Photo By Joseph Siemandel | Maj. Sameer Puri, Chief of Information Management, retires from the Washington Army...... read more read more
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Twenty-five years ago, young Sameer Puri was working at Wendy’s fast-food restaurant, knowing he wanted more, but wasn’t sure how to take the next steps.
“I came to America to live that American dream and I wasn’t sure what to do but knew I wanted more. That is when a Marine recruiter walked into the restaurant and I asked him about joining,” said recently retired Maj. Sameer Puri, director of information management, Washington Army National Guard. “So after work I went to the Armed Forces recruiting center where he worked.”
Only knowing he wanted to work with computers, Puri listened to the recruiter’s pitch. As he was leaving, the Army recruiter stopped him.
“He said I have the perfect job for you if you want to work with computers, (be a) combat engineer. I told him what I was interested in and he said ‘oh yeah totally, you will be designing bridges,’” Puri says with a laugh. “He offered me a twelve-thousand dollar bonus. For me that was a lot of money, so I joined as a combat engineer.”
While admitting he still loved the job, Puri learned quickly the type of engineering he was doing was not on a computer, but with demolition. After completing his four years on active duty, Puri returned to Washington state and joined the Washington Army National Guard, but only if he could pursue his dream of moving into a career field that better aligned with his long-term career goals.
“I came into the Guard and was promised that I would go to school to become an information technology specialist. But this was also the time the 81st Brigade was looking for engineers for their upcoming deployment, so I thought I was going to get pulled and my chance to go to school was gone,” said Puri. “That is when Command Sergeant Major Abby West stepped in and stopped the transfer. She fought to get me to school.”
Puri would reclassify as a 25B, an information specialist with the 66th Theater Aviation Command, where he would utilize his new found skills during Hurricane Katrina and Operation Iraqi Freedom. However, after nine years of being enlisted, Puri knew to move forward in the field, he needed to commission as an officer.
“I remember sitting there helping during the OCS Phase III in the field and thinking ‘I can do this, I need to do this, I should be an officer,’” Puri said.
Puri would commission through federal Officer Candidate School in 2009 as a signal officer and immediately was deployed to Operation New Dawn after completing his training. He would return home and take command of Charlie Company, 898th Brigade Engineer Battalion, the only signal command in the Washington Army National Guard.
“I was honored to be the commander of the unit. The level of talented soldiers and officers in the unit was so incredible,” Puri said. “I was very lucky to be in command.”
In 2016, Puri would move to the 156th Information Operations Battalion and become an Information Operations Officer, appointed as the chief of the Defensive Cyber Operations Team at the unit. This position led to Puri being named the Chief Information Officer for the Washington Army National Guard in 2017, a position he worked toward his entire career.
“I was able to grow in IT, get the experience I needed and the education and that is all due to being in the Guard and CSM West supporting me and so many leaders believing in me,” Puri said.
As Puri wraps up 25 years of service, he is looking forward to the next challenges of being retired from the Army and finding his next career.
“My wife says that everything about me is Army. The way I talk, the work ethic, the way I make sure things are in order, I don’t really remember not being Army,” said Puri. “I don’t think young me could imagine what I was able to accomplish during my time in uniform.”
| Date Taken: | 10.02.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 10.02.2024 20:02 |
| Story ID: | 482394 |
| Location: | CAMP MURRAY, WASHINGTON, US |
| Hometown: | FEDERAL WAY, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 9 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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