Colonel John Starzyk retires

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Zachary L. Anderson
  • Fourth Air Force Public Affairs
MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, CALIF. --  When (Colonel) John Starzyk walked into the Air Force recruitment office in 1971, he wasn't planning on sticking around for thirty-eight years. In fact, the then-eighteen-year-old didn't see the Air Force so much as a career opportunity as much as simply his best option at the time. 

"I had just graduated from high school. The Vietnam War was going on. I had a pretty low draft number so I knew my chances of getting drafted were pretty high," said Colonel Starzyk, 4th Air Force Chief, Air Evacuations. "I wasn't a great student, so I wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of going to college. I thought about the Army, but I had done Army ROTC in high school and I didn't really like that. So, I decided to enlist in the Air Force." 

Basic Military Training (BMT) turned out to be the first of many challenges in Colonel Starzyk's career. Upon his arrival at BMT in June 1971, he was assigned to the Medical Remedial Enlistment Program (MREP) until he could meet the Air Force's weight requirements. The MREP program meant more weeks spent in training, multiple rigorous daily exercise sessions, and a severely restricted diet. However, rather than becoming discouraged, then-trainee Starzyk pushed through the program and in three months earned the title of Airman. It was the beginning of what would be a history of overcoming disappointment and finding a means to succeed. 

In fact, discovering methods to triumph over adversity is virtually a theme of Colonel Starzyk's career. During his thirty-eight years of service, he has overcome an incredible array of challenges. He failed the Air Force Officer Qualification Course, yet continued to pursue his goal of becoming an officer through other means. Undeterred by his test scores, he earned an associate degree in nursing and obtained a reserve commission in the Nurse Corps in 1979. He continued his education and earned a baccalaureate degree in nursing in 1987. Later in his career, although disappointed at being twice passed over for major, he again pressed through adversity and finally earned the colonel rank on February 14, 2003. He now puts that experience into perspective. 

"If it hadn't have been for the pass overs, I wouldn't have become an Air Reserve Technician (ART). If I hadn't become an ART, I probably wouldn't have made colonel. So maybe sometimes it's better to be lucky than to be good. I've been lucky and I've also been very blessed. 

While he may credit his career achievements to "good luck," most of Colonel Starzyk's success can be attributed to following his own advice. 

"Don't give up. Do not give up. Everyone goes through bad times and everyone has challenges. How you get through them is the key." 

While he has seen many challenges in his career, Colonel Starzyk has definitely had his share of highlights as well. He has served on several deployments and has flown routine and urgent aeromedical evacuation missions to Alaska, Afghanistan, Antarctica, El Salvador, Germany, Panama and Puerto Rico. He was instrumental in standing up the Aircrew Initial Qualification Course (AIQ), which greatly reduced the amount of time it takes nurses and technicians to become qualified as basic air crew members. 

With the end of his military career at hand, Colonel Starzyk spoke fondly of his favorite moments. 

"There have been so many high points! When I was a staff sergeant I was NCOIC [non-commissioned-officer-in-charge] of special actions. That was a great job. Making staff sergeant in less than four years was a great experience. Getting my degree and my commission was a real high point in my life. Flying was great; being a line guy was great. There were so many experiences and all you had to do was fly. Get on the jet, 2009fly, take care of your patients ... and life was good!" 

He continued with a smile, "Other good things include returning from deployments. When you get back to the U-S of A, that's really cool. It's really uplifting." 

More than anything, Colonel Starzyk credits the support of his family and especially his wife, Sharon, as the key to his long and successful career. 

"If it wasn't for my wife and my family I couldn't have done this. I've made at least two good decisions in my life. One was joining the Air Force and the other was asking my wife to marry me. If it wasn't for her, trust me, I couldn't do this. If it wasn't for the family support I couldn't do any of it." 

Although his military career has ended, Colonel Starzyk will still be playing a key role in the aeromedical evacuation community. He will be taking a civilian position as the aeroevac liaison officer for 1st Air Force, Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. He said he is excited about the challenges of the new job. 

"My job is to work in the AMD (Air Mobility Division) and monitor aeromedical evacuations in the event of natural or man-made disasters. I get to keep my hand in aeroevac, which is fun, and I get to do some disaster management stuff which I personally enjoy. I'm looking forward to something else." 

While he is looking forward to the new position, Colonel Starzyk said there will be much he will miss about serving in the Air Force Reserve. 

"I'm going to miss the people. The people I work with are such a great group of individuals. What I mostly see in the Air Force are people who want to support the mission, people who have always said, 'What can I do to help you out? What can I do for you? Is there something I can help you with?'. I see so much of that and that's encouraging." 

With his retirement made official on July 1, Colonel Starzyk said he has no regrets about taking the oath of enlistment more than three decades ago. 

"It's been a great career. There have been mostly highs and a few lows, but I can't remember the lows as much as I remember the high points. It's been exciting and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I look back and think I've been lucky. A lot of stuff happened just because it did!"