THE
CAREER
MAN
Colonel Steve Sears continues service with Whitley County High School ’ s JROTC program
BY JANIE SLAVEN | EDITOR
The American flag flies proudly outside the Williamsburg home of retired Army Colonel Steve Sears . | PHOTO BY JANIE SLAVEN
For Williamsburg resident Steve Sears , a retired Army colonel , a military career wasn ’ t necessarily predestined .
Col . Sears ’ father served one tour in the Navy , doing avionics work during between Korea and Vietnam just as the Cold War was starting to brew , but he passed away when Sears was still fairly young . It was his mother who thought the military would make a good career , but it wasn ’ t until Sears started the ROTC ( Reserve Officers ’ Training Corps ) program at Cumberland College ( now University of the Cumberlands ) for a gym credit that his path was truly set . “ I loved everything about it ,” Col . Sears said , adding that he entered the Army upon graduation in 1990 . “ While I was in college , I went ahead and enlisted in the Reserves . I did that for about a year and a half then transferred to the National Guard for a year and a half while I was a student . When I graduated , I got commissioned into the regular Army . I have 29 years of total service — 26 of that active .”
Sears went in as a second lieutenant and
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