Tim Carpenter - Director / Veteran Service Officer

First Sergeant Retired, United States Army, Timothy Carpenter is a native of Lawrence County Ohio. He was the fourth of five children born to Carl and Barbara Carpenter. He was raised in Deering and attended Coal Grove High School and Collins Career Center graduating in 1986. Immediately after graduation, he enlisted in the US Army as an Infantryman where he served for 26 years. Upon retirement, First Sergeant Carpenter returned to his childhood home where he currently resides with his wife, Darla and two of his grandchildren, Jace and Kyngston Mack.

First Sergeant Carpenter is the current Veterans Service Officer for Lawrence County. During his five years in this position, he has aided countless Lawrence County Veterans with a variety of needs including filing claims, emergency financial assistance, mental health, homelessness, and handicapped accessibility. He has also dedicated himself to honoring the veterans of this county by established the Lawrence County Veteran of the Year Award, revitalized the Veterans plot at Woodland Cemetery, assisted in establishing the Lawrence County Flags of Honor, acted as a liaison for the county with Wreaths Across American, and assisted with the William C. Lambert Memorial in the City Building in Ironton. Beyond his official work in the county, he is also a member of the VA Mental Health Counsel at the Hershel "Woody" Williams VA Hospital in Huntington and is very active with the Symmes Valley Veterans Honor Guard.

During his enlistment in the US Army, his service included five Combat deployments. The first being in Saudi Arabia for Desert Shield, then Kuwait for Desert Storm, followed by two tours in Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom. His final deployment was in Afghanistan as First Sergeant charged with the leadership of 380 men for Operation Enduring Freedom. In addition to his combat missions, First Sergeant Carpenter was also involved in many peacekeeping missions around the world including Bosnia, Kosovo, Germany, and Korea. Also, during his service, First Sergeant Carpenter completed Basic and Advanced Leadership Courses, The Company First Sergeant Course, as well as the Warrior Leaders Course. The latter of which, he went on to teach in Grafenwoehr, Germany.

First Sergeants Carpenter's awards for honorable and exceptional service include two Bronze Stars for combat action in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Combat Infantry Badge, three Meritorious Service Medals, six Army Commendation Medals, eight Army Achievement Medals, Kuwait Liberation Medal with three campaign stars, Iraq Campaign medal with two campaign stars, Afghanistan Campaign medal with two campaign stars, two Army Expeditionary medals, two NATO Medals, as well as the distinguished Order of St. Maurice for exceptional service in the United States Infantry.

First Sergeant Carpenter dedicated over half his life to service to our country and is proud to return to Lawrence County to serve the veterans here at home.