This is the second of a series of articles about pilots who are all Wheatland High School graduates.
WHEATLAND — Of the young men included in this series, Scott Koenig (Class of 2008, son of Mike and Ann Koenig) was the only one who completed his degree at the University of Wyoming. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in both criminal justice and sociology (2012) and went on to a master’s degree in sociology (2015) at UW.
“I have always thought service to my community is important so initially I wanted to be police officer,” Koenig said.
In 2012, Koenig applied to several federal law enforcement agencies including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. However, they had enough applicants with prior military experience that they did not consider applicants without military experience.
“This shifted my perspective to first focus on military service in my career path. I interviewed with the Army ROTC program at the University of Wyoming,” Koenig said. “They informed me I could do a two-year program concurrent with earning a master’s. I commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the Wyoming Army National Guard as a part of the Quartermaster Corps in 2014, submitted a flight packet in 2014, began Flight School XXI in 2015 and graduated in 2016.”
His schooling seems never to stop; he has just been on temporary duty taking an aviation maintenance officer course at Fort Rucker, Alabama.
Koenig is stationed in Cheyenne, flying a UH-60L Blackhawk helicopter. He provided fire suppression support during the Keystone forest fire in July 2017.
“Water bucket operations can be interesting at times,” he stated.
Koenig was interviewed on Channel 5 as one of the men whose efforts were to stop the fire from growing.
“‘Dreams written down with a date become goals. Goals broken down to steps become plans. A plan backed by action achieves the dream.’ The quote is a cliché but I think there is some truth to it as far as goal setting goes,” Koenig said. “It is important to find what you enjoy doing in life but surround yourself with people who make you happy and love you is one of the most important things you can do; everybody needs a support structure. Lastly, the British Special Air Service has a motto, ‘Who Dares Wins.’ Don’t go through life afraid. Accept prudent risk and move forward with whatever the task. You only get one shot at this life.”
