A conversation with MPSCS Radio Tech & Michigan National Guard Army Veteran David Peck

We would like to thank all of our veterans, active, and reservist military for their service. Did you know that over 40% of our MPSCS staff have served in the military? We have members who have served in every branch, and today on “Tune In with MPSCS”, we talk with one of our Radio Techs David Peck who served with the Michigan Army National Guard and spent some time at Gitmo. Why do veterans make great employees? What Military Veteran services are available? We answer these questions and more. Transcript: https://www.michigan.gov/mpscs/-/media/Project/Websites/MPSCS/Social_Media/Tune-in-with-MPSCS-Veterans-Peck-Transcript.pdf Are you a Military Veteran and need assistance? The US Department of Veterans Affairs offers veterans a full spectrum of health care services, disability, emergency assistance, employment guidance, counseling, education, and housing benefits. Go to: www.va.gov, or call 800-698-2411. Veterans Crisis Line at 800-273-8255. Select 1, or you can text 838255, or visit Veteranscrisisline.net. Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency at 1-800-MICHvet. Or visit Michiganveterans.com to learn more or to be connected with a service officer near you.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:14

Hi everybody and welcome to our podcast. Tune in with MPSCS. And today we are going to feature one of our military veterans at Michigan's Public Safety Communications System. At MPSCS, we have members who have served in every branch, and about 40% of our staff have served in the military. Our special guest today is Dave Peck. He's one of our radio techs, and he was with the Michigan Army National Guard. Welcome to the show, Dave.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_02 0:41

Could you tell us a little bit of what you do here at MPSCS and how long you've worked here?

SPEAKER_01 0:46

Yeah, um, so I'm a radio technician at the North Region Service Center. Um, been here for nine years. Uh, I work on uh infrastructure and subscriber, uh, work inside the towers, work on microwave power systems and RF systems, and then uh also in the subscriber, work with MSP, DNR, and MDOT, and work on their radios, uh, in-car camera systems, uh, radars, and whatever they have they want me to take a peek at.

SPEAKER_02 1:10

Pretty much all of it.

SPEAKER_01 1:12

Nice to help.

SPEAKER_02 1:14

Um, where do you work out of and what what is your coverage area?

SPEAKER_01 1:17

All right, again, I work out of the North Region Service Center, NRSC of the Gaylord shop, uh, located in Gaylord, Michigan, about 60 miles south of the Mackinac Bridge. Uh, we work as far south as the south edge of Wexford County, all the way across. Uh, so we have the northern tip, and then there's three counties uh in the eastern UP.

SPEAKER_02 1:35

So extensive area.

SPEAKER_01 1:37

Yeah, we have about 61 towers, I think, all together in our region.

SPEAKER_02 1:41

So you touch Lakes Michigan, Lake Huron, and Superior.

SPEAKER_01 1:46

Uh, yes. Uh, we also have to service uh Sugar Island, Mackinac Island, and Beaver Island. So we have three islands as well.

SPEAKER_02 1:53

Those are the fun days, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:56

Um, could you tell us a little bit about yourself, where you live, your family?

SPEAKER_01 1:59

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 2:00

About your hobbies.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

So uh lived in Gaylord most of my life, graduated Joe Burg in 1996. Uh, I have uh a family of four. I got a daughter that's in uh southern Ohio. Um, she is an RN, 21. Very excited. Uh, found out that uh she's expecting, so that's good news.

SPEAKER_02 2:16

Gonna be your grandpa.

SPEAKER_01 2:17

Yep. Uh my son is 17. He's uh a senior in Gaylord Schools. Um, wife will be working at uh Avalanche Bay here before too long. Been married about 17 years as well. Uh I dabble in a little photography. I do amateur radio as a hobby, a motorcycle and fish. Photography kind of a best as an amateur. Uh, like to take photos of landscapes and uh folks at uh sporting events and whatnot. Uh ham radio, I've been doing that since 2006. Um, I did uh a lot of ham radio while I was deployed in Gitmo. We can probably talk about that later. Um, I have an 07 uh Harley Davidson Road King, which I ride as any chance I can get. I love riding that machine. Uh, and a little fishing on the side.

