At their annual meeting on September 19, members of the Georgia Association of Conservation Districts (GACD) elected Andrew Standard of Liberty County as GACD Group 4 vice-president, and Glenn Cook of Glynn County as GACD Group 4 alternate vice - president.
Standard was born on Fort Stewart.
His grandparents were landowners at Taylors Creek until the federal government relocated all civilians and farmers to Tattnall and surrounding counties. This was done to make the largest military base east of the Mississippi River {over a quarter of a million acres}.
Standard spent his early years in Germany where his dad was stationed. After that he returned to Liberty County to go to school and work the family farms in Tattnall County. His father did three tours in Vietnam and during that time he lived with both sets of grandparents, who were farmers.
To date, the family farms are still part of his life. Six hundred acres are part in planted pine and part in cultivation. Along with that, he has his own farm in Gum Branch in Liberty County, where he focuses on tree Farming, a small acreage of cultivation, and habitat for the deer and turkey. His early years on the row crop farms, primarily tobacco, peanuts, watermelons, and soybeans, gave him lifelong lessons about working hard. Those were the morals that were instilled through the early times and Standard still abides the words instilled by his parents and grandparents - take care of the land, take care of your fellow man, and they will take care of you.
In 1978, Glenn entered the U.S. Navy Aviation Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, Fla. The U.S. Navy designated him a naval aviator in 1980. Lt. Commander Cook flew the carrier-based S-3 Viking aboard the USS Eisenhower. Following active service, he served three years in the naval reserves at NAS Atlanta, attached to the USS Saratoga.
Delta Air Lines hired Cook in 1985, where he flew the B-727, DC-8, L-1011, B-737, MD 88, B-757, B-767, and the B-777. He held positions in management, training, and the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA) and served as a line check airman for almost 10 years.
During the first years of his airline career, Cook attended Atlanta Law School and passed the bar in 1992. Glenn received his undergraduate degree from Wake Forest University and a master of science in administration from Central Michigan University.
Cook is an active member of the Georgia Bar and admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court and the Department of Veterans Affairs and admitted and qualified before the Supreme Court of the United States. The Supreme Court of Georgia also certified Cook as a general and family law mediator.
Glenn is a member of the Royal Aeronautical Society, the Lawyer Pilots Bar Association (president 2016-2017), and the International Air and Transportation Safety Bar Association.
He was the past president of the Atlanta Wake Forest Alumni Club and an active member of the Wake Forest Alumni Council. He retired from the airlines in April 2020 and is now focusing on practicing law using cloud-based technologies.
In addition, the residents of Glynn County recently elected him to the Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission. Cook is a four-time Ironman and actively competes in triathlons around the world. Glenn is married to Wendy, and they live on Jekyll Island, with their dog Deac and two cats, Smoky and Rocky. Their son, Sam, is a Marine aviator flying an F-35 and lives with his wife, Kristen, in Iwakuni, Japan.
As Group 4 Vice-President and Alternate, Standard and Cook serve on the Board of Directors for GACD in representation of the 7 Soil and Water Conservation Districts spanning 42 counties across Southeast Georgia.
The mission of GACD is to advocate for the conservation of Georgia’s natural resources by providing organization, leadership and a unified strategic direction to the Conservation Districts of the state. For more information on GACD or to explore opportunities on how you can support its efforts, visit online at www. gacd.us or on Facebook @ GACDConserve.