(FORT WAYNE) – At a recent awards ceremony held on December 6th at the Indiana State Police Museum in Indianapolis, ISP Superintendent Douglas G. Carter presented milestone service awards for two Fort Wayne troopers.
Major Anthony Casto and Master Trooper Aaron Cook both received recognition for having reached 25 years of honorable service with the Indiana State Police.
Both men are classmates of the 51st Indiana State Police Recruit Academy which graduated back on December 4, 1994.
Major Anthony Casto –
Currently assigned as the North Zone Commander, Major Casto has command oversight of the day-to-day operations and personnel in the six northern Indiana State Police Districts, a position which he has held for the last year. Prior to this current assignment, Casto has held several other command positions, to include the Area II Commander, District Commander for the Fort Wayne Post, and Squad Sergeant for the Fort Wayne Post. Casto is a 2017 graduate of the FBI National Academy 267th Session, and also a 2014 graduate of the IMPD Leadership Academy Session 2014-02. Other notable assignments have included service as a K-9 Handler with the Fort Wayne Post’s Drug Interdiction Team from 1998-2003, a scuba diver with Underwater Search & Rescue Team II, and he also served with the Motorcycle Patrol. Casto is a 1986 graduate of LaPorte High School, and a 1990 graduate of Indiana State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Secondary Education. Prior to joining the Indiana State Police, Casto was a high school educator and also a coach for both boys and girls basketball and volleyball at Homestead High School from 1990-93, and Whitko High School from 1993-94.
Master Trooper Aaron Cook –
Currently assigned as part of the Fort Wayne District’s All Crimes Policing (ACP) Squad, Cook primarily patrols Whitley and Allen Counties diligently focused on highway criminal interdiction efforts. Prior to this current assignment, Cook served for five years as a Squad Sergeant for the Fort Wayne Post, responsible for the leadership and supervision of troopers assigned to Whitley and Huntington Counties. He served as a member of the District’s Drug Interdiction Team from 1998-2003 and has been a member of the department’s Tactical Intervention Platoon. As a testament to Master Trooper Cook’s tenacious work ethic and dedication to duty, he has been notably awarded several times over the course of his 25-year tenure. In 2004 he was awarded the department’s second-highest medal of valor, the Silver Star Award, as a result of his life-saving actions that rescued a driver from a crashed and burning vehicle in Whitley County. In 2009 he was awarded the department’s Combat Action Award for heroic and exemplary action taken to protect himself and a fellow trooper while in the midst of a gunfight in rural Huntington County. In 2017, he was named as the Trooper of the Year for the Fort Wayne Post as related to his productive enforcement and interdiction patrols. Cook is a 1989 graduate of Columbia City, and a lifelong resident of Whitley County.
On behalf of Indiana State Police Superintendent Douglas G. Carter, we would thank these troopers for their unparalleled dedication and service to the citizens of Indiana and the Indiana State Police over the last 25 years.
