My Park Story: Todd Grabow

Todd and his family take a photo in front of giant sequoia trees in Sequoia National Park.

Todd Grabow

My name is Todd Grabow and I am currently the Dispatch Supervisor and Physical Security Manager at Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Our main mission is to support the law enforcement division with dispatching operations. We dispatch for medical emergencies, traffic stops, missing persons, search and rescue, any type of wildland fire inside the park and we also manage a multitude of security cameras.

Todd and his two sons stand on the beach at Olympic National Park.

Tessa Grabow

I grew up near Twin Brooks, South Dakota which is a small town in the eastern part of the state. We were dairy farmers and needed to milk twice a day, so we were pretty tethered to the farm. We moved to the northern Black Hills when I was in 6th grade which is where I graduated high school and then I went right into the Army National Guard. Public service was in my family. My dad was a Vietnam veteran and my wife’s grandpa is a WWII veteran, so I always knew I was going to join the military. I thought it was going to be four years and get out and do the family thing, but I liked the structure and stability, so the bulk of my life has been involved with military. I retired fulltime from the National Guard where I held a variety of positions from a truck driver to rapelling out of helicopters to serving on the Civil Support team which is a Hazmat unit, to my last duty station serving as the senior noncommissioned officer in charge of the Officer Candidate Program in Fort Meade, SD.

Todd stands by a helicopter while serving on a fire assignment in Libby, Montana in August 2017.

Corey Lewis

After I retired in 2017 from the National Guard, I held various positions in other government agencies. I was a firefighter on the Black Hills Helitack crew down in Custer for two seasons. I was also a background investigator that did security clearance and background checks for the Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Department of Defense, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Bureau of Indian Affairs. It was a lot of travel and I really got burnt out on traveling which is what led me to Mount Rushmore. I was looking for something with less travel and closer to home. I can pretty much see the backside of Mount Rushmore from my house, and I have a lot of memorable moments at Mount Rushmore like coming here as a kid quite a bit, watching my daughter graduate high school here, and seeing many graduations for the Officer Candidate School for the National Guard. Mount Rushmore holds a special place in my heart. So, with my previous experience, I was able to get a dispatching job in November 2022.

The Grabow family takes a rest while on a hike next to a beautiful river in Glacier National Park.

Tessa Grabow

What I love about national parks is that they are publicly owned, and you don’t have to worry about crossing somebody’s fence or being on private property. It just takes the stress out of everything. It’s like, this is open. This is mine. This is ours. My family and I have been to almost all the national parks in the west. When we drove into Glacier, the Cascades, Tetons, or Redwoods, it was like stress relief! I don’t have to wonder if I can go here or go there. I just really enjoy the expansiveness and the freedom.

Something I love about my job is that no two days are ever the same and that I’m able to get outside. The administrative side of my job is probably my weakness. There are a lot of quirks with the hiring process, timekeeping, scheduling, etc. It is all a process and I do enjoy the challenge of it all. Still, to this day, when I park and walk up and see the morning sun hitting the sculpture, I’m like, “wow, I get to work here!”. My advice to new employees wherever they are is to seek mentorship early in your career especially those employees with high level experience in previous civilian or other government agencies. The NPS is unique in many ways and the processes and procedures are specific to the agency. Take the time to stop and take a breath and appreciate where you work. Realize and appreciate that you have the enormous and awesome duty to preserve the defining places and ideals of the United States.