ALEXANDRIA, Va.-At NCUA, Programs Management Assistant David Keithley is tasked with aiding in procurement, budget, meetings and conference planning, and employee relocations. But as an Army reservist he is charged with the even more important mission of training soldiers for combat. Lieutenant Colonel Keithley was previously called to active duty in January 2003 for 12 months and then called again in August. In this latest activation, he has spent the bulk of his time at Fort Hood, Texas training soldiers for war in Iraq, but he also spent a few weeks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and Fort Sill, Okla. to get the training he needed to train the soldiers. Keithley is part of the Battle Projection Group, 1st Brigade, 75th Division Training Support, which is training Army Reserve and National Guard units in the Midwest and Southwest states. Currently, they are training National Guard Brigade staff, which will rotate into Iraq at a later date. In 2003, the 75th conducted training on both coasts and in the Middle East. "We create scenarios for the brigade and their units to react to. These are incidents they will have to deal with when they deploy to Iraq. After the exercise is over," he explained, "we will start planning for the next one." Keithley emphasized that what he gets out of the reserves is not always tangible. "The benefits I have enjoyed such as my education benefits, which allowed my to finish college and my future retirement benefits are just icing on the cake," he stated. "The real benefit is knowing I have made a difference in young soldiers' lives. Preparing them to go into battle is something we take very seriously. We do our best and hope for the best. Being a parent myself, and knowing these soldiers are going into harms way, I want them to have the best training I can give them as if they were my own." But, Keithley said, he stays in after 35 years because he really enjoys it. "I enjoy the camaraderie among the soldiers," he said. "I enjoy keeping part of the military in my life." In July 1969, he enlisted in the Marine Corps. and transferred into the Texas National Guard from 1977 through 1984 when he became an Army reservist. Keithley has been with NCUA since June 1992. "I have received wonderful support from Chairman Jo Ann Johnson, Board Member Deborah Matz and Executive Director J. Leonard Skiles during my mobilization," he said. "Earlier in the year, I was invited to the agency headquarters in Alexandria, Va. to receive a plaque and a Eagle Head statue as appreciation of my service during this time." (Editor's Note: The information contained in this story was cleared by the III CORP PAO Office at Fort Hood, Texas.) -

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