2013 Military Appreciation Month – Feature #1

May is Military Appreciation Month!

In honor of this, we are featuring employees from all subsidiaries of Barrett Industries who are or were active in the military! In addition, we will also feature employees who honor and give back to military families and organizations in their communities!

MIDLAND ASPHALT MATERIALS INC. – Andrew Marquart, from subsidiary Midland Asphalt Materials Inc., is our first featured employee! Andrew is a mechanic at the Lyons, NY facility. He is also an active duty member of the National Guard.

During the ending weeks of October 2012, the natural disaster – better known as Hurricane Sandy – barreled through the US East Coast. Sandy left thousands homeless and numerous cities in a devastated state. As we watched the chaos unfold, some of those serving in the National Guard were placed in various states to aid in restoring the affected areas.

The National Guard is a vital source of supplying troops, gear and Humanity Assistance supplies when called upon. National Guards are deployed as needed by the Governor of their state or the President of the United States. Deployments are situational and guard members can elect to volunteer for active duty assignments with varying deployment times. Deployment locations can be anywhere the governing officials determine that the Guard is most needed. It was reported that 7,000 National Guard members were sent to supply aid. Andrew was sent to Staten Island, NY from October 26th to November 10th, to provide aid and take part in the effort to restore the state.

Andrew, a 2005 HS graduate from East Syracuse, first joined the Air force in 2006. The opportunity to travel, to mature and to make a better life for himself were some of the driving forces behind his decision to join. Family ties also contributed to his decision as his grandfather served in the military. While in the Air Force, Andrew went through six weeks of basic training at an Air Force base in Texas. From basic training, he went through additional training at various Air Force bases. During his active time in the Air Force he was stationed in Germany from 2007-2009 and New Mexico from 2009-2011. He spent 10 months in Afghanistan where he oversaw building projects ranging from schools, libraries, medical clinics and 75 miles of road construction (paving dirt roads).

During his time in Staten Island, Andrew handed out clothes and food, helped remove personal belongings from buildings and houses, provided aid at hospitals and worked with local law enforcement officials.

Andrew transferred to the National Guard in 2012 and was stationed at Ft. Leonard Wood in Missouri from Jan 2013 to April 2013. There, he went through equipment operations training, building/repairing roads, using/repairing equipment, running equipment, observing and recognizing defects in roads to draining and ditching work. As of May 1st, 2013, he has returned to work at Midland Asphalt and is still active in the National Guard.

Thank you, Andrew, for your service and sacrifices!