News Photo by Reagan Voetberg New Michigan State Police Alpena Post Trooper Ryan Erxleben stands by a patrol car on Tuesday.

ALPENA — A new state trooper was assigned to the Michigan State Police Alpena Post after graduating from the 148th Trooper recruit school at the end of May.

Trooper Ryan Erxleben started at the Alpena post a month ago, and so far, he’s enjoying the work.

“Thus far it hasn’t felt like coming to work is a job,” he said.

Before becoming a trooper, Erxleben operated a golf instruction company downstate in Brighton for around a decade. He lived in Jackson during that time and met his wife there. Erxleben moved to Alpena last June and started trooper recruit school in January.

He does not have a background in law enforcement, he said, but a positive experience with an MSP trooper as a child sparked his interest in being a law enforcement officer.

“I had a situation where MSP came to my house,” Erxleben said. “Essentially somebody was kind of harassing me, so to speak. I just remember him showing up with his car, his boots were super shined, uniform looked super crispy, and he was just super helpful, and I just felt safe when he was around.”

When he was younger, Erxleben wanted to go into the military or law enforcement, but his circumstances did not let him do that at the time. Now, he has achieved that goal.

Erxleben said that his wife and he wanted to move up north because his family is from the northwest side of the state.

Erxleben described training as “intense.” During recruit school, he learned everything from the legal side of things, to firearm training, first aid, and patrol scenarios.

As a golf instructor, Erxleben enjoyed being able to help and serve others.

“When you take the role of a coach, it’s amazing what people, when they feel comfortable with you, they’ll open up about anything and everything,” he said. “So I felt like I was able to do that there and then to be able to take that a step further into law enforcement was essentially why I wanted to do it.”

Erxleben said he decided to join the MSP over other law enforcement agencies partially because of his experience with them as a kid. He also has friends in the MSP that had, in his words, nothing but good things to say.

Erxleben talked about the different roles that he could hold in the MSP as well. While he is starting as a patrol trooper, there are a variety of avenues he could take in the future, like working with K-9s or being on the dive team.

Some of the challenges he’s faced while learning the ropes include just getting used to the area. The Alpena post covers five counties, so he is still learning the fastest routes to get places.

Erxleben also said that learning what to do in different situations can be challenging, especially when something changes unexpectedly and he has to adjust strategies quickly.

“It’s not recruit school anymore,” he said. “It’s real life.”

The other troopers at the post have been very welcoming, he said, but they don’t hesitate to put him in his place if he’s wrong.

Erxleben likes being on the road patrolling with a partner and just talking with them.

Outside of work, Erxleben and his wife have three dogs and 24 chickens that they take care of. He enjoys bird hunting, bow hunting, fly fishing, and all things outdoors, which is a big reason why he wanted to move to northern Michigan. He is also into CrossFit.

“I’m very excited to be able to help people,” Erxleben said.

Reagan Voetberg can be reached at 989-358-5683 or rvoetberg@TheAlpenaNews.com.