From Ovando to the Air Force and back again

OVANDO – Jon Krutar's story begins and ends in Ovando with a 28-year military career in the middle.

Growing up in Ovando, Krutar attended a one-room schoolhouse with a fluctuating attendance of between five and nine students for all eight grades. He went to Powell County High School in Deer Lodge where he was a four-year letterman in football, basketball and track. His athletic abilities earned him a track scholarship to the University of Montana where he was one of the university's top hurdlers.

According to Krutar, in the 1960s the university required two years of ROTC. His process for deciding which military branch to join was simple.

He said, "In order to get in the Air Force you had to take an exam. I thought, well it must be better then. So I took the exam. I passed, so I went in the Air Force."

Krutar's college focus was as much on academics as it was on athletics. Upon graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics and accounting he was offered five fellowships for advanced study. He chose to go to Michigan State University where he earned a master's degree in economics in 1966.

Because he had completed a flight program, the Air Force initially considered Krutar "pilot qualified." However, when he entered active duty, his physical revealed he was color blind. That automatically disqualified him from being a pilot. He was directed instead towards computers and sent to Pope Air Force Base in Fayetteville, N.C.

In the 1960s and early 1970s, there was no such thing as a personal computer. Computers were huge machines which filled large rooms. They were programmed by punching holes into stiff paper cards and feeding them to the machines. Krutar was in charge of the computers on base and eventually responsible for converting the units from punch cards to tape reels.

Krutar said, "That was pretty novel back then."

Just being in North Carolina was also a novel experience for a boy from a one-room schoolhouse in Ovando. Even at the University of Montana, he said there were few blacks and only one on the track team. Krutar said he found it intriguing to learn about people from various parts of the country. He valued the opportunity the Air Force gave him to experience different lifestyles and attitudes.

Krutar took several computer courses in Texas and he and his wife Diane always opted to drive across country so they could travel through different states and meet the people there. They also took advantage of space-available flights to go for short trips, one year to Spain and another to Brazil.

While at Pope AFB, Krutar said a reserve officer working for him, who was also working for IBM, tried to convince him to get out of the service and go to work for IBM. Krutar, however, had started teaching part time at North Carolina State and found he really enjoyed it, so he applied to teach at the Air Force Academy instead. He taught economics at the Academy for four years.

"By then," Krutar said, "The roots of Montana were calling pretty hard, so I bailed."

When he left active duty, Krutar went to work for the governor's office in Montana. Initially he did economic forecasting and later was responsible for all the educational budgets for Governor Thomas Lee Judge. After about three years he got a teaching position at Carroll College in Helena, where he subsequently taught economics and accounting for 20 years.

Krutar said, "I enjoyed teaching. I enjoyed helping young people find their way in life."

Aside from the satisfaction teaching brought, Krutar also found the arrangement convenient because it allowed him to help his father at his Ovando ranch. Krutar especially valued the opportunity to raise his two sons on the ranch where they all worked in the summers.

In addition to teaching, Krutar joined the Air Guard at Great Falls and continued his military service. When his father died in 1986, Krutar and his family took over the ranch.

Retired from teaching and the military, Krutar has truly returned to his roots in Ovando. The ranch now includes a vacation lodge and continues to keep him in touch with a wide variety of people from all different lifestyles.