The Gold Standard. A gold medal. “Worth its weight in gold.”
Gold is often seen as the best, the highest, the most valuable, the worthiest, while silver? Well, silver is second-place, the first loser. Except when it comes to the United States military.
Perry High School science teacher and Army National Guard officer Peter Meis took the gold oak leaves off his uniform Sept. 10 and exchanged them for oak leaves of silver — and a step up in rank, as Meis was promoted from major to lieutenant colonel in a “pinning ceremony” at Camp Dodge in Des Moines.
When officers are promoted, a ceremony is held, usually in the presence of a commanding officer, in which a family member, friend or designated person “pins” the new rank on the promoted soldier. In Meis’ case, his son Lambert (3) pinned the new oak leaves on his father’s collar in the presence of Colonel Heath Streck, Joint Maneuver Training Center commanding officer at Camp Dodge.
“It was a wonderful experience, to have my whole family there,” Meis said. “This will almost certainly be my last promotion, and it was important to me to be able to share it with Klista and the kids.”
The Meis clan includes wife Klista, son Gannon (12), daughters Mylah (10) and Karlyn (5) and sons Lambert (3) and Leland (4 months).
Meis, 43, grew up in Adel, where his father taught English for 32 years. Rather than being a source of encouragement, growing up with a parent who taught made Meis originally dead-set against ever following in his father’s footsteps.
“It really turned me off about teaching, seeing what he had to put up with,” he said. “I would have never thought I would end up in the classroom.”
Meis graduated Clarke College with a degree in biology and chemistry and was working at Hawkeye Breeders in Adel when he was laid off a week before Christmas. That made him realize, he said, that he needed something more financially secure and stable, so he enrolled at UNI to earn his teaching and coaching certificates. It was while in Cedar Falls that he was introduced to Klista.
By that time Meis was already a lieutenant in the National Guard, which he had joined in 1990.
“I never thought I would stay in the military, either,” he laughed. “For me it was primarily — at least at first — as a way to get money for education.”
After six years as an enlisted man, he received permission to attend Officer Candidate School, and in August of 1997 was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 1034th Quartermaster Company.
Meis spent time as a substitute teacher before taking a position at East Greene for the 2000-01 school year. The next school year found him accepting a freshman science and junior chemistry slot at Perry, where he has remained. Klista teaches Elementary Art in Perry, both now have Master’s Degrees.
Along the way Meis moved into the Army National Guard. He was deployed to Afghanistan in June 2006 for one year, and spent all of 2011 assigned to the arsenal at Rock Island, Il.
His military duties include one weekend a month and an additional 15 days of service per year.
“I have a strong sense of patriotism, and that has kept me going,” Meis said. “I have a large family, and the benefits I receive definitely play a role in wanting to stay in (the military).
“I also enjoy the people I work with,” he added. “Some of these relationships go back 15 years or so, and I enjoy working with them. There are only so many people who do logistics, and I like the responsibility that comes with being the chief logistics officer of the Joint Maneuver Training Center at Camp Dodge.”
