Photo By Spc. Stephen San Jose | Chief Warrant Officer 5 Jeff Burkhardt retires from the Washington Army National Guard...... read more read more
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Jeff Burkhardt is rarely seen without a smile on his face.
“Even on deployment, I was asked, ‘Jeff, why are you always smiling?’ And I said I don’t want to not be smiling, because then you aren’t having a good day,” said Chief Warrant Officer Five (Ret) Jeff Burkhardt, an electronic maintenance technician with 96th Aviation Troop Command. “You always need to make the best of the situation.”
His smile and laid-back persona might come from his upbringing as a surfing kid from the beaches of Southern California and Hawaii. It might come from his love of classic cars or the fact he had the chance to live out a childhood dream for more than 40 years.
“My mom took myself, my brother and sister on a trip to San Francisco and I wanted to go on the helicopter ride. They had a tour above San Quinton and I got hooked,” said Burkhardt.
After graduating from high school in 1979, Burkhardt started working construction in the area. His brother had just returned from the U.S. Navy and the two were working on a site together when he saw a helicopter fly by.
“We were putting up joists on a five floor building and I said to him, I am thinking about going to flight school but it is expensive and I had to figure out the finances,” said Burkhardt. “He said, ‘well you know the Army has more planes and ships than the Navy, you should look into the Army.’”
On the drive home Burkhardt stopped by a recruiting office to gather information and later joined the Army in the delayed entry program as a 67Y, Cobra Mechanic Crew.
“I was told that all warrant officer pilots start out enlisted, so I thought a 67Y was a good path. Unfortunately that was the wrong MOS to be a pilot, I should have been a cook,” said Burkhardt.
At the time Cobra Mechanic was a critically short military occupation specialist position, and he could not get out of it and could not go to flight school.
“I applied for flight school like six times and I was always told no because I was in a critically short MOS,” said Burkhardt. “I said well then I will switch jobs, and I was always told I couldn’t because I was in a critically short MOS.”
After his initial training, Burkhardt was stationed in Germany, which he describes as awesome.
“It was on an old German World War II airfield, the facilities we all converted warehouses and the houses were Bavarian,” said Burkhardt. “It was fun. (I was) just there a year and a half but it was fun.”
His next move would be his last as he was stationed at Fort Lewis.
“I had classic cars and the Army will only pay for your household goods and one car, so I decided it was easier to stay here,” said Burkhardt. “I think last count I have owned about 87 cars in my life time but I love anything on wheels.”
On Nov. 21, 1986, Burkhardt enlisted in the Navy as an engine mechanic for a P-3 Orion at Whidbey Island. After just two years in the Navy he knew he still wanted to fly. It was a conversation with a Navy Warrant Officer telling him that he needed to come back to the Army to fly.
“Here is another Navy guy telling me I need to be in the Army so I can fly,” said Burkhardt.
So in 1988 he joined the Washington Army National Guard 1st Battalion, 116th Aviation Company. He also started his career as a federal technician at the Army Aviation Sustainment Facility working on the Cobra Helicopter.
As time went on Burkhardt knew he was running out of time to attend flight school, which had an age cut off of 26 years old. But he was still determined to become a warrant officer.
“I was fortunate enough to be in a position that could either be enlisted or warrant, so I was able to go to warrant officer school and not lose my job,” said Burkhardt.
On Nov. 5, 1997, he was appointed as an Aviation Maintenance Technician, where he has spent the past 24 years in various roles at the flight facility helping ensure the Washington Army National Guard’s aviation platforms continued to perform effectively during state emergencies and deployments.
“I can’t tell you how many times I sought his guidance on the best way to tackle a particular issue. Jeff was always forthright and honest, whether I liked the message or not,” said Brig. Gen. (Ret) Wallace Turner in a message during Burkhardt’s retirement ceremony. “He was calm in the midst of crisis, and one of the professionals I leaned on for years.”
In 2011 Burkhardt was asked by then Maj. Will Johnston, State Partnership Program director, if he would be interested in taking over the aviation program with Thailand.
“I had the chance to go to Thailand two times a year until January 2020, which was my last trip,” said Burkhardt. “We helped transform their program, got them newer aircrafts, better maintenance and helped change their mind set.”
As he leaves the “best job I could have ever had,” Burkhardt believes that it is the people that he will miss the most because they are the ones that make this place so great.
“It’s the relationships, the friendships and the stories. That is what I will miss the most,” said Burkhardt. “I have had some fun.”
| Date Taken: | 03.05.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 03.18.2022 13:57 |
| Story ID: | 416747 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, WA, US |
| Web Views: | 100 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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