Gene Eggleston, currently an expeditor at U.S. Army Cold Regions Test Center (CRTC), knows from firsthand experience the importance of ensuring equipment works wherever Soldiers serve.
The Vietnam veteran and longtime Alaska resident also has a long memory of the place he has worked seasonally since 2008.
“I took my kids to ski at Bolio Lake while this complex was being built,” he recalls.
Born in northern California, he grew up in Lake Tahoe, where his father had a propane business. From earliest childhood, he loved the outdoors, especially downhill and cross-country skiing, which fit right in with the region.
“School was great. They would let you out two hours early to take physical education up on Heavenly Valley Ski Area.”
In 1968, he was working for his father when his draft notice arrived. After completing basic training at Fort Bliss, Texas, Eggleston was briefly a staff car and school bus driver at Virgnia’s Fort Monroe before being sent to jungle training school at Fort Eustis and, finally, Vietnam as a combat engineer.
“They must have figured out that I loved equipment, construction, and blowing things up. I went through the whole war with a positive attitude, and I think I came out OK. The good lord was on my side that whole trip.”
Back in the states, he took up mountaineering at Yosemite National Park, then returned to Lake Tahoe and met his wife Mindy. Seeking adventure, the young couple bought a book called "How To Live In The Woods on Pennies a Day" and by chance were able to claim a homestead in the vicinity of Tok, Alaska. Their property was four miles off of the road, so the couple packed in 90-pound rolls of tar paper with an improvised rickshaw made from a discarded bicycle tire, sleeping in a tent and cooking over an open fire as their construction proceeded.
“We cut down trees and built a little cabin: we could cut, drag, and peel three logs in a day. We fell in love with it.”
As their family grew, they eventually moved to Delta Junction and Eggleston opted for the stability of a career with the Department of Transportation rather than the significantly higher wages being paid to laborers on the Alaska Pipeline in the late 1970s. Mindy worked as an administrative assistant for the local school district and became heavily involved in the community. He bred and raised sled dogs for nearly 20 years in his spare time. After retiring from a 33-year career with the Alaska Department of Transportation, he took a series of seasonal jobs at CRTC.
“I was good friends with Soldiers from the Northern Warfare Training Center, which used to be here at Fort Greely. I knew them from ski patrolling at Black Rapids ski area, which was open to the public at the time, and they were telling me about CRTC.”
He started as a seasonal data collector in 2008. After eight years, he became a test vehicle operator.
“Once I got in and saw all the neat stuff they were testing, it really sparked my interest. It made me feel good because I was supporting the soldiers.”
These days, Eggleston works as an expeditor for CRTC. He and his wife celebrated their 50th anniversary earlier this year, and Mindy is president of the Delta Junction Trail Association and recently co-founded a local cross-country ski association. Eggleston still loves CRTC’s mission and plans to keep working for the test center.
“When I see something really cool go through, it makes me feel good inside. I’m proud to have been a part of that.”
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