Daniel Balderas
Daniel Balderas was born and raised on the west side of San Antonio Texas. Since the age of 6 years old Daniel was around automobiles because his step dad was a mechanic. Throughout his life he worked on or around vehicles which led to his interest in auto mechanic work. By the age of 15 Daniel was working at an automotive machine shop where he learned a new line of mechanic work which consisted of engine building and machining. At 17 years old he graduated from John F. Kennedy High School and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps as a Diesel Mechanic. In 2006 Private First Class Balderas was stationed at his first duty station in Camp Pendleton California with a Motor Transport Unit. At that unit he learned and quickly adapted to the military mechanic field and became a Shop Chief and Quality Control Chief. In 2008 Sergeant Balderas deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom to Fallujah Iraq for 13 months. Sergeant Balderas then decided to further his military career by volunteering for Recruiting Duty in 2009. While on Recruiting Duty, Sergeant Balderas was meritoriously promoted to Staff Sergeant and continued his passion for automotive mechanic work by helping Veterans with automotive needs.
In 2012 Staff Sergeant Balderas was reassigned to a maintenance unit in Camp Pendleton, California where he served as a Motor Transport Maintenance Chief. After 2 years Staff Sergeant Balderas decided to volunteer to become a career recruiter so he was assigned to recruiting duty for a second time in San Antonio Texas. Although recruiting duty is a challenging duty Gunnery Sergeant Balderas would make time on his schedule to assist other service members and Veterans with mechanic needs.
In 2017 Gunnery Sergeant decided to start a Non-Profit Organization called Mechs For Vets. Throughout his military career Gunnery Sergeant Balderas has assisted more than 60 active duty, retired, and former military members with their automotive needs saving them a combined amount of $70,000 of labor costs. Having done research on Non-Profit Organizations it became very clear that there is a shortage of Non-Profits focused on assisting Veterans with disabilities and hardships with vehicle maintenance. That turned into the Mechs for Vets mission statement of “keeping veterans on the road so they can continue to make a difference”. In 2017 Daniel reached out to Jordan Trevino and Jesus Lira who have also served in the Marine Corps and shared the vision of helping veterans in need. Although the organization cannot help everyone, we are confident that together we can reach more of the Veteran community to assist them in their hardships in order to get them back on the road so they can get to work, school, or medical appointments.