Profile, Army NG Maj. Perry Hagaman

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Army NG Maj. Perry Hagaman
By 1st Lt. Steven Alvarez
Florida National Guard Public Affairs
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. ? One weekend every month, Florida Army National Guard Maj. Perry Hagaman packs his helmet bag, steps into his flight suit and heads for an airfield in Manatee County, four and a half hours away from his Jacksonville home. Every Guardsman is familiar with this ritual ? weekend drill, serving for several days each month, working when most are playing. For Hagaman though, the drill is different.

The career Active Guard and Reserve (AGR) soldier from Craig Field in Jacksonville, Fla., changed his traditional National Guard role several years ago and decided to serve full-time with the Guard. Several times per week and one weekend each month, the instructor pilot from the 1st Battalion, 111th Aviation Regiment, climbs into a cockpit and takes to the skies. It is something he does as part of his full-time National Guard job, and something required of him as an AGR soldier; he must drill one weekend each month with his unit.

But this weekend is different because Hagaman is not flying for the Florida National Guard. It is his other drill weekend where he gets behind the controls of one of the most advanced helicopters in law enforcement and patrols the skies above his hometown. He serves his community part-time by flying law enforcement missions for the Manatee County Sheriff's office, something he does monthly as a volunteer.

"I carry a badge. I'm a sworn officer with them," Hagaman said. He holds two sworn positions: his officer commission and his office as a deputy sheriff.

Hagaman flies nocturnal air coverage for Manatee County on busy weekend nights. He is a reserve police officer who began his law enforcement career while still in high school when he joined the cadet corps as a volunteer. Later, he progressed through the ranks after graduating from the law enforcement academy and eventually earned a full-time spot on the force.

He later left the police department to work full-time with the National Guard, but he always kept in touch with his co-workers and friends at the sheriff's office.

"I feel loyal to them. I grew up down there," said Hagaman, who is a Bradenton area native.

In 1997, Manatee County bought three surplus OH-58 helicopters from the U.S. military. Hagaman, at the time, had become an experienced OH-58 pilot with the Army National Guard after leaving the department. He had been a maintenance officer, test pilot and pilot examiner with roughly 2,000 hours in the OH-58 when his former department called.

"They didn't have any clue what to do with them," Hagaman said. "They had no aviation expertise. They called and said, 'We need some help,'" he said.

Hagaman's task was to build Manatee's law enforcement aviation program from the ground up. Once again he found himself in a volunteer role with the sheriff's office. He took his friends' offer and his goodwill gesture has lasted for more than five years.

He used his military skills and training to "get the program running" and he organized the department's training, maintenance and test flight program. It is something he has done since 1997 without any pay or benefits.

"The Guard's been good to me and this is a way I can give back to my community," Hagaman said. "I wanted to help them because they needed help. I wanted to try to give them a safe product," he added.

In February 2001, Manatee County transitioned to a new airframe, the Eurocopter 120. Hagaman was the lead on the transition.

"I went out to the factory school and brought it home for them," Hagaman said. As the only qualified pilot in the sheriff's department to perform cross-country flights, he volunteered for a week and flew the EC-120 back to Manatee County from Grand Prarie, Texas. At least once per year, he volunteers a week of his busy life with his former department.

The program Hagaman helped build now has three pilots and a top-notch airframe. The EC-120 has forward-looking infrared radar and a 7-million candlepower night "sun light."

"The nights these things are flying, burglary drops about 20 percent," Hagaman said.

During National Volunteer Week in April, Hagaman, who receives no pay for his service, will likely be somewhere in the Florida skies doing what he does year-round, volunteering.