Veteran Profile: Dustin Woelfle
Dustin Woelfle gets his first peek at his son.
(Courtesy photo)
Dustin Woelfle is pictured aboard ship at the end of a seven-month deployment.
Dustin Woelfle is pictured aboard ship at the end of a seven-month deployment.
The Woelfle family is pictured at church after his return from a seven-month deployment.
Dustin Woelfle is pictured with his family at the end of a seven-month deployment.
Dustin Woelfle and family are pictured at the annual turkey trot fun run in Boundary County.
At 19 years old, Dustin Woelfle received a call from a Navy recruiter asking if he'd like to meet. At that meeting, Woelfle signed up for a six-year term due to the extensive schooling required for his rate of fire controlman (as in missile fire not firefighting).
During the subsequent three years, he passed boot camp and two additional schools in Great Lakes, Mich., and Dahlgren, Va., before being stationed in Everett, Wash. The guided missile destroyer USS Shoup (DDG 86) would become his home for the remainder of his time in the U.S. Navy.
During those years he participated in two overseas deployments. The first was a West-PAC to Asia and the South Pacific for inter-country trainings. The second to the Middle East during Operation Enduring Freedom, where he spent time escorting submarines and chasing down pirates.
In between deployments, he met his wife Melinda at church and they had their first son Daniel while Dustin was deployed. The family now resides in Bonners Ferry with their three children, Daniel, Winchester, and Gordon.
Dustin is in his third year of electrical apprenticeship at Boundary Electric as he begins his third career. They love living in North Idaho and enjoying all it has to offer.
Dustin Woelfle is pictured aboard ship at the end of a seven-month deployment.
The Woelfle family is pictured at church after his return from a seven-month deployment.
Dustin Woelfle is pictured with his family at the end of a seven-month deployment.
Dustin Woelfle and family are pictured at the annual turkey trot fun run in Boundary County.