SPEAKER_02 3:00

I thought it was fishing first and then motorcycling. Has that changed?

SPEAKER_01 3:03

No, I like that. I like the motorcycle more than the fishing.

SPEAKER_02 3:05

Just checking. Um, when and why did you enter this type of work at MPSCS?

SPEAKER_01 3:10

Uh well, I entered uh the employment there in 2013. I was uh actually currently unemployed at the time. I was working at CSMS, uh, was laid off. Early on, I was trying to uh try to find myself and I got into electronics for the military and was looking to try to further that skill set. Uh an opportunity came available. I had to give a uh uh recommendation for an employee uh that works for us. And I was asked at that point because he knew I had a little bit of a radio background if I'd be interested. So um I put in an application, uh, filled it out, and then I got a phone call later.

SPEAKER_02 3:41

Okay. Um now you served in the National Guard. Where were you stationed at and how long have you been in?

SPEAKER_01 3:48

Uh I was in uh almost 22 years. Uh most of my uh service was in Camp Grimming uh with the 1071st maintenance company. Uh I did do a short stint in Detroit, uh eight mile armory, um as a non-commission officer or a maintenance control NCO, and then later on a platoon sergeant, was a platoon sergeant for uh five years. Um I did do some training in Toby Hannah, Pennsylvania, did some training in Virginia, Fort Lee, uh a couple times in Camp Dodge, Iowa. Uh also did three weeks in Hohensfeld, Germany, and then my uh one and only deployment was Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, uh in 2018, 2019.

SPEAKER_02 4:26

So you have been halfway around the world?

SPEAKER_01 4:28

I have been.

SPEAKER_02 4:29

Okay. Um, why did you choose this particular branch?

SPEAKER_01 4:33

Um, so initially uh I was kind of making a muck of my life there, and so uh I chose the National Guard as a way to get some kind of additional education in a skill set. Uh at that point I was a machine operator and uh just my earning income wasn't that much. So I walked down, I literally walked into the National Guard based as like I'd like a skill. Uh and they had picked a couple different electronics. Um, I figured if I didn't like the National Guard, that uh it had a minimum requirement that was serve on the weekends a couple weeks out of the year. Um, and if I really liked it, I would have gone full time. Uh with the birth of my daughter, I chose to stay home instead of going a full-time uh but uh I had a very I very much appreciate the time I spent in the Michigan National Guard.

SPEAKER_02 5:15

Okay. Um now you've seen different deployments, different areas you've served in. Um how did those differ from each other? How is Germany different than being stateside?

SPEAKER_01 5:27

Um Germany's culture is uh is a lot different than the states. Uh uh food is pretty amazing. Uh this seems like the smaller towns, there's a lot more like evening walks. Um, the driving is a lot different. I did get to drive an Autobahn, but it was in a bluebird, not that exciting. 55 mile an hour bus. Um, uh just the culture is different. People just act differently. And uh, of course, there was a language barrier, which was kind of tough. Um at Guantanamo Bay, you uh we weren't able to go to Cuba, so it was military only. And I think one of the things that was pretty interesting is when you're working in a military-only area, everybody's willing to work really hard. No one's here for, well, I just have to be here. Everybody wants to be here, and they are all driven, they work hard, they they play hard, uh, they work out hard. Uh, they're very just driven people. And uh, I really appreciated that. And that's not something that you normally get, like in a civilian structure, where you get people that are, I'm gonna get a paycheck, I'm gonna do this what it is. But everybody's there because they want to be there and they're driven.

SPEAKER_02 6:28

How did how do you think these things changed you? They make you better, more stronger.

