Lakewood resident and former councilman Ryan Patrick Demro recently graduated from the United States Army Infantry Center’s Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. Commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Adjutant General Corps, Demro has been appointed as the Human Resource Officer for the 983rd Engineer Battalion with headquarters based in Monclova, Ohio.

Consisting of just over 800 soldiers, the battalion’s mission is to accomplish wartime construction management in support of United States forces within the area of operation and the rear combat zone. This includes constructing, repairing, and maintaining main supply routes, landing strips, structures, and utilities. Recent domestic projects have included extensive work along the Maumee River for the City of Rossford and construction of facilities at Pioneer Boy Scout Reservation. The soldiers of the 983rd have also deployed to Guatemala and El Salvador to conduct projects including building a school, clinic, and road in an outlying province. The unit deployed in defense of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. 

Upon returning home from Georgia, Demro said, “I am honored to serve with those who had the courage to join in a time of war. The soldiers I graduated with are so highly skilled and dedicated that one could not look at the group and think anything other than the Army will have strong leadership for generations to come.” Demro is currently working in Toledo to acclimate to his unit before returning home in a few weeks.