James “Jesse” Slater, son of Gary Slater and Eileen DeLong, was officially promoted to rank of Staff Sargent Feb. 1, 2015, while with his fellow airmen on deployment in Afghanistan. He was pinned while on deployment.

Fayetteville is the proud hometown of Staff Sgt. Slater, who later attended East Rowan High School and became an integral member of the JV and Varsity basketball teams and a crowd favorite, “Go Mustangs!”

Jesse has excelled during his career in the United States Air Force and has played an important role in the success of the United States military during each of his deployments. Soon to return to his current duty station at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, Jesse completed his basic training in San Antonio, Texas, and served his country proudly at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany.