and conduct training that you don’t get to do as a civilian,” he said. But there is a practical side to his interest too.
Spc. LeFever joined the MP Corps prior to his civilian job in order to gain the unique experience he needed to be competitive getting into law enforcement.
“It was a really great benefit for me getting into the police force,” he said.
“Having both LeFevers on this deployment really shows the unique make up of the Guard,” Taylor said. “We have policemen, students, teachers, spouses, brothers and sisters; you just don’t see family and work experience dynamics like this in the Regular Army.”
The 860th MP Company was reactivated in 2003 and deployed to Iraq in 2004 for 12 months. The unit validated as the state National Guard Reaction Force in 2010 and activated in response to the Monument Fire in Sierra Vista, Arizona. In addition, the unit has conducted two-week annual training events in Vicenza, Italy; South Dakota and Flagstaff.