SPEAKER_01 6:35

Uh the military finished a lot of grown-up that I needed. Um, as I stated before, I was trying to correct uh um some grown-up on my own. Um, but uh found out that your feelings don't necessarily matter as much as that sometimes the accomplishment of your mission does. Met a lot of strong people and they were just let's get it done. And then once you get it done, then you can go uh, you know, have your barley pop or whatever and relax and just kind of cut loose a little bit. Um, but the National Guard taught me a lot of skill sets uh of uh troubleshooting, uh being focused on my job, uh kind of putting some personal issues aside to accomplish that mission and then deal with that uh when that particular mission was over.

SPEAKER_02 7:14

Um now you recently served down in Guantanamo. Um tell us a little bit more about that.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

Yeah. Uh so uh October uh 2018 was uh my first and only deployment was Guantanamo Bay Cuba. Um it did work in the detention center. A lot of people um they failed to realize that the Navy station's been there since 1898. So there's a competing, a lot of people don't associate one with the other, they just think about the detention center. Uh that is where I worked. Um I ended up working in the communication section section pretty extensively. Um, worked on a lot of their radio stuff, repaired a lot of equipment. Um, I fixed a dead zone they had where the Coast Guard couldn't talk uh with their uh uh boats. And uh I worked with ham radio with some of the kids in the DOD for a little while, uh, started a ham radio uh course um and then did a lot of ham radio as a hobby. A lot of focus is just trying to take care of their radio system.

SPEAKER_02 8:10

Did that ham radio keep you in touch with home a little bit?

SPEAKER_01 8:13

I did. So my dad and my father-in-law are both ham radio operators, so I was able to make it uh 1,847 miles. I was able to talk to my dad and my father-in-law on a couple occasions. Um, when I got on the radio, in about 15 minutes, I can make a contact every 45 seconds. And the only way it would slow down is if I actually just turn the radio off. Uh, quite popular when you're down in Guantanamo IQ.

SPEAKER_02 8:38

I think so. Um now we found that military veterans are a great fit for MPSCS, and some of the strengths that the vets bring to the workplace do include that they work well in a team, they work towards a mission, they have a sense of duty, a great work ethic, they are great problem solvers, they adapt to all sorts of different environments and situations, they bring leadership skills, they are disciplined, and they can follow through a task to completion. Now, what of your military experience do you think you brought to MPSCS?

SPEAKER_01 9:14

The biggest thing is uh going through the electronic school gave me a good found, fundamental foundation for troubleshooting. Working with other soldiers, learning how to delegate was really important. Um, it's very easy for me to be very focused and want to do it all, but that isn't very conducive to a team atmosphere. And so um they break you down in that smaller team, and it's the team's accomplishment, not the individual accomplishment. Working with folks, so you don't always have the best idea, you don't always have the right uh attack, whatever that problem is. And just having a second set of eyes to put you in check to go, hey, did we try this? Did you make sure you're tight in that? Uh, was very helpful. Uh, you really learn to rely on your teammates instead of trying to do it all on your own.

SPEAKER_02 9:53

Yeah, I can see that makes sense for especially at MPSCS. Um, troubleshooting skills too.

SPEAKER_01 9:59

Yeah. So uh the electronics they took was uh basic electronics, advanced electronics, processors, uh, some microwave communications. Uh, and then when I got to what they call systems at uh Redstone Arsenal, um they start looking at uh um we had something called an IFD, it was the integrated family test equipment. So it was a small van with a bunch of testing gear. Um and you would have to troubleshoot the uh troubles, trouble codes that you would have. So if the device would fail a code, is it the is it the box that failed? Is it the interconnect device that failed? Is it the wiring down to the oscilloscope or digital word generators that were inside? And so you got really good at practicing and in verifying the fault. So first time you saw the fault, well, that doesn't mean anything. Uh can we verify it? Will it come back again? Um, and so that kind of troubleshooting really leads like uh, you know, just because there's a problem with a cop card doesn't necessarily mean it's the charge card per se. It actually could be the battery. So um it kind of opens up your mind to kind of consider more of the possibilities.

