SteelMaster’s “Stories of Service” series continues to highlight members of our team who have either served in the U.S. military or are a part of a military family. Part 10 of SteelMaster’s 11-part series of American stories features Robert D’Agostino, project specialist…

Robert “Dag” D’Agostino doesn’t test the waters; he doesn’t wade in or even get his feet wet first. At 51 years old, Dag gets a running start, bends his knees with tensile grace, and jumps in with the same exuberance as he did more than 30 years ago when he joined the Navy. Most of the time he has no idea how deep the water is—he just likes the feeling of soaring.

In 1977, Dag’s goal when he joined the Navy fresh out of high school was to be an aircraft mechanic, but the tide turned during a routine swim test he performed while in boot camp. “As I got into the pool, I noticed a poster on the wall about the Navy SEALs, and that was the first I heard about them,” remembers Dag. “I thought that it sounded cool, so I went for it.”

Twenty years later he jumped from a C-130 Hercules and soared 10,000 feet before landing at Fort Story in Virginia Beach, VA and into his own retirement ceremony from two decades of service with the Navy’s elite SEAL commando unit.  “As far as I know, at that time no one had retired with a parachute strapped onto his back, and I don’t think anyone has since,” says Dag, who has worked as a project specialist with SteelMaster Buildings since October 1997. “It’s a complete thrill to make history.”

SEALs are required to qualify for the special warfare “trident”, but Dag earned himself another place in the history books by being the only person in the Navy to qualify for three more warfare specialties: surface, submarine, and aviation warfare.  D’Agostino completed the requirements for the three non-required pins during trips to the Persian Gulf in 1989 and 1991 and a trip to Italy in 1990. “I have a lot of energy and a need to learn and be challenged.  The military is a great place to be able to thrive when you have that type of personality,” says Dag (on right in photo below).

While he admits it was crushing for him when it came time to retire from the Navy, he found a new challenge when he met Rhae Adams (on left in photo above), a principle owner of SteelMaster Buildings. “When I met Rhae I absolutely knew that this is the company I wanted to be with,” says Dag. “I knew that a man with his integrity would only hire the finest people and put out the best product on the market—and I don’t settle for anything but the best.”

 

Part 9: Diane Sharry, sales coordinator

Part 11: Pat Patterson, former CEO

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