Few Military Affairs Committee meetings will go by without a familiar Woo-Hoo from the audience when one of the commanders or civic leaders in attendance announces something worthy of Senator, now retired Senator, Randy Burckhard’s celebratory shout out.

I asked Randy to spend some time at my office one afternoon shortly after he was awarded the Commander’s Public Service Award at the Nuclear Triad Symposium held in Minot.

Randy had to think a bit when I asked about when his years of service started, and he decided it had to be “1996. I have been an Honorary Commander since 1996.” Probably as impressive; “22…I have had 22 different Colonels as Honorary Commanders over the years. I started out with two (Colonels) in the (5th) Bomb Wing and I’ve been in the (91st) Missile Wing ever since” according to Burckhard “my first two Honorary Commanders were Vice Wing Commanders (now Deputy Commanders) of the 5th Bomb Wing “and the first was JJ Parker. He was quite a character.”

In his own words Randy Burckhard is quick to point out that his time as an Honorary Commander and eventually serving on Task Force 21 has afforded him many opportunities including a ride in a B 52. “I never served, but I sure have been able to experience a lot.”

Randy moved from Minneapolis to Minot in 1985 and worked for NSP where he was encouraged by then General Manager Ernie Selland to join the Minot Chamber. “It was the best thing I ever did because it helped me in my career” remembers Burckhard.

NSP in Minot was kind of a one-up in that they owned and operated the telephone franchise in Minot. Before his career would end, though, Randy would go through two sales of the telephone franchise in Minot. “Once to Rochester Telephone and the second and last time was to SRT.”

The Burckhard family roots began near Rugby “but I moved to Minot when I was three years old. When I was working for NSP they moved me to Minneapolis for six years, and then back to Minot in 1985” says Randy. After the first sale of NSP telephone to Rochester Telephone, it was three years later the second sale that Randy would experience would be to SRT. Randy was 100% behind the sale from Rochester Telephone, a company that Randy said had no interest in the community of Minot, to SRT. “When the General Manager told me that the sale had taken place I did the loudest Woo Hoo of my life” and when questioned Randy told the GM from Minot Telephone “I can’t wait to work for a local company.”

So, what defines a lifetime of public service? “The Chamber did so much for me as I went through the chairs. And those folks who knew me convinced me to run for city council in 2002, and SRT was very happy to let me run for the State Senate.”

In the new company, SRT, Randy Burckhard moved from finance to Public Relations “and I didn’t have to supervise anybody. My connections with The (Minot) Chamber helped me, and SRT a lot.”

His position at SRT gave him a perfect reason to sit in on Task Force 21 meetings “in 1995 and 1996 we went through the BRAC process and I got exposed to a lot. We took five busses to Grand Forks when it was the day for our hearing because we had been told that we were actually on the list to be closed” shared Burckhard. “We had more people there than Grand Forks did, and that gave them a good reason to keep us open. You look at the base now and it has almost a billion dollar impact.”

The three areas that SRT General Manager Warren Hight wanted Randy involved in was the college, the chamber and the base. Randy’s job was to provide a bit of navigation in a landscape where a coop would now be in charge of the local telephone company. “The first thing we did was eliminate long distance phone charges to the base, and of course a lot of people liked that.”

In 2010 Randy Burckhard became Senator Randy Burckhard “and my first session was in 2011. “That was when we went through the flood of 2011, and believe me, there were some interesting times.”

In 1998-99 Randy Burckhard finished his run through the Minot Chamber and became Chamber President. And another benchmark in his career would be joining Task Force 21 in 1994. “Task Force 21 is the most well-known and respected civic leader group in Air Force Global Strike Command” according to Burkhard “we are well organized and now we are bringing in the younger people too. This year will be our 15th Nuclear Symposium in Washington, DC. We don’t have to look for speakers, they find us. They love to speak to us and our group, and that says a lot.”

Senator Randy Burckhard has served his last term of office as a State Senator as he has officially retired. But the impact that people like Randy, and Bruce Christianson and Mark Jantzer will be felt by the Minot Community for years to come. “You tell me, what other community gets together and raises enough money to send over 140 first term Airmen home for Christmas? Not only this year, but for the past three years, and I am sure they will in the future” says Burckhard.

I have always believed that when people retire they just don’t walk away and hope that the void fills in behind them. They carry on and help where they see a need. That will be Randy Burckhard, and so the Commander’s Public Service Award is well earned. Woo Hoo!