Craig Thatcher:  

Life Hmmmm...Left AFUHS and moved to Alpine where I worked on a ranch and ran a backhoe until joining the Army at end of '78. Did tours in Alabama and Germany. Started as a Helicopter mechanic and then Chief Warrant Officer Aviator. Flew OH-58's (Scouts Out!, UH-1H, UH-1M Gunships, AH-1G's & AH-1S Cobra Attack Helicopters, and MD-500's (Little Birds). I have been fortunate enough to have traveled or been stationed in Brazil, Chile, Peru, Argentina, Panama, Germany, Italy, Austria, Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Crete, England, Switzerland, traveled into Soviet held East Berlin and patroled the East West Germany border when there was still a WALL and Death Fences...and visited the sacred ground of the Dachau German Concentration Camp where hundreds of thousands of Jews were murdered and abused. I Joined MCSO in '85 after leaving the Army and worked patrol on the west side till '89. Lake Patrol, Tactical Support Division, Aviation, Search & Recovery Dive Team member and Dive Coordinator, Search and Rescue Supervisor, EMT, Firearms Instructor, 13 years in patrol as deputy and then made Sgt. and finished in Special Enforcement Division as a supervisor. Retired Dec. 2005. Married in '91, two boys, Travis & Clayton. Moved to Wyoming because I was sick and tired of living with 6.5 million neighbors....now I live with deer, elk, antelope, ducks, fish, and cows....and yes, they are delicious when properly prepared! We have ten acres, horses, quads, snow machines and views to die for. I didn't just hunt and kill, I became an advocate for good conservation efforts and was a founding member and founding Board Member of the Arizona Elk Society, an organization of volunteers who since it's inseption in 2001 has put millions of dollars back into our elk herds as well as other wildlife that have benefitted from our efforts and ground projects...unlike the Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, PETA, and other so called animal activist groups, we put our money into making the habitat more survivable for the animals...do the research and other than advertising, every dime of your donations to those groups goes to salaries and attorneys to sue the government, which again cost us all millions of tax dollars in idiotic court costs. Management issues that were proven indisputably wrong by the Rodeo-Chedeski fire...fires and logging are not good for wildlife, they're GREAT!!!! I still volunteer with the Star Valley Search & Rescue where I serve as a squad Sgt. and have had the thrill of not just going down the rapids of the famed Snake River at the helm of the raft, but to have also gone down them at night in the winter!!! As a 20 year dep...Expand for more