Meeks enlisted as a metal worker in 2006. As the Army transitioned, his military occupational specialty was combined with machinist to produce a more versatile Soldier.
Meeks, a native of San Antonio, enlisted as a way to expand on abilities he had developed in his civilian life.
"I used to be a mechanic, build houses and was a free-lance contractor. I joined the Army to be a welder," Meeks said.
Meeks, who is currently on his third deployment, has used his ingenuity combined with his MOS skills to complete a wide array of tasks throughout his career.
"We had to build a 20-foot ECP (entry control point) gate. It consisted of 4-by-8 (feet) sheets of kevlar plates. We had to put 24 of the plates together," Meeks said.
Meeks transitioned from supporting ground units most of his career to supporting Aviation with the 16th Combat Aviation Brigade.
His ability to weld, mold and create products from scratch makes him a high commodity amongst the unit's logisticians, mechanics, crew chiefs, pilots and senior leaders.
"Being in a welding shop is a real spotlight. A lot of people get you to build a lot of different stuff," Meeks said about the requests he receives. "They will give me a blueprint with tolerances … as long as you make it to that print then you are good to go."
Meeks supported Soldiers in his support battalion by building a cart to carry Hellfire missiles and their cases, which weighs almost 250 pounds each. Normally each one is carried by four Soldiers up to the length of a football field, but now the task only requires one Soldier rolling a cart.
"They brought me a picture of a guy that made a missile cart (on a previous deployment), but it didn't carry the (case), it just had the missile on the cart. I made one so the whole (case) fit in there," Meeks said. "You can just take the top off the (case) and have the bottom half roll under the wing of the (helicopter)."
When Meeks is not knocking out blueprints for missions, he is turning his military trade into a Donatello-like hobby. In the middle of a work area filled with blow torches, welding helmets and scrap metal stands animal figurines.
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