Record recruit class ready to patrol

Trooper returning after 17-year break is one of 140 graduates in cadet group

Robert Bailey laughs when he calls himself a born-again trooper. A third-generation oilman from West Texas, Bailey spent four years as a Department of Public Safety trooper before leaving in 1982 for a better-paying job at Exxon.

This year Bailey returned to the DPS as one of 140 recruits who became state troopers in a graduation ceremony Friday morning at the Erwin Center. The group was the largest graduating class in DPS history.

Bailey said he began thinking about returning to the DPS almost immediately but did not seriously consider it until three years ago.

"I went to a memorial for my (former) partner in 1996, and everyone there treated me like I was still part of the DPS," Bailey said. "There's an incredible feeling of fraternity."

Bailey, 41, trained with men 20 years his junior through more than 1,100 hours of instruction, physical-fitness exercises and self-defense classes.

The recruits, who often come from a law-enforcement background, are taught criminal and traffic regulations, arrest procedures, accident- investigation techniques and first aid.

This year's class of 140 graduates beat last year's record of 138, said Tom Vinger, a DPS spokesman. For the past two years, the DPS has also graduated two classes each year to help get more troopers on the road.

The DPS has about 1,600 troopers, 100 shy of full strength, Vinger said.

"It's a tough line of work," Vinger said. "Being a trooper is dangerous, and people are often working strange shifts. That, combined with promotions and people moving to other agencies, means we've got vacancies to fill."

The new troopers will take openings all across Texas, including Killeen, Lockhart and Seguin. Many of the troopers will head to South Texas, which has seen an increase in truck traffic in recent years.

Attorney General John Cornyn, who was sworn in earlier this month, gave the keynote address. Cornyn applauded the DPS for combating drug trafficking and alcohol-related accidents.

"We rely on these men and women to make sure the traffic of commerce isn't trafficking drugs," Cornyn said.

The troopers will make $24,996 their first year, in which they're kept under close supervision. After the first year, their annual salaries increase to $31,284.

For many of the new troopers, their graduation was the realization of a lifelong dream.

"This is something he's wanted to do since he was 4 years old," said Vick Smith, whose nephew Chuck Havard became a trooper Friday. "This has been his ambition for a while, and we're all proud of him."

The support of his family was a big help during both this training program and the one he went through 20 years ago, Bailey said.

"The training is more advanced now," Bailey said. "It's much more of a science."

When Bailey left the DPS in 1982, he was following a family tradition of work in the oil business. But even after years had passed, he still missed the camaraderie he found as a state trooper.

Though many of his 1978 classmates are now majors and captains in the DPS, Bailey says he doesn't mind being a first-year trooper again.

"You couldn't chisel me out of here this time,'' Bailey said. ``Age is just a state of mind."

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