Branches Served:
- Air Force Reserves
- Air National Guard (ND, WA, MN) and
- Active Duty (36 years and counting)
Q. What was deployment like?
A: Hot and busy. We did an amazing amount of work on our base in six months, providing bed-down facilities that expanded the capacity of the air base to four times the original. The work kept us from being too homesick. We ended up building a wood-fired pizza oven out of construction residue and spent a lot of time around it in the evenings. I had a senior officer, a deputy group commander, who mentored me when I was in the desert, which was a real blessing. I was able to stay in touch with my family through internet video calls by waking up at 4 a.m. I missed my youngest daughter’s first birthday and her first footsteps but we had a great reunion trip upon my return that we still reminisce about today.
Q. What was your first job after service and what was that experience like?
A: After my original stint on active duty, I completed a BS in Mechanical Engineering at NDSU and first started working as a Test Engineer for the Melroe Co. in Bismarck, ND. I fit right in with most of the older engineers, showing up early and leaving late since I didn’t have anything else in my life at that time.
Q. Did you have any struggles after returning to civilian life?
A: Family reintegration after deployment was the only obstacle that took any significant time and effort to overcome.
The deployment did provide a very close-knit community with good camaraderie and a constant focused effort that is very difficult to replicate in civilian life. I’m able to maintain a little of that by continuing to serve as a citizen soldier in the reserves. I enjoy the work as an advisor to Air Forces Central and natural disaster response for Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center where my decades of military and civilian experience are real assets.
About Art Weidner
Art Weidner grew up in Fargo and spent a dozen years away professionally before moving back with his family to raise his children here. Art is “a husband and a father and who trys to juggle a bunch of other stuff.” He makes and distributes North Dakota Sweet Crude and Sweet Crude Orange liqueurs in the tri-state region.
A college friend and Weidner grow hops near Sabin, MN for the local breweries. He does a little specialty construction and his family grows and sell a little produce for the local market. Weidner is a volunteer for Grace Lutheran School and his congregation.
This time of year, his thoughts turn to hunting.
