James joined the military in August 2004. There were several things that motivated him to join but one in particular, he was always fascinated by his family’s history of those that have served which included his Grandpa (served 22 years) and his Dad (served 26 years). James said he has so many memories from bootcamp/training but one that stands out the most was “the night our bus pulled into Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Illinois.  After we were separated into our assigned division and barracks I remember someone started laughing out of nowhere, I don't think we ever found out who it was but our RDC heard it. Our Recruit Division Commander stormed in and started yelling and asking who was laughing, off course all of us didn't know how to respond to the question. So, our RDC ended up having us do the famous 8 counts body builders for about 2 hours or at least it felt like two hours. On top of that, we had to run up and down the stairs in our barracks for I don't know how long.”

James served in the U.S. Navy as an Information Systems Technician. He served for 8 years, stationed on the USS Abraham Lincoln CVN72 located In Everett, WA and Naval Ocean Processing Facility located at Oak Harbor, WA. James said the proudest moment for him was getting all his qualifications completed and finally being able to start training the new sailors out of A school.  He received 3 Navy Achievement Medals, 2 Navy Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Sea Service Deployment ribbon and My Surface Warfare Specialist Insignia. James’ Military Training along with rate training taught him discipline, responsibility, and to adjust and handle difficult situations. ​

​Sarah Gamache joined the military in March 2003 after completing a semester of Community College. She knew she wanted something different and wanted to travel. Sarah was part of a special division boot camp. They trained as regular recruits but also drilled as a performance division. They got to travel for parades during Memorial Day and performed in other boot camp gradations ceremonies. Sarah was in the Navy and worked as a CTM, which stands for Cryptologic Technician Maintenance. She worked on satcom equipment and set up networks, antennas, and receivers. Her first duty station was a NSGD Suslak, in Seoul, Korea.


Next she went to the USS Bataan(LHD 5), then to USS McFaul (DDC 74) both out of Norfolk, Va. Lastly, she worked for WHCA out of Washington, DC. Sarah’s proudest achievement was making E-6 because she worked and studied really hard. Sarah says the military requires you to grow up quickly and have responsibility for expensive equipment, and to be in charge of people, even before you’re ready for it. This helped her grow up always ready and preparing for anything, which also helped prepare for her current position at NTH.

May is National Military Appreciation Month, so this week, NTH would like to show appreciation for our staff who have served in the military and for the sacrifices that they and their families have made. Our next Military Appreciation post is for Brett Schwenke whose one year anniversary at NTH is today!

Brett joined the military on May 12, 1982. He joined to serve his country, grow up a bit, and earn some money for college. He thought he was ready for bootcamp and in great physical shape - he said he was so wrong! But he was in heaven spending days on rifle ranges.

Brett Served in the US Army, then Michigan Nation Guard, and US Army Active Reserve. He served at Ft. Knox, Ft. Leonard Wood (boot camp), Ft. Riley, and was deployed twice overseas to Europe. Brett’s proudest achievement was competing on a battalion rifle team in division competition at Ft. Riley - he was 7th on post out of 52,000 soldiers competing!

He earned the Army overseas service ribbon, Army achievement medal, letters of accommodation, and a Minute Man pin. Brett’s military experience helped prepare him for NTH by teaching him self discipline, personal drive, achieving his goals, and learning that nothing is impossible. 

May is National Military Appreciation Month, so this week, NTH would like to show appreciation for our staff who have served in the military and for the sacrifices that they and their families have made. Our first Military Appreciation post is for our longest term employee, Harry Price.

Harry Price joined the Military in March 1968 when he received a letter from Draft Board telling him he was to report to Fort Wayne, Building 205B, which is now a parking lot. On the day Harry was inducted, a snowstorm struck Detroit closing the airport. They had to send them by train to St. Louis and a bus from there to Ft. Leonard Wood, where he did both basic training and advanced individual training. Harry served with the 84th Engineer Company, stationed at Merril Barracks in Nuremberg, Germany from August 1968 – March 1970 and also the 84th Engineer Company, an Armored Combat Engineer Company, attached to the Second Armored Cavalry.

His proudest achievement was designing a series of wooden border observation buildings. They prefabricated the building in the Barracks gymnasium. A second crew erected the structures along the Czechoslovakia / German border. The experience Harry received in explosives and demolition has been applied to multiple projects that Harry has worked on in his 50 years at NTH. 

After celebrating Memorial Day on Monday, summer is right around the corner. For many, this month signifies the change in seasons, but May also carries significance because it is National Military Appreciation Month.

This week, NTH would like to show appreciation for our staff who serve/served in the military and for the sacrifices that they and their families have made.

Thank you to our NTHr’s Harry Price, James Madere, Brett Schwenke and Sarah Gamache. Your dedication to serving our country is honorable. NTH will be highlighting each of these individuals and their accomplishments and skills that they bring to NTH. Look out for the Military Appreciation Posts this week and be sure to show your support by sharing and thanking them for serving.