Recently stepping into the new role as Fire Support Coordinator for the 45th Artillery Brigade, Captain Cody Dupler, of the Oklahoma Army National Guard, understands the importance of leadership on a greater scale.
“For me, as Battery Commander for B Battery 1-158 FA, every day I was in front of soldiers and would lead them,” said Dupler. “Now, building operation orders and training plans, which is great, and necessary, I’m involved more with operations and training tools.”
Coming off of his two- week training exercises with the Oklahoma Army National Guard, Dupler switches professional roles to promote the reliability and efficiency of natural gas to existing and potential CenterPoint Energy clients.
“A senior marketing consultant doesn’t do a lot of marketing at all,” said Dupler. “It’s a lot of relationship building and business development to seek potential clients’ interests and promote natural gas into any projects they may have because there’s a big drive by CenterPoint to push the energy efficiency of natural gas.”
CenterPoint Energy provides natural gas to more than 4.5 million homes and businesses across Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas. Locally, Dupler has helped CenterPoint cultivate working relationships with Goodyear, Cameron University and the City of Lawton as well as many others.
“Some of my CenterPoint counterparts live in Little Rock and Minneapolis,” he said. “The biggest city that we serve in southwest Oklahoma is Lawton. What’s nice is that when I’m talking to the City of Lawton, I get to talk to the mayor, the city manager and the community relations director. I’ve been able to build great working relationships with them which makes my job so much easier as opposed to if I was in Oklahoma City, Houston or Little Rock. It would take me so long to go out and try to build that kind of relationship.”
Dupler shows great admiration toward his mother for instilling in him a strong work ethic and sense of accountability. As the eldest sibling in a single-parent home, Dupler helped his mother raise his younger brothers and sisters, instilling a sense of respect for hard work and responsibility, he said. He began working in wheat fields, mowing lawns and worked at a local grocery store to help his mother provide for he and his siblings.
“Mom wanted to get us everything, but the circumstances at that time, she just wasn’t able,” he said. “It was an opportunity for me to help out, so I started working when I was young.
“There were a lot of evenings where I was in charge, so I just adjusted my schedule to work with Mom’s and vice versa. I feel like that really helped mold me into what I am today.”
Being an avid OU Sooners fan, Dupler, who was class president of the 38-student Class of 2002 at Carnegie High School, earned a full ride to the Univer- sity of Oklahoma, the first in his family to go to college. Fulfilling a promise to his mother to attend college for four years, Dupler enlisted in the National Guard in 2006.
“Mom wouldn’t allow me (to enlist before graduation), I was underage. After college, I went through Basic at Fort Leonard Wood, then AIT (Advanced Individual Training) as an enlisted soldier at Fort Sill and then got to come back and do OCS (Officer Candidate School) at Fort Sill as well.”
During his first semester at OU, he worked a full-time job and managed a 21-hour class schedule. Admitting it was more challenging than anticipated, and missing being closer to his hometown, he transferred to Southwestern Oklahoma State University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in History.
As an undergrad, Dupler enlisted in the Oklahoma Army National Guard, graduated Basic Training and Officer Candidate School. He then began pursuing his Master of Science in Marketing/Marketing Management. He then taught military history courses and oversaw the ROTC program at the University of Wyoming. Shortly before starting with CenterPoint Energy, he was part of the recruitment team for Cameron University’s ROTC program.
After OCS, Dupler volunteered to support missions in Iraq from 2009-2010, then Kuwait in 2011-2012. “I didn’t want to lead soldiers who had been deployed and not be able to understand what they had gone through,” he said. “Pretty much all of 2009 through 2012 were spent overseas.”
“They talk about the brotherhood and sisterhood, that’s absolutely what it is in the military. You’ve got people who sweat with you and bleed with you, and you’re waking up at 4 o’clock to go run with them, and then you’re there at 10 o’clock at night to eat pizza with them... a lot of just turn into family.”
Locally, Dupler’s role with CenterPoint allows him to cre- ate partnerships throughout the community. “Even though I’m a marketing consultant, it’s
more about business development in sales and community relations, that has afforded me to do so much with several boards and committees.”
Dupler, a graduate of Leadership Lawton Class 30, serves on the board for United Way of Southwest Oklahoma and is part of the Lawton Proud Committee. He previously served on the boards for the Association of the United States Army Fires Chapter, Young Professionals of Lawton, Lawton-Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce, and was treasurer for Habitat for Humanity of Lawton-Fort Sill.
“I’m not someone who brags on my accomplishments, but I’m really proud to have been named CenterPoint Energy’s Volunteer of the Year for 2019.”
At home, Dupler and fiancé, Danae Madden, have set their wedding date for late September.
“Our family spends the majority of our free time on Fort Cobb Lake,” said Dupler. “It’s a place near and dear to my heart because my grandparents had a cabin there when I was growing up. We also spend a lot of time with friends in our own backyard because it backs up right to Mount Scott, so we get to see all the beauty southwest Oklahoma has to offer.”
Looking ahead, Dupler believes a lot of positive things could happen for southwest Oklahoma. He believes his children will see the region grow into the perfect place for their families as well.
“I’ve had the opportunity to accept positions elsewhere and I’ve never taken them just because I love the people and the communities here,” concluded Dupler. “But in order for us to grow, we’ve got to build relationships. Those relationships are what will strengthen southwest Oklahoma.”