Former Pocatello Police Deputy Chief James McCoy, who retired in August, says joining the Army definitely helped prepare him for a successful career in law enforcement.

“Serving in the military, especially in the Military Police Corps, instills a lot of not only discipline, but also the ability to think and understand complex situations and to analyze on the go,” McCoy said.

McCoy joined the U.S. Army in 1978 while in high school as part of the Delayed Entry Program, or DEP, which is a popular entry option which lets soldiers join the Army right on the spot and then ship out several weeks or months later. He reported for active duty in 1979 after completing basic and advanced individual training at Fort McClellan in Alabama. 

“From there, I went to Fort Ord in California for a couple years, spent a few weeks in Panama and then spent some time in Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, to help with the Cuban refugee relocation,” McCoy said. “From there I went to Germany and when I got back I was stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia. While in Georgia I went to Central America around Honduras for six months.”

McCoy then went back to Germany and served with the Belgian Air Force for almost three years before returning to Fort McClellan where he taught SWAT and Special Reaction Team, or SRT, training courses.

“I trained SWAT teams across the United States,” he said. “When I was working in the SRT program we were part of a counter narcotics training task force that the government was running and we trained civilian police departments all across the country as well as the FBI and the ATF.”

McCoy continued, “I spent some time in Korea where I was the battalion SWAT coordinator,” he said. “Again I went back to Fort McClellan teaching leadership courses. Eventually I ended up in a recruitment position and that’s how I made it to Pocatello.”

Born in Arlington Heights, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, McCoy said he always knew he wanted to serve. His father and his mother’s six brothers all served in World War II. Each returned home, he said.

“Growing up I was always surrounded by very patriotic families,” McCoy said. “It was only natural that I joined myself one day.”

Collectively, McCoy spent 18 years, nine months and 25 days in the military, he said, adding that he was able to retire early thanks to a military drawdown in the 1990s when Bill Clinton was president. He moved up the ranks from a one-stripe private up to a Sergeant First Class (E-7).

McCoy says the best part about serving in the military was definitely parachuting.

“It was pretty great being airborne and jumping out of perfectly good airplanes,” he said. “I only had 10 jumps in total. I did five jumps through school and then when I was in Central America, we jumped with the Honduran military out of World War II C-47 Skytrains, that was pretty cool. I did five different jumps in one day while in Central America.”

McCoy said he dealt with a lot of physical security work while overseas, targeting special weapons, training U.S. soldiers and working with the Belgian Air Force.

"They held the missiles and we held the warheads so we worked closely with them,” McCoy said. “I actually ate lunch with the king of Belgium. We ate steamed mussels and drank lots of wine.”

After retiring from the military in January 1998, McCoy joined the Pocatello Police Department in July that same year. He said his time overseas definitely helped prepare him to be a good cop. 

“I grew up in the Chicago area, but it doesn't matter where you grow up, you're going to meet people from all over the United States and the U.S. territories such as Guam and Puerto Rico,” he said. “You’re going to have to deal with different cultures and different people on a daily basis. Serving in the military gives you a wider viewpoint of the world and that is definitely something you need to have as a police officer.”

After joining the police department as a patrolman, McCoy would go on to serve as a bike officer, detective, patrol division sergeant and lieutenant as well as captain of investigations before becoming deputy chief in 2019. In an August ceremony, McCoy was honored by the city, the police department and the community for his many years of service.

He says any person considering to join the military should do so, but offered some advice for those looking to enlist.

“I would tell any person looking to enlist to definitely join the branch of military they felt would serve them the best and where they could make the biggest impact,” McCoy said. “Most of all they need to challenge themselves and realize that they can do a lot more than they ever thought they were capable of.”