SPEAKER_02 10:58

Now, what are some of the habits that you developed in the service that you like that you brought back with you?

SPEAKER_01 11:04

I like not necessarily sugarcoating everything. Sometimes it's better not to have the filter. Um, being forthwith with your opinions uh it matters a lot, but with tact, you know, just I don't want to tell anybody off. Uh, I find that to be very helpful in communication. Um, the green book, uh, we have these little green books. You guys uh have a lot of text, have a planner. And so little green book just is keeping a task list. Um when I don't use my little green book, I fall off task. But um just having that little green book that keeps the date in, you know, the stuff that you're working on helps you not forget the smaller things that uh, oh yeah, I'll take care of that, but there's not a work order for. Um so the little green book could be very helpful. Um, I use them quite extensively when I was in GitHub because the only way to keep track of the stuff I was working on.

SPEAKER_02 11:46

Um, what are some of the habits that you maybe have developed that you don't care for so much?

SPEAKER_01 11:52

Um, well, course language can be kind of tough. You get into those kind of uh work environments where uh whether you're a truck driver or building trades, it's a bad excuse. It's kind of a crutch. But uh some military guys they have a tough time uh getting. I can't ask anybody to sweep the floor. Uh doesn't seem to work too well.

SPEAKER_02 12:12

Right. Now, does it take a certain personality or type of a background to join the military, do you think?

SPEAKER_01 12:18

I don't believe everybody should be in the military. I think it does take it uh someone that wants to serve. It is a huge commitment, um, and that commitment could be uh might have to be paid at a terrible price. Um, not everybody's fit out to be there uh in the military. Um but understanding your situation, keeping calm when you're under pressure, understanding that you have a task, and most times nothing is really that personal. Um, they're just trying to get you to do a job and you just need to accomplish it.

SPEAKER_02 12:44

Right, right. Uh, what are some of the things that you miss about being in the service?

SPEAKER_01 12:49

Especially uh Gitmo, there's a group of us that would meet every couple weeks and we'd have a cigar and a drink. Um, there is a different kind of bond that you get uh in the military that's it really is a lot like family. Um, Thanksgiving, you know, away from home was okay. You know, we got to meet. Christmas was kind of tough uh being away. Um, but you have brothers and sisters that you build in and they're they're not blood related. Um, but though that member or that relationship just is never gonna go away. You know, some of these guys I may never see in my life, but they show up my desktop uh at my doorstop, you know, I got a drink, I got some food, uh, and it'll be like we never left.

SPEAKER_02 13:26

Yep, come on in. Um, what are some of the things you're glad to have left behind? Cops.

SPEAKER_01 13:32

I'm gonna be honest. Um, if it wasn't for age or retirement, I don't know that if I would have retired. Um I do got a little bit of a profile or um I can't work as hard as I used to. Um but uh no, I really enjoyed it. Um circumstances in my life were currently different, I probably would have been a lifer.

SPEAKER_02 13:54

Good to know. Um, what was the favorite place that you've lived or visited or served at?

SPEAKER_01 14:01

The place to visit was Germany. Uh the food's amazing, the culture's amazing. Uh the old old world cities are absolutely beautiful. The um the big cathedral churches, uh the old bars, um, the whole countryside are just amazing. Um and the food's amazing too. There is something different about their food. I don't like sauerkraut over here, and I was eating it with mustard over there. Um US native. Yeah. Just really, really uh enjoyed to visit. Not sure if I'd want to live there, but I definitely would like to visit again. Um being at uh at Git Mow, and maybe because it was only my only deployment away from my home, it did mean a lot to serve my country. It's what I wanted to do. It's um I didn't join for the MREs, they're not that great, they're not that bad. You know, they're really not. But uh um to be able to serve my country in a capacity when someone else couldn't at that point in time really meant a lot to me.

SPEAKER_02 14:55

Right.

