Eric M. Witcher LTC(R)

Eric M. Witcher, BS, MPA, was born and raised in Oregon. He really did the things that he wrote about (mostly). Grew up on a dairy farm, struggled in school at Oregon State University and left the country after graduation without telling his parents. He was drafted in 1972 with a lottery number of #3, did two tours in combat zones in the Middle East before being selected to Officers Candidate School. He was deployed to five combat zones during his career.

He retired from the US Army as a Lieutenant Colonel after working his way up through the enlisted ranks to Sergeant (E-5) and then going to Infantry Officer Candidate School (sometimes known as Infantry Officer Basic Candidate Course (IOBCC)) at Ft. Benning, GA. Since he was already there and at the top of his physical conditioning he went to Airborne School and followed that with Ranger School.

Not willing to go back into the Intelligence Branch (nor enter the Infantry Branch) he was reassigned to the Military Police Corps (they shared an office at the Military Personnel Center, MilPerCen). I was told some serious “horse trading” took place so the Military Police would take me. So his career as an MP began with less than an auspicious start. He went to the MP Officers Basic at Ft. Gordon, GA., attended the Masters Golf Tournament one year and was allowed to play a couple holes at Augusta National (a perc they gave some of the Officers at Ft. Gordon) after the Masters. His injuries from the Middle East caught up with him and he had to undergo the third of five knee surgeries. While recuperating he attended the MP Corrections Training Course and did his internship at the Georgia State Prison in Reedsville, Georgia (where they filmed the first Longest Yard).

There followed tours of duty all over the world; Germany, Panama, the Middle East (again) and several different States. He was married and had two children and hauled them around with him whenever possible. Widowed a few years after retirement – he found love again and remarried.

The military was never a perfect fit although he had some great successes and some not so fun failures. Eric always kept the welfare of his men and women foremost over his own ambitions. However, when he retired, he had been blessed by that big “General” in the sky and had been awarded 23 ribbons, medals and decorations and other distinguished awards to include a Presidential Unit Citation, Distinguished Unit Award and Meritorious Unit Citation.

Eric started this book out of sheer boredom after this third heart surgery. He was told to take it easy. According to his wife, never an easy task. He has been remarried for 17 years and has two children. His wife recently retired after many years in the Space industry at the Kennedy Space Center. His children: a daughter, with two daughters of her own, who is the Manager of IT for a non-profit in Savannah, GA. and a son, who has a son, that is Chief of Ocean Rescue for a county in Florida.