Seth Oppelt

U.S. Army

Seth was born in Bozeman, Montana, while his parents attended Montana State University. Seth’s parents met in the Air Force and were both stationed in Montana. He spent summers as a child fly fishing the Yellow Stone, Gallatin, and Boulder rivers.

Seth enlisted in the Army right out of high school in 2002 on an Airborne Ranger Infantry four-year contract. He was later assigned to 2nd Infantry Division’s 3 brigade combat team Stryker Battalion. They were trained up and deployed the Army’s first Stryker infantry fighting vehicles. Seth served as a machine gunner, grenadier, and eventually a fireteam leader while in combat operations in Iraq from 2003-2004.

Seth was honorably discharged from the Army after completing his initial enlistment in June 2006. He spent the next couple of months preparing for the Border Patrol academy. The Border Patrol was a good transition for Seth because it kept him outdoors and every day was completely different from the prior shift. Seth was stationed in Nogales, Arizona, for 13 years where he enjoyed the Sonoran Desert and Archery Hunting the elusive Couse whitetail deer and the White Mountain elk herd. However, he didn’t realize how much he missed rivers and streams until he came up to WQW on an FX with his brother. Seth knew it was time for a change of duty location, so in 2019 he applied for a transfer to eastern Washington to work at the northern border and was accepted.

Seth and his beautiful and supportive wife Nichole live on a few heavy-timbered acres in the inland pacific northwest with their two dogs Gus and Chico. They like to spend time exploring local rivers and streams and share a passion for fly fishing.

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