Staff Sergeant David Maxfield’s long and distinguished military career began in 1976 when he enlisted in the United States Navy. He reported to the Great Lakes Naval Base in Illinois for training. Upon graduation, as a gunner’s mate, he was deployed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Norfolk, Virginia; Brooklyn, New York; and back to Norfolk. His duties at all of these deployments were the care and maintenance of many various weapons, including those supplied to the Marines. In 1979, he was stationed aboard the USS Canisteo Naval Ship for a two-year Mediterranean cruise. On board there, he served as the petty officer responsible for the care and maintenance of its weapons. In 1980, he left active duty and became a member of the U.S. Navy Reserves, stationed at Little Creek, Virginia. In 1983, as a member of the Navy Reserve Harbor Clearance Unit, he assisted in the raising of a WWII B-25C bomber plane out of Lake Greenwood, South Carolina. In 1987, Dave moved to the Reserve Center stationed at Lambert Airport in St.Louis and joined the Mobile Inshore Underwater Unit 112. He was invited to join the elite small boat team Inshore Boat Unit 14 in 1999. While serving with both of these units, he participated in several operations, which include the following:

• 1998 - Operation Neon Falcon in Bahrain with MIUW112

• 1999 - Operation Natural Fires in Mombasa, Kenya, with IBU14

• 2000 - Operation Turbo Cad in Korea with IBU14

• 2001 -  Operation Bright Star in Egypt with IBU14

 • 2001 -  Home Land Defense in Puget Sound, WA, with IBU13

• 2002 - Home Land Defense in Puget Sound, WA, with IBU15

These operations were necessary due to continued terrorism threats to their harbors and were often classified. They patrolled the harbors in small boats 24/7, keeping watch for any unusual ship movements. Dave’s first tour of Iraq took place from December 2002 to July 2003, when he was deployed with the Naval Reserve Unit IBU14. While there, he did harbor patrol and critical surveillance in a small inshore boat both in Kuwait and Iraq along the Persian Gulf, Euphrates, and Tigris Rivers. His second tour to Iraq was from July 2007 to March 2008, with the Missouri Army National Guard 735th Quartermaster unit as an MP alongside the 101st Airborne. They were assigned as security to the Explosive Ordinance Disposal team from the country of Moldova. During that time, he was stationed at Forward Operations Base “Grizzly.”

   In between operations in 1989, Dave took time to earn a degree in forestry from Mizzou. With that added to his qualifications, he was invited to join the Agri-Business Development Team V stationed at the Ike Skelton National Guard Center in Jefferson City. Their goal was to improve agriculture in a country devastated by several wars. As one of five Agri-Specialists, his duties included teaching and educating various methods of farming and handling money transactions for various projects. He was the main overseer for the building of an Agriculture High School in the Nangahar Province of Afghanistan. When Dave officially retired from military service in 2013, he had served in 29 countries.

   For his dedicated years of service, Staff Sergeant Maxfield was awarded the following: Army Achievement, Army Commendation (twice), Navy Achievement, Army Good Conduct, Navy Good Conduct, Army Reserve (ANG) Components (twice), Naval Reserve Meritorious (three times), National Defense Armed Forces Expeditionary, Afghanistan Campaign, Iraq Campaign (twice), Global War on Terrorism, Armed Forces Reserve, Army NCO Professionalism Development, Army Overseas Service, Navy Sea Service, NATO ISAF, Navy Expert Rifle, Navy Expert Pistol, Navy Unit Commendation, Navy Meritorious Unit, Navy Battle E, and Soldier of the month.