Altoona native Stroh named Soldier of the Year

Stroh graduated from the Altoona Area High School in 2012, moved to Harrisburg in 2019 and worked as a Democrat liaison in the state House of Representatives for two years before considering a military lifestyle in pursuit of eliminating his student loan debt.

He enlisted in the Army, and now only four months away from being completely student-debt free, Stroh was named the 525th Expeditionary Military Intelligence Brigade Soldier of the Year at Fort Liberty in North Carolina.

The recognition he received in October is given each year to the best performing soldier in the brigade. Soldiers are evaluated through a competitive process that includes physical fitness tests, intelligence-related tasks and leadership demonstrations, according to First Lieutenant Dylan Tippit, Stroh’s acting commander in the 302nd Intelligence and Electronic Warfare battalion.

Earning the title is a significant achievement for a soldier because it showcases exceptional performance, not only within the battalion, but on a higher level in front of the brigade’s leadership, Tippit said.

Altoona native Dalen Stroh participates in the 525th Expeditionary Military Intelligence Brigade Soldier of the Year competition at Fort Liberty in North Carolina. Soldiers were evaluated through a competitive process that included physical fitness tests, intelligence-related tasks and leadership demonstrations.
Courtesy photo

The competition was open to the entire brigade, which consists of thousands of soldiers, but Stroh specifically competed for the award against three other battalions and two companies, Tippit said, adding that soldiers are tested on general soldier knowledge, basic tasks every soldier should know how to perform — like going through medical lanes — and working with radio equipment.

“He’s already showcased excellence at our level and moving up to compete across the brigade speaks volumes of his dedication and hard work that he’s put in as far as doing great things for our battalion,” Tippit said.

“To me, it’s an honor,” Stroh said of the recognition.

He said his mother, Angel Stroh, instilled a lot of values in him as a single mother raising him and his brothers — most notably, she taught him how to work hard and to chase his ambitions.

When Stroh and his brother, Dominic, were children, they were often the first to arrive at their daycare and the last to leave as their mother would pick them up after working long shifts to make ends meet. Stroh’s father “abandoned the family” when he was young, he said.

Dalen Stroh’s award for the 525th Expeditionary Military Intelligence Brigade’s Soldier of the Year is a significant achievement because it showcases exceptional performance in front of the brigade’s leadership, said First Lieutenant Dylan Tippit, Stroh’s acting commander.
Courtesy photo

“All I’ve ever wanted to do was mimic her in a way by carrying that hard work forward and making a good name for the Strohs,” he said. “She really showed us what it was like to work hard and put others before ourselves.”

Wilma Stroh, Stroh’s grandmother, said she remembers seeing her grandson stop what he was doing to help a person in a wheelchair who was struggling one winter along Broad Avenue.

“That’s just his personality,” she said. “He’s a very strong, very loyal person.”

At the Altoona Area High School, Stroh and his brother were part of the track and field team. While Stroh admitted his brother is “much better at running than I am,” he continued with the sport through college at Lock Haven University, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2018.

Lock Haven University track and cross country coach Aaron Russell said Stroh was not the fastest person on the team. “But he was definitely a leader — someone who was charismatic and people were really drawn to following through his personality and work ethic,” Russell said.

“You could tell that he was a hard worker,” Russell said, noting he was not surprised to hear of Stroh’s military accolades.

“I’m just excited that he’s being recognized for his hard work and all that he has dedicated to being a soldier,” Russell said.

Angel Stroh said whatever her son sets his mind to, “he accomplishes that, plus some.”

She said, while she’s proud of her son for all of his accomplishments, being named the Soldier of the Year “just takes the cake.”

Angel said she was supportive of her son’s ambitions when he called her to say he was going to join the military.

Stroh said he had no idea what jobs existed in the military, but he wanted to pursue a different career after working in state government.

After taking a Pending Internet Computerized Adaptive Testing (PiCAT) exam, which is used to predict scores for the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test, at a Navy recruiter’s office, the results showed that all the potential jobs Stroh could choose from were available to him.

Stroh took his results to an Army recruiter and was told the same thing — he could pick any job that he wanted.

Stroh decided to enlist in the Army as a signals intelligence voice interceptor because of its many benefits, noting he was adamant about getting rid of his student loan debt, “which the Army could help facilitate,” he said.

Stroh completed his basic combat training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in May 2021 before relocating to Monterey, California, to learn Persian/Farsi at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center.

Learning the language was difficult, but it was a challenge Stroh was excited to take on, he said.

“I knew it was going to be hard, and it definitely was. But I didn’t want to shy away from it, so I stuck with it until I eventually got it.”

From there, Stroh was stationed at the Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Texas, for advanced initial training. He was in Texas for four months before moving to Fort Campbell in Kentucky where he has been stationed since March 2023.

In May 2023, Stroh married his fiancee, Leslie, whom he met in Harrisburg through a mutual friend about five years ago.

Leslie Stroh, who’s originally from the Pittsburgh area, said moving from Pennsylvania to Kentucky was a bit of a culture shock. The two have a good home life in Kentucky, she said.

“He’s not gone nearly as much as some other soldiers in other units that we’ve encountered are. So, we definitely count ourselves lucky in that regard,” Leslie Stroh said, noting her husband is someone who’s “very consistent” and carries a lot of integrity.

“I don’t think there’s anyone who could have been more deserving of that award,” she said. “I know he’s proud of himself, but I’m very proud of him, too.”

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.

The Stroh file

Name: Dalen Stroh

Age: 30

Family: Wife, Leslie Stroh; mother, Angel Stroh; brothers, Dominic and Bennett Stroh; grandmother, Wilma Stroh

Education: Altoona Area School District, Class of 2012; Lock Haven University, bachelor’s degree in psychology, 2018

Employment: ImmunoTek, Altoona, June 2018-March 2019; Pennsylvania House of Representatives’ legislative policy and research office, Harrisburg, March 2019-March 2021; United States Army, March 2021-present

Military resume: Basic combat training in Fort Sill,

Oklahoma, March-May 2021; defense language institute in Monterey, California, May 2021-October 2022; advanced initial training at Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Texas, October 2022-February 2023; first duty station in

Fort Campbell, Kentucky, March 2023-present

Hobbies: Working out, running, rock climbing, playing guitars, drums and video games