Army Vet Joins Ranks at VCSO

For Scott McCroskey the Army has influenced almost every moment in his life. So, it was no wonder that when he became a Sheriff Deputy in Valley County, he let that influence – and the lessons learned from it – guide his time in the position.

"I had a Sergeant Major," explained McCroskey. "He would always say, 'Each day improve yourself, your troops and your organization." The newly minted Deputy says he tries to apply that lesson with modifications. Even though he has no "troops" per se, he tries constantly to improve the community and its people through policing, engagement and respect.

McCroskey met that Command Sergeant Major – named Billy Ray Counts while serving with the 330th Military Police Company at Fort Riley, Kansas. It was his first duty station after graduating from Military Police training at Fort Leonard Wood.

The Army was not the natural choice, says McCroskey, despite the fact that his father and his mother had served in some capacity. He was born on Fort Lewis in Washington and moved early on to Fort Hood. After his father got out of the Army and started working in the petroleum industry, his mom moved to Oregon and re-enlisted in the Army Reserve. It was in Silverton, Ore. where McCroskey attended and graduated high school before enlisting.

"I was also looking into the Marines," explained McCroskey. "But in 2013 no one was looking for enlistments, and the Army was the first one to offer me a job." That lead him to enlist in January of 2014 before shipping off to basic training followed by being shipped to Ft. Leonard Wood.

In 2016, he shipped to Korea for a year-and-a-half deployed on the Peninsula in support of the U.S. mission in the allied country. Following that tour of duty he left the Army in 2018 and applied as a law enforcement officer to a number of counties across the Northwest.

Becoming a law enforcement officer, however, did come naturally for McCroskey. As he tells it in 1998 he was playing cops and robbers with his brothers in the backyard. When his grandmother called him in to supper McCroskey couldn't help but take advantage of the situation.

"I jumped at the opportunity to win the game," said McCroskey. "I drew my finger pistols on them and shouted "You're under arrest!" immediately my grandmother swatted my outstretched hand informing me that "There will be no guns at [her] table." Defensively I asked, "what if I'm a cop?" she agreed that if I was a police officer then I could have a gun at the dinner table, so I assured her that I would become a cop when I grew up."

In December of 2018, McCroskey was sworn in as a Peace Officer in front of, then, Sheriff Vernon Buerkle. He attended the Montana Law Enforcement Academy that following January and graduated in March. He has been on patrol across the county ever since.