Did You Know - Poster Boy

 Did You Know? 

 Dave Carver, candidate for Mayor of Greenfield, was the poster boy for the United States Air Force Law Enforcement Specialist position for over 10 years?

 It’s true! I was the “poster boy” for the Air Force and had my picture on display at the Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson AFB in Dayton Ohio for just over 10 years. 

 I was nominated for Security Police officer of the year in the Spring of 1986. I participated in numerous interviews and examinations along with my fellow nominees. The examinations were designed to establish how much knowledge that each candidate had about the Air Force, their position, and their dedication to serving their nation. The interviews were designed to establish how each airman carried themselves, how they presented themselves (wore the uniform) and whether the candidate would be a good public representative of the U.S. Air Force. All those qualities are necessary for a candidate to be awarded the prestigious Security Police Airman of the Year award. 

 I won that award. However, I was unaware that at the time of the award the Air Force was in the process of redesigning their recruiting materials and that along with the award came the responsibility of representing the entire Air Force!  Who would have guessed that a humble Hoosier would end up being the recruiting “poster boy’ for the United States Air Force? 

The process of becoming the “poster boy” was interesting. I participated in several photo shoots that were conducted inside an airplane hangar. The windows were blacked out, the floor painted black (to prevent glare), and both my service vehicle and uniform were highly polished. To this day, I am humbled that I was chosen to represent, as the face of the Air Force, my service branch, and my country. 

So how do these experiences apply to a candidate for mayor? Good question!

Very few young airmen (I was 22 years old), have been nominated for Security Police Airman of the Year and even fewer have ended up as the “poster boy” for recruiting.  The Air Force recognized leadership traits in me and then continued to promote those traits for both the development of my career and benefit of those future members of the service. Leadership traits such as; 

• Character

• Ability

• Knowledge

• Relationships

• Experience

• Success

• Intuition

 Each trait is necessary for any good leader and essential for the mayor of every community. Each “Did You Know” post is designed to demonstrate that I have the experiences, character, and capability to be the leader that you want for our city.