REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. -- To the everyday observer, it may look as though First Sgt. Lee Dalton's tinkering around with an old Harley Davidson motorcycle in his garage in the evenings and on weekends is a hobby, a pleasurable pastime for this dad, husband and Soldier.
And it is. But it's also so much more.
Dalton's time as a garage mechanic during his teen years turned into a career as a Kiowa helicopter maintainer for the Army. These days, his job as the first sergeant for the Aviation and Missile Command's Headquarters and Headquarters Co. doesn't give him any "garage time" with helicopters. But his efforts to keep his Harley Davidson running smoothly lets him practice his mechanical skills.
"Anyone who has ever owned an old Harley Davidson knows that you spend a lot of time working on it just so you can ride it every once in a while. I'm always working on mine because it's old and leaky," Dalton said.
"It's a hobby that turned into a career, and now it's still a hobby. My dad showed me how to be a mechanic. He would show me and then I would figure it out from there. You really don't understand it until you do it yourself."
Dalton enlisted in 1999 as a Kiowa Warrior crew chief. The opportunity to serve as a mechanic for the Kiowa Warrior was an exciting challenge for a 22-year-old mechanic from northern Indiana.
"Helicopters are cool and the Kiowa had guns. I saw it and that's what I wanted to be around," he said.
"I grew up around cars and motorcycles. I worked in an engine shop rebuilding car engines. I wanted to be a mechanic. But I didn't want to work on cars. I wanted to work on helicopters. I also saw it as something that would help me after the military. Aviation is a bigger career opportunity than automotive."
He also grew up with two grandfathers who had served in the military. One had been with the 8th Army Air Corps and flew the B-24 Liberator, a heavy bomber, in World War II. He was shot down over Germany and held as a prisoner of war.
As his grandfathers did, Dalton was ready to test his skills in Army aviation, although his career choice kept him more grounded. His experiences as an automotive mechanic made it easier to pick up the skills of an aviation mechanic.
"It was not more difficult, but it was a way of being a more disciplined mechanic," Dalton said. "With aviation, you can't just pull over to the side of the road when your engine starts making strange noises. Knowing that, you take being an aviation mechanic more personally. You want to make sure to do everything correctly so your helicopter can fly without any problems."
Dalton's career has taken him to Iraq twice, first in 2003, where he was a platoon sergeant for nine maintainers responsible for 28 Kiowa Warriors, and, then in 2004-05, when he transitioned from a platoon sergeant to a quality control non-commissioned officer in charge, where he we responsible for six technical inspectors supporting 35 Kiowa Warriors.
"As a quality control NCOIC, I verified that the work was done correctly per the manual and prior to being ready for flight," Dalton said. "If anything changed per the manual, I had to make sure the technical inspectors and the mechanics were aware of the changes. I was also facilitating safety at all times.
"I liked being responsible. But I also enjoyed getting my hands dirty and working on helicopters. Anything to do with helicopter maintenance is rewarding work."
Dalton has served in Kiowa Warrior units at Fort Bragg, N.C.; Fort Campbell, Ky.; Fort Eustis, Va.; and Fort Riley, Kansas. At Fort Bragg, he became an Airborne Soldier, jumping at air shows all over the country while also maintaining Kiowas in "tip top perfect shape" for the shows. While at Fort Eustis, Dalton taught about 300 future crew chiefs how to work on Kiowa Warriors along with technical inspectors on how to inspect the work of crew chiefs.
"They became my kids," he said of the young Soldiers he mentored. "It was rewarding to take this kid that knew nothing about being a mechanic and teaching him a skill that will define his Army career, and then standing at graduation day watching and knowing I was sending a good product out into the field."
Whether in the U.S. or deployed, Dalton loved the challenge of maintaining Kiowa Warriors.
"The daily life of a crew chief or a technical inspector involves constantly communicating with pilots. You want to know what the Kiowas are doing when they are flying," Dalton said.
"The maintainers and the pilots come to be trusting friends, and those friendships grow even more when you are deployed together. You truly become a family. I didn't really understand that from my grandfathers when I was growing up. I never really put it together. Now I do. I understand why they still got together years later. It's a family, a brotherhood."
Dalton served at Fort Riley for four years before being assigned to Redstone Arsenal in early 2015 as the NCOIC for the Armed Scout Helicopter Program, Program Executive Office for Aviation. The assignment turned out to be bittersweet.
"I was the NCO who retired over 100 Kiowa helicopters for the Army," he said. "I would go to the Kiowa units, inspect the aircraft and all of its equipment, and then I would approve them for flight to Arizona to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base where they were put in U.S. military storage, the bone yard for aircraft."
The mission took Dalton to Kiowa units in Fort Campbell and Fort Riley; Hunter Army Air Field, Savannah, Georgia; Fort Drum, New York; and Tucson, Arizona.
"Once we approved them for retirement, we would schedule a time for them to fly to Arizona and then I would meet them there," Dalton said. "When the pilots would fly them into Davis-Monthan, it was the last time the aircraft potentially could be flown. I looked into the eyes of those pilots knowing it was probably their last time to fly a Kiowa. It was emotional."
Dalton left the Kiowa Warriors in the same storage area as the Army's retired C5 Galaxy aircraft and the C130 Hercules aircraft. It took him eight months to retire the 100-plus Kiowas in his mission, and set him in the right place to take over the first sergeant responsibilities at AMCOM HHC as then 1st Sgt. Joe Thomas was retiring.
"This is a typical first sergeant's job in making sure Soldiers are where they are supposed to be," Dalton said. "We are taking care of the administrative side of the house.
"I like to get out and interact with the Soldiers, so I try to visit the Sparkman Center and other locations regularly. I try to have a frequent presence with Soldiers assigned to AMCOM HHC. At some point, each Soldier is going to have to come through us for something -- a promotion, leave, transfer, retirement and other Human Resources actions. I like to have a presence with the Soldiers so they know who I am when they need administrative assistance."
As a first sergeant, Dalton knows he sets the tone for the HHC office, even at an installation where he is outranked by the majority of Soldiers he serves.
"I'm there as the first person they go to when they need assistance," he said. "I set the example for them and go to bat for them. I want to ensure that each Soldier meets the Army standard and they are doing what they are supposed to be doing. At the same time, I want to be the one to give them a pat on the back and show them the appreciation they deserve for a job well done."
Besides enjoying his responsibilities with HHC and finding time to work on his Harley Davidson, Dalton also enjoys spending time with his wife Samantha, who is in school to be a medical coder, and three young children.
"I really couldn't have been successful if not for my wife, Samantha. She has kept our family strong throughout all of the deployments and other assignments that have forced me to leave home for countless days," Dalton said. "If a Soldier's family is running smoothly than, without question, it makes it easier for the Soldier to concentrate on the mission."
After his military service, Dalton hopes to be successful in pursuing teaching, coaching and mentoring young people. He is currently coaching youth sports at Redstone Arsenal.
When I retire from the military, I want to be a physical education teacher. I love sports and coaching sports," said Dalton, who has 17 years of Army service. "I envision spending my retirement as a PE teacher and a football coach.
"My family loves it here. We love the whole North Alabama area. And we're pretty close to relatives in Indiana and Tennessee."
And, to make it even better, Dalton considers it an honor to serve AMCOM as the HHC first sergeant.
"It was an honor just to interview for this position. The amount of senior leaders here at Redstone Arsenal made it an honor for me to be accepted for this assignment," he said. "My job is to make sure Soldiers here at Redstone, no matter what their rank, have the proper administrative work to ensure their careers continue moving forward."
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