The Red Bulls

Lt. Col. Lowell Kruse, currently deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as the deputy effects coordinator for 34th Red Bull Infantry Division, knows all about hard work.

The 1985 graduate of Grant Deul High School in Revillo, S.D., grew up on a dairy farm that operated from 50 to 70 dairy cows.

“We stayed very busy on the farm,” Kruse said. Kruse also stayed busy at school, where he was a member of National Honor Society, 4-H and the school basketball team.

After graduating high school, Kruse went to South Dakota State University in Brookings on a Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship, where he studied dairy science. He graduated with his Bachelor of Science degree in 1989. Kruse was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army National Guard upon graduation.

Kruse said he completed his officer basic course, then returned to the dairy farm to partner with his father, Lloyd, in running it. He became the lone owner and operator of the farm when his Lloyd retired in 1995. Kruse said the work was manageable, but it had to be managed.

“Our dairy farm was fairly automated,” Kruse said. “The only issue we had was to be there twice a day, every day, to make things happen.”

Kruse said this became problematic when he had to attend training with his National Guard unit.

“When I went to drill I had to have my wife work or hire labor to do the job for us,” Kruse recalled.

Kruse continued to juggle his duties with the farm and the National Guard until he sold his cows prior to deploying to Iraq in 2004, where he served in the Camp Taji Mayor’s Cell until his redeployment in December 2005.

Kruse is currently a full-time member of the Minnesota National Guard. He has been the deputy effects coordinator for 34th Inf. Div. since 2006. He has a lot to do in this job, too.

“Our job is to synchronize the elements of information operations,” Kruse said. “This includes public affairs, psychological operations, and civil military affairs operations. We support civil capacity here in Iraq.”

Kruse said civil capacity in Iraq consists of public infrastructure elements such as water, sewage, garbage disposal, schools and medical support. A current project is underway to encourage Iraqis to think more about things like recycling and proper trash disposal. “We are promoting messages on the advantages of having clean cities,” Kruse added.

Kruse and his wife Amy -- who is celebrating her birthday on Sept. 12th -- live with their two sons in Pierz, Minn. Jacob, 16, is a junior at Pierz High School and Connor is four. His mother, Leila, still lives on the old family farm in Revillo, S.D. He also has a brother, Lyle, who lives in Marysville, Ohio and a sister, LuAnn, who lives in Gary, S.D.