Captain Amit Patel, a 2004 Yorktown High School graduate, is coming back to Yorktown for the 2013 Memorial Day Parade in Yorktown and will be the American Legion's guest speaker.
Patel is the son of Yorktown Councilman Vishnu Patel and Dipi Patel. While he lived in town, Patel earned the rank of Eagle Scout with Troop 165. He was also a member of the Yorktown Volunteer Ambulance Corps, Somers Volunteer Fire Department, and the Yorktown Lions/ Leos Club.
He graduated from West Point in 2008 with a Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering. Following two years of aviation training at Ft. Rucker, Alabama, Patel graduated from the U.S. Army Flight School in 2010. He was the distinguished honor graduate of his class and became a qualified UH-60Al/L/M Blackhawk Helicopter pilot.
Patel was then posted at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky with 4th Battalion, 159th Combat Aviation Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) as a Platoon Leader, Executive Officer, and Detachment Commander.
In 2011 he deployed to Afghanistan for 12 months in support of Operation Enduring Freedom where he served as a Vice FOB Mayor in Zabul Province and an Assault Flight Company Platoon Leader in Kandahar Province responsible for air assault, quick reaction force, emergency resupply, MEDEVAC, and special operations missions in direct support of U.S. Coalition forces.
Read more about his experience in Afghanistan by reading this Patch article.
Patel is currently attending the U.S. Army Military Intelligence Course at. Ft. Huachuca, Arizona.
Editor's Note: The article has been corrected to reflect that Amit Patel is the American Legion's guest speaker, not the parade's grand marshal as originally described by Councilman Vishnu Patel.
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