During his three decades of service in the Missouri National Guard, Eric Wilde has been labeled a "mustang" -- military slang for those who began their career as an enlisted soldier prior to becoming a commissioned officer.
And though proud of his legacy as a soldier, he emphasized the years have required a delicate balance between other titles he has earned, including that of police captain, husband and father.
In 1990, during his junior year of high school at St. Elizabeth, Wilde made the decision to enlist in the Missouri National Guard. That summer, he traveled to Fort Leonard Wood to complete his basic combat training.
"My father and several family members had served or were in the National Guard, so it seemed like the natural thing for me to do," he said.
Shortly after graduating high school in the spring of 1991, he traveled to Fort Gordon, Georgia, for his advanced training in a communications specialty. Upon returning home, he began drilling with a National Guard unit in Jefferson City while also attending classes at the University of Missouri.
"For a while, I worked on temporary orders for the National Guard's Counterdrug Program and that really inspired my passion for law enforcement," he said. "After two years at Columbia, I transferred to Central Missouri State University to work toward a criminal justice degree."
Earning his bachelor's in criminal justice in 1995, Wilde was hired by the Johnson County (Kansas) Sheriff Department, eventually becoming a road deputy. He reclassified as a military policeman and began drilling with the 1139th Military Police (MP) Company in Harrisonville.
Wilde was hired by the Jefferson City Police Department as a patrol officer in the summer of 1998. In his part-time military capacity, he made the decision to transfer to military intelligence and started drilling with the headquarters element of the Missouri National Guard in Jefferson City.
"The call came in 2003 to pull all of the military policemen back in so they could fill deploying units," Wilde recalled. "I was reassigned back to the 1139th MP Company, and we began preparing for deployment."
Wilde married his fiancée, the former Adrienne Jeffries, during his going away ceremony. Weeks later, in early 2003, his MP company arrived in Baghdad shortly after the invasion of Iraq.
"The Iraqi police forces were essentially dissolved and our MP company assisted in getting the police stations back up and running, training the Baghdad police forces and building their capacity to once again perform as an effective police organization," he said.
Shortly after his return to Missouri in December 2003, his first son was born. He then made the decision to leave the National Guard for two years, continuing to work full-time with the Jefferson City Police Department. Missing the camaraderie of military service, he re-enlisted in late 2005.
The young soldier soon resolved to become an officer and was accepted into Officer Candidate School. Commissioned as a second lieutenant in 2009, he was assigned to the 35th Combat Aviation Brigade in Sedalia, becoming their information operations officer.
Wilde deployed for a second time in 2012, serving in Kuwait and assisting with tracking many of the coordination activities between U.S. forces and the Kuwait military.
Following his return to Jefferson City in 2013, he continued his full-time police duties with the police department while also assuming command of B Company, 35th Infantry Division in St. Joseph. He later became the intelligence operations officer for the 35th Infantry Division in St. Joseph.
"My third deployment came in 2017 to 2018, when the division deployed to Kuwait," Wilde said. "However, I was part of a smaller element that deployed to Amman, Jordan, where I ran the joint intelligence support element in the Combined Joint Operations Center-Jordan."
His return from the deployment was followed by his promotion to the rank of major and assignment as the intelligence officer for the 35th Engineer Brigade at Fort Leonard Wood, where he continues to serve.
Wilde's lengthy career with the Jefferson City Police Department has not only included duty as a patrol officer, but also that of narcotics detective, plain-clothes detective, patrol sergeant, field training officer and patrol lieutenant. Currently, as a police captain, he is the operations division commander for the department.
A proud father of three children, Wilde maintains his dual careers in the police department and the National Guard contain many moving parts that must be coordinated to ensure success in all of his assorted responsibilities.
"One of the biggest challenges throughout my careers has been balancing the increased operational tempo that occurred in the National Guard after 9/11," he said. "There were a lot more responsibilities and training requirements that developed, and it became challenging, at times, to manage all of that along with my full-time job and commitment to my family."
"There were a lot of extra hours I had to invest and missed a lot of important family events like ball games while training and during deployments."
Despite any burdens that may unfold following an individual's decision to serve as a citizen-soldier, Wilde is gratified by the lessons and experiences that have been acquired throughout every step of his military service.
"I have always enjoyed the opportunity to travel and because of the military, I have seen places I never would have seen otherwise," he said.
In conclusion, he added, "And after becoming an officer, the managerial and leadership skills acquired easily translate over into my civilian career. Bottom line, the National Guard is a lot of work, but I have no regrets for having joined."
Jeremy P. Ämick writes on behalf of the Silver Star Families of America.