SPEAKER_01 14:56

I did enjoy the I did some firefighting at Camp Grayling. Uh I enjoyed the time working down in there. That was uh three years. Um, I put out the bombs and BBs down to Camp Grayling for a while. That was uh it was exciting. We had a few fires, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:11

Now, when you came back, how was that transit transition to civilian life for you?

SPEAKER_01 15:16

Was there any tough times there or um it was so when you first uh get ready to leave, uh the chaplains meet with you on the very fourth wit saying that um you are no longer the same person that you were 10 months ago, nor is your spouse. Oh so when you come back home, you're really gonna be more of a guest because you're not gonna take the reins back over. Your spouse has been running your place for the last nine months. She doesn't need your help at this point in time, and she doesn't necessarily want your opinion. Uh, you have to break yourself back into it. Um working with uh civilians versus just military, there are um there is a certain way you communicate in the military. Uh it's very professional, but can be very just upfront. And so um there tends to be as I like called no filter. Um, and you have to be a little more mindful of that.

SPEAKER_02 16:06

Um weren't quite as soft when you came home.

SPEAKER_01 16:09

Was not quite as soft. Um, you know, I was uh uh very focused. Uh I worked out a lot, and that was kind of a thing that used to put out uh uh put some time away from home. Um just had to mellow out a little bit. And you just kind of, you know, with your spouse, you kind of got to re-engage, you know. They're not used to sleeping next to you at night. Now there's this fat fella here, I guess. He's like, hey, um, and you know, your you know, your son hasn't had you telling him what he needs to do, and he's um you have to break back into it. It's a big deal.

SPEAKER_02 16:40

It affects everybody, it does.

SPEAKER_01 16:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:43

Um, is there anything you wish civilian and employers understood about military service or veterans?

SPEAKER_01 16:49

Yeah, so uh one of the things I think is sorely lacking um as you progress in the uh the military, they have the non-commissioned officer um and they also have uh uh schools. And you learn to be you're basically a manager. When you become a squad leader, you have six to eight soldiers that you take care of. You wipe their nose, you make sure they get paid, make sure they got uh their medical taken care of, you know, how's your family doing? Uh when you get a platoon sergeant, you know, you can you can have up to 24 or 30. So we start getting a lot more management skills, but it doesn't seem like those will ever transfer to management skills on the civilian side. Um I think non-commissioned officer schools um probably need to be looked at and see uh what their value is. Uh and then when they have management supervisor positions, I think they need to be considered. Um you know the uh the military is a isn't a traditional college, uh, but we still get very specified training. And I think sometimes those military schools and uh uh not commissioned officer personal professional development is just not really looked at very much.

SPEAKER_02 17:52

Yeah, I think that needs to be recognized. Um, we're going to take a little break now and we will be right back.

SPEAKER_00 18:03

Put a frog in a pot of boiling water and it'll jump right out. But put a frog in a pot of cold water and slowly heat it up, and a frog will boil. There's a metaphor for us in all the weaker. If you all of that we need to support Wait until boys, reach out. Find resources at VA.gov slash reach. That's VA.gov slash reach, brought to you by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs and the Ad Council.

SPEAKER_02 19:09

Welcome back to our podcast, everyone. And our guest today is Dave Peck. He's our MPSDS radio tech, and he is a retired Michigan Army National Guardsman. Dave, what advice would you give someone in the military looking to pursue a career at MPSDS?

SPEAKER_01 19:23

Uh the first thing I would do is go to um uh look up State of Michigan jobs. Um, that is where all the job listings for DTMB is. I would filter that by technologies management and budget. And then if you're concerned about your location, then you can pick something like county, but otherwise I would leave it open. If uh you know some of us, uh if you see us around, uh definitely ask, ask us personally and say, hey, you know, uh, what do I need to qualify? Um if there's folks out in the military, apparently we are looking for some uh positions. So uh please get a hold of us. Um we definitely like the folks with uh networking and uh especially RF backgrounds. Uh those are very important.

SPEAKER_02 19:59

Excellent. Uh now, do you have a favorite memory of here at MPSCS?

