Doug Ehrhardt's Story
Douglas (Doug) Ehrhardt was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Robert A. Ehrhardt and Nelly Mae (Sue) née Marshall Ehrhardt. Doug’s father was employed as a salesman for Monsanto, an agrochemical company in St. Louis. When Doug was ten years old, his father died of a brain hemorrhage. His mother was a trained nurse, but due to severe asthma never worked for any length in the profession. Doug provided care for his mother in her last years, moving her from St. Louis to Jacksonville, Florida, where he was stationed. She died in 1974. Doug was the youngest in the family with an older sister, Judith Diane née Ehrhardt DiBauda and an older brother, Robert Ehrhardt.
Doug’s family was very proud of him, as he was the first to serve. He joined the Navy in 1969 while attending college, since he was #74 in the Army’s draft lottery. Prior to serving, Doug attended the University of Missouri, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture and a Master’s Degree in Entomology. This provided him the qualifications needed for his direct commission as an entomologist in the Medical Service Corps. Doug also attended Oklahoma State University on out-service training from the Navy for a PhD in Medical Entomology. Prior to leaving the service, Doug used his GI Bill to attend Hood College in Maryland, where he obtained a Master’s Degree in Business Management.
"On entering the service via enlisting in the Navy to preclude being drafted in the Army, I was part of a special recruiting initiative in St. Louis. The Recruiting Station I St. Louis, recruiting 75 enlistees, was sponsored by the St. Louis Cardinals. We carried a flag identifying our company as the Cardinal Company and took the oath of office on the field of a ball game during the 7th inning."
Doug entered the service immediately after completing his first master’s degree. His original plan was to get out after three years and then to pursue jobs in his career field. Instead Doug remained in the Navy for 30 years, serving the first eighteen years in operational preventive medicine and the last twelve years in research support billets.
"I introduced a peer of mine from OSU to the Navy who joined and remained in the Medical Service Corps for 24 years and now is retired in Fleetwood, where my family lives, and we continue to have good memories of our service time together," he said.
"I was commissioned as a Lieutenant Junior Grade, advanced to Lieutenant in one year. Promoted to Lieutenant Commander after six years, Commander in five years and finally Captain in year eighteen of my career. I retired as a Captain after 30 years."
As a medical service corps officer, Doug was fortunate that his wife was able to accompany him throughout his career. All three of their children were born in military hospitals.
Doug reflects:
"After being selected for out-service training on my PhD at the Oklahoma State University I did research on the reproductive biology of horse flies. I was also involved in a study on acaricide [for use on] mites at the University of Missouri.
"In both cases this work was very enjoyable, as the research was both cutting edge and made me think I was helping to pursue control measures against biting, and potentially, disease producing insects. One uncomfortable result while doing some chromatography under black light resulted in an eye injury, but luckily it was not long term.
"There was a professor in my PhD program at OSU that was very challenging…He taught numerous courses on insect taxonomy, both adult and larval, and made the learning about all manner of species a memorable one."
"My military lifestyle was essentially no different from a civilian job, as I went to work each day to support operational preventive medicine or research and development management.
"My family always accompanied me in my duty assignments, with the exception of a 6-month deployment as a Preventive Medicine Team leader with MSSG 2-2 to Beirut, Lebanon, in 1983 in support of the Marines."
Doug left the service in the DC area and immediately went to work as a contract employee of the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for Military Medicine as part of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD, supporting the Military and Emergency Medicine department. He initially was employed as a Special Projects Officer, later as deputy, and lastly as the Acting Director of the Center for Disaster and Humanitarian Assistance Medicine.
Doug is a long-time member of the Military Officers Association of America. He has served as the President of the local MOAA chapter in West Jefferson, the New River Chapter, and was the 2016-17 President of the State Council of MOAA.
When considering how the military affected his life, Doug says, "I can honestly state that being a professional entomologist in the Navy and later as a staff/senior management officer/director of my post-Navy work, helped in my career path for the duration. I learned professionalism, leadership, and personal management."