Retired First Sergeant Greg Oeth Recognized at Awards Ceremony
Recently, a Service and Valor Awards Ceremony was held at the Indiana Government Center for active and former Indiana State Police employees. During the ceremony, Indiana State Police Superintendent Douglas G. Carter and his primary staff recognized the distinguished service of retired First Sergeant Greg Oeth.
The Bronze Star award is awarded for exceptional meritorious service and outstanding heroism displayed when reacting to a life threatening situation where he put his life in jeopardy to save the life of another.
On June 26, 2009, First Sergeant Gregory Oeth, an explosive ordnance disposal officer, responded to Gentryville, Indiana, to assist a resident with the disposal of old dynamite found in a large barn. Once on the scene, First Sergeant Oeth found a considerable amount of dynamite mixed amongst debris consisting of straw, dirt, animal feed, fertilizers, and paper bags. The layers of debris ranged in depth from 18 to 24 inches. The barn had no electricity and the available lighting gave poor visibility. The ambient temperature inside was 96 degrees, and the heat index was 102. The dynamite was very old and in a very unstable deteriorating state. The dynamite was removed stick by stick for a total of seventy-five sticks which were manually moved to a safe location and destroyed without incident.
Due to the extreme temperature and the threat of heat stroke this became an extremely difficult and dangerous task. The combination of the confined space in addition to the heat did not allow the use of a bomb suit during this operation leaving First Sergeant Oeth to work with little personal protective equipment. First Sergeant Oeth’s attention to detail and extreme focus during this detail exemplified his technical proficiency while providing this hazardous public service.
Oeth attended the Redstone Arsenal Hazardous Devices School in Huntsville, Alabama in 2007 and in addition to the laboratory duties he served the southwest area of Indiana as a Hazardous Device Technician (Bomb Squad) with the State Police until his retirement in December, 2010.
Retired First Sergeant Oeth served 28 years with the Indiana State Police retiring as the South Zone Field Supervisor for the Laboratory Division. Oeth is currently the Posey County Sheriff and will begin his second term in January.
Sheriff Oeth resides in Mt. Vernon with his wife and family.
Photo: Left to right- Superintendent Doug Carter, Greg Oeth and Colonel Mark French
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