By Danielle Ray, Senior Reporter
Veterans Day will take on a whole new meaning this year for longtime town resident Patrick O’Connor, who retired from the Massachusetts Air National Guard as a Senior Master Sergeant in August after 36 years of service to his country.
O’Connor joined the National Guard in July 1985, the summer after his graduation from high school, following in the footsteps of his father, who was a radio operator and gunner on a B-17 over Europe during WWII who then joined the Massachusetts Air National Guard after the war for a total of 34 years.
“I mainly wanted to serve my country and my state, to do something more with my life than just a normal job,” O’Connor said of the inspiration behind his own military tenure. “The intelligence career field interested me greatly, and the college benefits were attractive but not my main reason for joining. Never thought I’d stay in 10 years, never mind 36-plus.”
O’Connor has lived in Sterling for many years with his wife and their two daughters. He was the Flight Chief for C Flight, the senior non-commissioned officer for one of three flights which are each comprised of approximately 20 non-commissioned officers and airmen who are part of the 267th Intelligence Squadron stationed at Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod.
He was deployed several times during his impressive military career. In 1995 he participated in Operation DELIBERATE FORCE while on annual training duty at Aviano Air Force Base in Italy in support of A-10 Thunderbolt II combat missions over Bosnia and Herzegovina, and was activated for Operation ALLIED FORCE in 1999, providing intelligence support for A-10 operations over Kosovo from bases in Sicily.
He deployed for Operation IRAQI FREEDOM in 2003 and supported close air support and combat search and rescue operations from multiple Southwest Asia bases and volunteered for two home station deployments from 2015 through 2017 supporting global intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance operations in support of both Operation ENDURING FREEDOM and Operation FREEDOM’S SENTINEL.
More recently he volunteered to be deployed to Washington, D.C. from March 13 to May 25 this year for Operation CAPITOL RESPONSE II along with 400 members of the MA National Guard. He said their focus was assisting U.S. Capitol Police on the House of Representatives side of the U.S. Capitol but was not limited to the house side.
“Several hundred Massachusetts National Guard members supported Operation CAPITOL RESPONSE II, which followed its support of the presidential inauguration CAPITOL RESPONSE I in January,” O’Connor said. “Civilian authorities requested the National Guard to continue supporting federal law enforcement agencies with security, communications, medical, evacuation, logistics, and safety support to state, district, and federal agencies through mid-May.”
O’Connor said he enjoyed the variety of experiences and deployments along his military career, and that it was “always changing and evolving.”
“We were always learning,” he said. “We had to keep up with all the latest threats and military equipment around the world. I enjoyed being in the know, researching the behind-the-scenes information that few had access to. I couldn’t share any of that knowledge with my family and friends, but it was satisfying to be the answer-guy for my Air National Guard leadership, pilots, and mission teams.”
O’Connor said the biggest challenge he faced as a serviceperson was balancing his military career and his civilian one. As a traditional guardsman he served one weekend a month and then two to four weeks per year at minimum, along with deployments, as well as maintaining a “day job” during the week.
“Even though I normally only served that small number of days per year, I was required to maintain my position’s training currency similar to a full-time U.S. Air Force member,” he said. “Some years I would focus my efforts on my military career over my civilian job and some years the focus would flip. Then during active duty or overseas deployments, the focus would be 100% military and my civilian job and family roles would suffer. It was a difficult balance over the years, but one that all traditional guardsmen have to deal with.”
He said it was tough to miss “significant family events over the years,” and that his wife was a single parent when he was away on weekends, at training events, and deployed.
“My time away wasn’t as bad as what is endured by our active-duty service members, but it did take a significant toll on my family at times,” O’Connor said.
Despite the sacrifices he and his family made, it is apparent that O’Connor is proud of his service and that it was important to him to do so.
“I enlisted to make an impact and a difference,” he said. “Our democracy, our country, and our citizens are worth defending. I was lucky to have chosen a career field that was relevant and equally lucky to be assigned to positions during my career that had significant impact on the safety and security of not only my Massachusetts neighbors, but the country as a whole and allies around the world.”
His last day in uniform was August 22 for his retirement ceremony, where he received a prestigious Meritorious Service Medal for his years of service, and his family threw him a retirement party this summer. When asked what he will miss about his decades with the Air National Guard, O’Connor said he definitely has “mixed feelings about retiring.”
“I’ll miss being part of that elite team of military members,” he said. “The squadron comradery is something that will be very hard to duplicate. I’ll also miss the responsibility for assisting our state during emergencies. Some of my most fulfilling times during my Air National Guard career were when my team coordinated DOMOPS, the military name for Emergency Management, missions during hurricanes and winter storms that directly helped the folks in Sterling and the surrounding towns. It was very satisfying to use our military skills to help fellow citizens in need.
“On the one hand, I will miss being part of the team of the 1% of the population currently serving and protecting our country,” he continued. “On the other hand, it really was time for me to focus on my family and give others in the Air National Guard the opportunity to lead in my place. I’m enjoying finally having all my weekends back to spend with family and friends.”
Article Republished from November 2021 Issue of the Sterling Meetinghouse News.