SPEAKER_01 20:04

I have a few. I know one of my first like major products I did of my own was the National Guard crossband repeater in the Grailing Tower. Uh that's been functioning uh really good since 2015. Um, one of the division meetings, I did ascend up to 330 feet up on the tower. I probably not the highest tech, but I felt pretty accomplished about that as well. Probably my favorite thing about working for MPSES being a radio tech is being able to uh drive the towers and uh helping out the MSP, uh, but finding the delis and uh possible motorcycle locations along the way. These are uh those uh what they call intangible benefits, uh will. Uh, who doesn't like astronomy?

SPEAKER_02 20:40

Right. Um, what are some of your plans for the future?

SPEAKER_01 20:44

Uh I really enjoy uh the challenges of working in the infrastructure side uh and that would love to pursue uh this career uh in that uh area. Do a little more working uh on the special site projects, working on something that isn't quite necessarily standard. So uh new site development, um, working on uh maybe there's a new piece of equipment coming on to integrate it. Back in the day, we had the Onyx inverters uh that came in. Um maybe there's a new LTEX uh that comes in, it needs to be interfaced with a system, uh, or there's uh other ways to get uh point-to-points, fiber links, uh interface with the system.

SPEAKER_02 21:22

Okay. Now we've touched on this a little bit before that veterans sometimes face challenges that civilians do not. Can you expand on that a little bit?

SPEAKER_01 21:31

Uh sure. My personal military experience hasn't challenged my mettle uh that far. But there are some soldiers that uh have spent some time in Afghanistan and Iraq, and they uh um we're in the thick of things. Um it puts them in a very uncomfortable position and in a place that uh uh exposes them to dangers and stresses in their lives that isn't quite what we would call normal. So PTSD, uh, if they were in explosions, uh mild traumatic brain injury and whatnot can really be uh detrimental to someone's psyche. A lot of soldiers sometimes don't really open up, to be honest. And sometimes they stuff that and then uh you know they get grouchy, they're irritable, sometimes they're explosive in their anger. Um, and sometimes that isn't necessarily they're actually mad at you, they're just there's so much in their life they don't know how to get rid of it. Um, there are a lot of resources out there, the VFW, American Legion, VA. There are certain churches that also have places I would strongly recommend that if you know someone that's having problems or they're just not acting quite right, or very irritable in the military, chaplaincy, try to get help. It's not a sign of weakness when you're asking for help. That just means that you acknowledge that you have something that needs to be fixed. Then it's very important. Uh, a lot of these people have been, they've seen things that uh just aren't normal, and those visions stick with them, and they got to find a good way to deal with it, and they haven't yet. Turning to alcohol and drugs isn't the way, but there are many resources that are available to them, and I'm I'm sure there'll be some more listed.

SPEAKER_02 22:56

Yes. Um, and we want to make sure that we provide resources and contact information to help support our veteran listeners. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs offers veterans a full spectrum of health care services, disability, emergency assistance, employment guidance, counseling, education, and housing benefits, and you can find these at www.va.gov. And you can call the main information line at 800-698-2411. Again, it's 800-698-2411, and that's available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And they also provide a veterans crisis line at 800-273-8255, select one, or you can text 838-255, or visit veteranscrisisline.net. Now in Michigan, you can contact the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency at 1-800-MISH VET. That's M-I-C-H-V-E-T, or visit MichiganVeterans.com to learn more or to be connected with a service officer near you. And thank you, everybody, and that's all we've got for today. And we would like to thank our veterans and active reservist military for their service, and we're proud and very thankful to have you on our team. I would like to thank Dave for being here to tell us about himself and his military service to our country.

SPEAKER_01 24:24

Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_02 24:25

And we hope you all enjoyed the show, and we will be back soon.gov slash mpsc, YouTube, SoundCloud, and then Twitter at MPSCS. You can also subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and Google Podcasts so you never miss an episode. See you the next time. Thank you.