June 22, 2019 – West Bend, WI – Weasler Engineering of West Bend rolled out the RED this week as it welcomed home employee Aaron Collins from Afghanistan. Collins is a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force.
Weasler supports the men and women of the armed forces and recognizes them whenever possible. With a bit of coordination Collins returned home to a sea of red shirts throughout the plant and offices in West Bend.
Weasler marked this day as RED Shirt Day – RED is the acronym for Remember Everyone Deployed.
“I didn’t feel disciplined enough for school and felt joining the military would put me on the right path,” Collins said.
After eight weeks of basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Collins secondary training was in Biloxi Mississippi where he studied Electronic Principles of the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker. Collins enjoyed the training and considered it to be the most exciting experience.
In 2011, Collins was stationed in Fairchild AFB, Spokane, Washington where he met his best friend and love of his life Erica; the couple married in 2017. Erica is an author of romance novels, designer of quilt and fabrics for the small family business and takes care of their new puppy.
Throughout Collins deployments to the Middle East, Collins fought for the freedom our country enjoys. Collins has been to Qatar, Kyrgyzstan Region, Istanbul and Afghanistan. Once back in the States, Collins continued his education and graduated in 2018 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Technical Management with a minor in Aviation Management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Now an employee at Weasler, he said he “found the opportunity for success.”
“We love Wisconsin for the four seasons and the nice people,” he said. “The hardest part of moving to Wisconsin was convincing Erica to leave her family but she visits them whenever possible.”
Collins take-away from his experience in the U.S. Air Force has been the importance of communication and good leadership that impact moral. “A good work space is a positive work space,” he said. “The amount of support at home, workplace and our country are important and helps us in the military get done what needs to get done.”
While Collins is getting settled in at home and his supervisory role at Weasler Engineering, he is also focused on achieving his Masters in Engineering Management.