Photo By Spc. Michael Baumberger | Staff Sgt. George Davis and his son, Park Davis, gather for a photo at the military...... read more read more
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Żagań, Poland (06/16/21) — For U.S. Army Staff Sgt. George Davis, a public affairs noncommissioned officer (NCO) for the 196th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment based out of Columbus, Ohio, the biggest obstacle he faces is spending quality time with family while having such a busy work schedule.
Davis is a full-time National Guard Soldier in the Visual Information services department at Ohio National Guard Joint Force Headquarters and also serves as an NCO for his unit. His job includes an extensive amount of work that can be time consuming. He is required to manage all of the ceremonies at the headquarters and larger conferences that the headquarters facilitates.
“The job requires a lot of odd hours,” Davis said. “I end up working some weekends and putting in extra hours when I get involved with larger projects, so it can be demanding of my family.”
His family respects that he is dedicated and has the integrity to work as hard as he does, but, like many dedicated fathers, he puts spending time with family at the top of his list.
“I prioritize the time that I do get to spend with my family,” he said. “I pay someone to do the yard work, and we have a cleaning lady, so I can focus on spending quality time with my family.”
George Davis’ position with the 196th MPAD also requires him to attend drill weekends and annual training. From state activations with the Ohio National Guard and a current European Command deployment, Davis continues to be devoted to connecting with his family, even if he is thousands of miles away. He continuously strives to come up with creative ways to stay connected to his family.
“While George is away, he does a good job at sending funny video messages and reading to Park [his son] frequently at night,” Stacy Davis, his wife and sixth grade math teacher, said. “As much as I hate that he is gone, I am very proud of the commitment he and others have made to the military."
The time that Davis spends away from home is particularly tough on his son, Park.
“My son doesn’t understand it,” George said. “Every time I talk to him, he asks me why I can't just work from home like I used to. He doesn’t understand the commitment I have.”
In the midst of a demanding work life, George unintentionally learned that he and his son would both have a new-found love for building Legos together after watching the Lego Batman movie. With a history in film, he was intrigued by the video story-telling methods that the movie demonstrated. Shortly after watching the movie, he purchased a 1000-piece movie replica of the Lego Batmobile.
“As my wife drove us to a class that I had to take in Chicago, my son and I sat in the back seat and put together this Lego set,” George Davis said. “Well, my son put together the mini-figures, as I focused on the Batmobile itself.”
He and his son would go on to develop a shared hobby while building Lego sets together. What once started out as a single Lego set, would go on to become a huge collection of Legos of all sorts. Stacy posted a picture of them building Legos together on social media. Shortly after, George said they got a donation of three 20-gallon tubs of Legos!
“We eventually amassed a collection of 80,000 to 100,000 Lego pieces,” he said. “Oh man, it was a ridiculous amount of Legos.”
George Davis and his son Park may have only been building Legos together, but building a strong relationship and giving him experiences he did not have himself as a child is what Davis truly appreciates. Growing up, George’s family couldn’t afford to give him Legos and toys like he does for his son.
“I discovered things that I never had in my childhood,” he said. “By giving them to my son, I also discovered a passion for them myself.”
Davis looks forward to the completion of his deployment so he can return home and continue building a strong bond with his family.
"I'm proud of my dad," Park Davis said. "He’s in the military and makes money and can buy toys; he is making sure the world is safe."
Like George Davis, many Soldiers are obligated to spend time away from their loved ones. He said that you should never take your time for granted because it slips away faster than you think.
“You can buy more property; you can build more wealth and find a better career,” Davis said. “But you can’t buy more time. You can’t underestimate the value of time. It’s the one commodity that is truly limited.”
| Date Taken: | 06.17.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 06.17.2021 05:31 |
| Story ID: | 399130 |
| Location: | ŻAGAń, PL |
| Hometown: | MANSFIELD, OHIO, US |
| Web Views: | 214 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Brick by Brick: Father, Soldier Builds Family and Career, by SPC Michael Baumberger, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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