User:Michael.gruber173

Michael James Gruber (April 18, 1990 - ) was an American statesman, Christian minister, chaplain, and writer who served as the ... from ... to .... A member of the Republican Party, he also served as ... from ... to ... under ..., and in various other federal positions prior to that.

Gruber was born and raised in St. Cloud, Minnesota. After serving on active duty as a paratrooper in the United States Army during the War in Afghanistan, he returned to Minnesota and became an ordained minister, where he began a career as a chaplain for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Early life and military service (1990–2019)
Michael James Gruber was born on April 18, 1990 in St. Cloud, Minnesota. He was the son of James Gruber, a telephone lineman and utility worker, and Karen (Hesse) Gruber, a certified public accountant. Both his patrilineal and matrilineal lines trace back to German Catholic immigrants who settled in central Minnesota between the 1850s and 1870s. Gruber spent his childhood in central Minnesota, and he attended Technical High School in St. Cloud from 2004 to 2008.

War in Afghanistan
After graduating from Technical High School, Gruber enlisted in the United States Army as a forward observer. After a period of training, including graduating the United States Army Airborne School, he was assigned to A Troop, 1st Squadron (Airborne), 91st Cavalry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade in Schweinfurt, Germany, reporting in January 2009. Gruber deployed to Logar Province, Afghanistan in November 2009 before returning to Schweinfurt in November 2010. He was then reassigned to B Company, 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, North Carolina in February 2011. He again deployed to Afghanistan in May 2011, this time to Faryab Province, before returning to Fort Bragg in March 2012.

Gruber was regularly engaged in combat during both of his deployments, conducting numerous foot patrols and coordinating fire support assets such as artillery, mortars, and close air support. By the end of his service, he had reached the rank of sergeant, performed 15 static line jumps, and was also the graduate of numerous schools, such as the long range marksmanship course and the joint fires observer course. Gruber was honorably discharged in January 2013, and he returned to Minnesota.

Gruber's experiences in the Army shaped him profoundly, leading him to say that it was the "most definitive and important period" of his life.

Marriage
Gruber met Sarah Heins in St. Cloud after attending a Minnesota Twins baseball game in April 2012 while he was on leave. They maintained a long-distance relationship while Gruber served the remainder of his Army contract in Fort Bragg. After he was discharged and returned to Minnesota, they became engaged in September 2013. They married in May 2014 and had three children.

College and seminary years
After his military service, Gruber used his G.I. Bill to enroll at Crown College in Saint Bonifacius, Minnesota, a small Christian liberal arts college affiliated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance. He graduated summa cum laude in 2016 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in biblical and theological studies. Immediately after, he attended Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Hamilton, Massachusetts and graduated cum laude with a Master of Divinity degree in 2019. Two of the Grubers' children, Roland and Henry, were born in Massachusetts while he was attending the seminary.

Gruber credits Christianity as helping him reintegrate into civilian life after his military service, and spoke highly of his time at both institutions. Gruber was theologically Calvinist.

Federal service (2019–present)
After graduating from Gordon-Conwell, Gruber moved his young family back to central Minnesota, and began a clinical pastoral education residency at the St. Cloud VA Health Care System in October 2019. He was then ordained as a minister by Converge, a Baptist denomination, in August 2020. He was appointed as a full-time chaplain at the St. Cloud VA in December 2020. Gruber also continued his education, attending Saint John's School of Theology and Seminary in January 2022, and he received a Master of Theology degree in 2024. The Grubers' third son, David, was also born in St. Cloud in February 2024.

Military awards
Gruber was awarded the following awards and decorations during his military service: