Rutledge Well Drilling and Pump Service, Inc. is a family-owned business started in 1979 by army veteran Mike Rutledge. The same dedication to country he exhibited in 1973 when he voluntarily joined the military during the Vietnam War has carried over to his company. Based in Atlanta, Indiana, Mike and his sons serve customers in communities located in Howard and Hamilton counties. “Michael L. Rutledge graduated from Hamilton Heights High School in 1971,” says Beth Rutledge, Mike’s wife. “As most high school graduates, the options were to go to work, mainly in a factory, or attend college. Mike chose to attend Vincennes University and study aviation. That career did not take off the ground. Uncertain of his future, Mike decided to join the United States Army in 1973. The Vietnam War was raging overseas and was also causing rage here in the United States. He believed it was his patriotic duty to defend his country, its people and the freedom of the American way.” Mike completed his basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and was then sent to Texas for advance training in air artillery. For the duration of his service, he was stationed in Wackernheim, Germany, where he was a crewman on an air defense tank. Since there were only four positions on the tank, he was both a driver and a gunner. He was honorably discharged in September of 1978 after achieving the rank of Specialist 4th Class. “It was then time for Mike to re-enter the workforce,” Beth says. “For a short time, he worked side by side with his dad, Leon ‘Shorty’ Rutledge, in the family plumbing business until his dad became too ill to continue working. Mike obtained a job at Central Supply, a plumbing wholesale house in Indianapolis. It was here that he was introduced to the well-drilling business. At the time we were newly married and starting a business with nothing in our pockets. We became creative and were able to buy an old sputter hammer rig. This was a slow and tedious process of pounding the steel pipe into the ground at a snail’s pace. However, it served us well.” Later, with a goal to become more efficient and less labor intensive, Mike was able to find an old rotary well-drilling rig in southern Indiana. After many years of good, and sometimes bad experiences with that rig, he was able to finally secure a carousel rig where the lifting of heavy rods is minimal. Mike has always involved his sons in the family business, even from a young age.