Michael Cooper’s journey to Watco took him all over the world, and started when he joined the U.S. Army right out of high school in 1991.
Cooper went through Basic Training, Advanced Individual Training, and Airborne School at Ft. Benning, Georgia and was sent overseas to Coleman Barracks in Mannheim, Germany with the 82th Airborne Division, 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment. He later moved to the 1st Armored Division, 4th Battalion, 8th Infantry (Mechanized) and attended further training, including the Primary Leadership Development Course and Jungle Operations at Ft. Sherman in Panama.
Copper was busy at home as well. He was deployed to humanitarian missions conducting riot patrol following Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and assisting with the 1994 Montana wildfires. He joined the Army Reserves in 1996, serving with various units across the U.S. He also deployed twice; to Bosnia in 1998 and Iraq in 2004-2005. Cooper’s decorated service saw many citations and awards, including the Bronze Star Medal, which is awarded for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone.
After returning from Iraq, Copper reached his Expiration of Term of Service and left the military to resume a railroading career that began in 1996. He started as brakeman with Conrail and worked his way up to a conductor/engineer position. Norfolk Southern acquired Conrail in 1999, and that helped propel Cooper into the management field. First, as a road foreman of engines in Decatur, Illinois, then as a trainmaster in Chicago, and later as a roadmaster in Newark, New Jersey.
He needed a break and left management in 2008 to return to running trains in his hometown in Pennsylvania. Following some family issues, Cooper needed a change and found Watco in 2015.
“I wanted to join a company that valued their people. So, I moved to the Timber Rock Railroad and three months later I joined my present team in Owasso, OK as a trainmaster for both the Stillwater Central and South Kansas & Oklahoma Railroads,” said Cooper.