Stephen Sawyer
How My Military Experience Prepared Me For My Career
Stephen Sawyer submitted a winning essay on behalf of his daughter Michelle (pictured).
My name is Stephen Sawyer. I graduated from Anoka Senior High School in 1965. When I graduated I had no plans for my future and very little interest in working. I went through the motions in school but didn't see the direct benefits of education so I did the minimum necessary to graduate. When I graduated in 1965, the war in Viet Nam was escalating at a rapid rate. I was working as a salesman at a small shoe store in downtown Anoka. I was trying to figure out how I was going to avoid the military draft. Obviously college was out of the question.
One day in June, 1965, I went for a walk during my lunch break. I passed the Armory, where the military recruiters were located. I had nothing to do so I decided to go inside and found myself speaking with a recruiter from the United States Army. The recruiter spoke of maturing, growing, travel, learning an exciting job and serving my country. By the time I returned to work I had enlisted in the Army for three years and was due to report for duty on December 28, 1965. I went home from work that day and informed my parents of what I had done. My mother was angry and my father was disturbed but proud. My father served in the United States Navy during WWII.
During the next six months I experienced many emotions. I was very proud of what I had done but I was also frightened, worried and excited all at the same time. I didn't know if I could survive basic training, let alone the probability of serving in a combat unit in Viet Nam. I wound up at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri on December 28, 1965. I spent the next eight weeks with many people shouting at me, ordering me around and forcing me to do physical tasks that seemed impossible. What I didn't realize was, they were instilling pride, confidence, strength, compassion and a sense of being a member of a team. In short they were creating a mature young man and a "Soldier". I credit most of my success later in life to these eight weeks in particular and my three years in the Army in general. I was taught how to be a man.
The job I learned was that of a Nuclear Weapons Maintenance Technician. This was a high stress technical job in which I tested, disassembled, repaired and assembled nuclear warheads. The overall experience in this job title was positive as we were treated very well due to the stress level of our duties. This experience was very beneficial to me later in my civilian career because it taught me how to perform my duties under stressful conditions. I was assigned to a unit on the island of Okinawa for nearly two years. This was an exciting time in my life. I learned how to interact with people of a different culture and language. It was a terrific learning experience. While assigned to the 137th Ordinance Company I was promoted to the rank of Specialist 5 E-5. This is a rank equivalent to that of a Sergeant E-5. That rank was a supervisory one. I had a crew of four technicians I was responsible for supervising in the performance of our duties with the weapons.
I was separated from the United States Army on December 20, 1968. When I returned home I had no idea what I was going to do with my life. I sold shoes for a short period of time and held several other odd jobs. Again, I had no intention of returning to school. One day, the summer of 1969, I had a revelation. I decided I wanted to be a Police Officer for the City of Minneapolis. I applied for the job and took the entrance test that summer with 1,200 other applicants. The Minneapolis Police Department was hiring to fill 24 positions. I passed the test and was offered the position of Police Cadet with my training to begin September 24, 1969. My ability to pass the test for so few positions as opposed to so many applicants I attribute to my total Army experience, training and maturing.
I was a Minneapolis Police Officer, and Sergeant, for a little over 20 years. I worked as a Patrol Officer and subsequently a Sergeant on Minneapolis' North side for 10 years. I then became a Burglary Detective. This was very rewarding. The last 6 years were spent as a Homicide Detective where I was assigned, or assisted with, approximately 200 murders. I retired from the Minneapolis Police Department on October 31, 1989. During my time on the Minneapolis Police Department I managed to return to school and received an Associate of Arts Degree from North Hennepin Community College. The maturity level I had attained taught me the importance of education, again the result of my time in the Army where I had to learn a very technical job.
Obviously my military experience was very beneficial to my career as a Police Officer. There was much I had to learn. It was essential that I use the teamwork skills I had learned in the Army. I had to work under extremely stressful conditions. I was required to work with people of different cultures and languages. It was necessary to understand, and work within, a rank structure. On November 1, 1989 I was appointed to the position of Chief of Police for the City of Newport, Minnesota. The appointment sparked the same feelings I had when I first reported for duty at Fort Leonard Wood. This was truly a situation where I didn't have idea what I had committed myself to doing. Again, I was entering into an endeavor in which I had no idea whether or not I could be successful. I had no knowledge as to the way a Police Department needed to be administered. I had no idea what was required by the State of Minnesota with respect to record keeping, training, budgeting or disciplining. I was forced to learn all this along with performing some patrol functions as this was a very small Police Department. The patrol functions were the easiest part of the learning curve.
During my tenure as a Police Chief I had another daunting learning task. I had to learn how to deal with small town politics. I had to learn how to work with each City Council member and their personal agendas. I was forced to figure out how to meet their expectations, those of the City Administrator and the needs of the good people working for me. This was a formidable task in itself. I retired from the Newport Police Department on April 1, 2001 after nearly 13 years. When I left the Department had nearly doubled in personnel, the equipment was current and it was completely computerized, to include terminals in the squad cars. It was said the Department was in far better condition than when I was appointed.
This has been a condensed version of my professional life. It began with a kid, with no ambition or direction planned after High School. Because of a walk during a lunch break, in 1965, and an impulsive decision to join the United States Army I ultimately had a very successful and rewarding career in law enforcement. None of this might have happened without the lessons learned as a result of my serving the citizens of the United States of America in the United States Army.
