Posted on 02/28/2009 9:45:41 AM PST by SandRat
FORT HUACHUCA — Army soldiers are all volunteers.
It is also said that when a soldier marries, the resulting family also volunteers to serve the country.
Some soldiers and their families take volunteering a step further by being active in their local community.
That can be said of the Dean family on Fort Huachuca.
The family of four — Sgt. 1st Class Chad Dean, his wife Charity and their two teenage sons, Brandon, 15, and Bradley, 13 — spend hours in Scouting, youth football and other activities on and off the post.
Like many parents who volunteer their services, Chad became involved in Scouting because of his two sons.
Besides, he said, adults need to be “role models for kids.”
Unfortunately, Chad said, in volunteering, “you can count on the same ones showing up to do the work” with a group involving young people or any other organization. Chad’s wife agreed with him.
The Dean family regularly says “hi” and “bye” each day as they pass one another to complete their own hectic schedules.
The family is engaged in some of the same volunteer activities, which allows them to bond and be together.
The 37-year-old Chad is a platoon sergeant with Company A, Unmanned Aerial Systems Training Battalion, whose normal duty day starts early in the morning around 4:30 a.m., before heading out to be with the soldiers for which he is responsible.
About the same time, Charity is up and about preparing for her work as a teacher’s aide at the Col. Smith Middle School on post.
The boys prepare for school. Brandon is a freshman at Buena High School, and Bradley is a seventh-grader at Smith Middle School.
For Chad, duty days last longer than eight hours, and it’s common for a soldier to work on weekends. It’s true for Charity and the boys, too.
Brandon lifts weights after school and then heads to the post, where he joins other members of the Buena N.E.R.D.S. as they work on building a robot for two competitions. That makes his scheduled day end in the evening.
With all that, one could ask when is there time for volunteering.
Chad and Charity say they just fit it into their schedules.
For him, that means being the scoutmaster for Troop 431 on post. It’s a position he has held for the past two years. He used to be the troop’s assistant scoutmaster.
His involvement with Scouting also included being the cubmaster for Pack 429 on the fort.
He was never a Boy Scout. He was a Cub Scout when growing up in Bloomfield, Neb.
Both of his sons are Boy Scouts, with Brandon achieving Eagle status and Bradley a Star Scout.
Scouting is important in developing today’s young men, Chad said.
And it’s not just the weekly troop meetings. It’s also monthly camping trips and a weeklong summer trip where the Scouting skills are developed.
Those camping adventures take planning, which mean hours of preparation. Chad said that is why volunteers are critical in any Scouting program.
The troop, which is sponsored by Huachuca City VFW Post 10342, also does volunteer work in the community.
The Dean family also have volunteered to serve and clean up at dinners at the VFW post.
Chad, a 17-year Army veteran, also is involved in the Sierra Vista Youth Football and Cheer Association, where he started out as a parent helping a team and now coaches the Midget Colts.
Sometimes it’s frustrating when a parent gives advice on how something should be done in any program, but when given the opportunity to help volunteer, they have excuses why they can’t, he said.
In any volunteer program involving young people, “It takes a special person to help the kids,” Chad said.
It’s not that he was calling himself special. He means that those who step up and help are special because they see the need for adult participation.
Chad’s volunteer work doesn’t interfere with his military duty.
But, he added, “The Army has supported me in allowing me to volunteer and to help out.”
In his position as a platoon sergeant, Chad said young soldiers approach him and other noncommissioned officers about volunteering. If something can be worked out, the soldiers are allowed to help organizations in their off-duty time.
Chad has been stationed on the post for a number of years. Prior to his current assignment, he was the chief instructor for one of the courses at the Noncommissioned Officers Academy on the fort. He also had to do a yearlong, unaccompanied tour to South Korea.
For Charity, her volunteer work involves the football and cheer association. Saying she started out more as a “team mom,” Charity now helps keep the association books.
“She does more than that,” Chad said.
With a slight wave of her hand, Charity tried to dismiss his comment, but said volunteers do many things to help an organization.
Like her husband, Charity said she wished more adults would volunteer their time.
“It takes time, and many don’t think they have any to give,” she said.
Those who volunteer say the same thing, but continue to give their time, Charity said.
Then again, she added, there is something about volunteering that grabs a person.
Charity admits her first volunteer roles were because her sons were involved, But the satisfaction a person gets “becomes a habit,” she said.
She’s also helped in Scouting.
Then there are extra things she does at the school when events are held.
Both of the Dean boys have also volunteered at Smith, which Brandon attended until becoming a high school freshman.
He and Bradley also help out with the football and cheer association. Brandon played freshman football this past season at Buena, where he was an offensive tackle and defensive end.
“Volunteering is revealing, it’s a good way to interact,” Brandon said.
Even while playing football at Buena, he spent time with a Sierra Vista association that helps younger children.
Bradley said he, too, likes to spend time at the association and do whatever he can do to help.
At his middle school, he helps with events, such as book fairs and athletic competitions.
And both boys are doing well in school, Chad said.
Brandon noted it seems that a lot of family time comes when they are volunteering.
“Being volunteers is like our home away from home,” he said.
Herald/Review senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.
COMING UP
Look in Sunday’s and Monday’s editions for two more stories about people who give their time in our community.
in my opinion the Dean family ain’t “giving back”, they are just giving. Why in God’s name do I never see a story about some welfare family GIVING BACK. All I see are people like the Deans who haven’t taken anything, “giving back”.
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