By Howard Greninger
TERRE HAUTE — Terre Haute Police Chief John Plasse is being deployed with the Indiana Army National Guard for a second time to Afghanistan. His last day on the job prior to deployment is June 11.
His position will be filled by Mark Eldred, current chief of operations for the police department. Plasse said he discussed his replacement with and received approval from Mayor Duke Bennett.
Plasse said he “initially told the mayor I was being deployed in early February. He asked me who I think should run the department, and Mark Eldred was my first choice. Mark has 19 years on the job. I think Mark is the most trustworthy person on the department that I know. He puts the department first in everything he does,” Plasse said.
Bennett on Friday said Eldred will serve as acting police chief, and Eldred will return to his previous position when Plasse returns. Bennett said Plasse will use “whatever time he has, such as vacation, then he will run out at some point, then he goes on unpaid leave of absence from that point on.”
The mayor said he plans to meet next week with Plasse and Eldred to work out logistics, such as any possible changes of pay for the acting chief.
Plasse’s official first day of deployment is July 9; however, he has two weeks of training in mid-June and then has a week off before being deployed. Plasse said he intends to take a week of vacation with his family.
His first deployment to Afghanistan was from February 2006 to February 2007. His new orders call for a deployment of 400 days, but Plasse said he is not sure how long his deployment could actually last.
“I know the people we are replacing will have been there 15 months,” he said.
“The unknown is not there as much as in the first time since I have been there before, but I am going to a different place. I know they need our support there to get their army and police together to protect the people,” he said.
“The [U.S.] Army really trains you well before you go, to make sure you have the knowledge and tools to be successful,” Plasse said.
Plasse, 45, holds the rank of master sergeant in the Army. He will have 26 years of military service in October. He will be among 30,000 new troops being sent to Afghanistan. Plasse along with other members of the 38th Infantry Special Troops Battalion will be deployed from Camp Atterbury.
Plasse said he will use the Internet and Web cameras to stay in touch with his family, an advance in technology other veterans of wars did not have. “Leaving your family is the toughest part, but it is nice to be able to talk to them and see them, even though you are a half a world away,” he said.
He also can respond to any police department issues, if needed, within 24 hours via e-mail, he said.
“I think about our country and all the freedoms we have and all the people before who fought and kept us free,” Plasse said. “To me, this isn’t a sacrifice, it is something that needed to happen. I am no different than anybody else going over there. People have to do a job and try to keep our country free from attacks from other people. We have to do this, I think, or we open ourselves up for more 9/11s.”
Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com.
