Rotarian Greg Matyas

CURRENT CAREER – I’m the Commanding Officer of Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City.  It doesn’t get any better than that….why?  I’m very fortunate to be with the best people, in the best job, and in the best city (an awesome Coast Guard City) in the United States!

 

EDUCATION –Tried to get into the CG Academy out of highschool, but the SATs got the best of me.  Attended a year of college at Penn State’s main campus in Happy Valley.  What a game against OSU huh?? I applied to the CG Academy (New London, CT) again and got in.  Had to start over as a freshman. Majored in Electrical Engineering.  Also received a BS in Industrial Administration (one year MBA) from Purdue.

   

FAMILY- Me, Susie and our naughty cat Brisbee (walk on stray from Hawaii).  My parents still live in my hometown of Uniontown, PA (about 60 miles south of Pittsburgh).  I have a brother that lives in Eastern PA and a sister who lives in the DC area.

 

FAVORITE DESSERT -  It was pretty much just key lime pie until I got to TC. Now it includes cherry and apple Pie from GT Pie and Moomers.

 

FAVORITE ACTIVITY –Flying, kiteboarding, skiing, running and mountain biking.

 

LAST BOOK READ – Aviation Radio Communications, Yes, I’m an aviation geek.

 

FAVORITE MOVIE – Apollo 13, a space geek as well.  If I’m flipping through the channels and Shawshank Redemption is on, I can’t pass it up either.

 

FAVORITE SONG – Southern Cross.  Reminds me of my Coast Guard days in the Carribean, and seeing the actual Southern Cross on my trip down to Antarctica.

 

LIKELY KNOWS – I’m a huge fan of the Mercury, Gemni and Apollo space era.  Getting to the moon was one of the greatest accomplishments of our country.

 

LIFE ROLE MODEL – My father and mother.  I know it is a typical response, but as I get older and wonder how in the heck I made it this far in the Coast Guard, I really have to attribute all the good stuff that happened to me to my parents.  They really taught me the value of working hard and appreciating the great people around us every day.

 

MOST SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENT – I was able to get a pretty and wickedly smart girl to marry me.

 

PROUDEST MOMENT -   Taking over command at the air station.  Also, getting my wings of gold after graduating flight school.

 

FUNNIEST THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO YOU -  Susie likes to scare the life out of me when I get home from work. One time she woke me up in the middle of night telling me that she thought someone had broken in the house and was peeing in our bathroom.  I have a great 4^th of July story about an adventure I had with a British exchange pilot, but it would take up the whole bulletin.

 

SECRET AMBITION -  Still want to be an astronaut.

 

IF YOU COULD BE ANYONE IN THE WORLD FOR A DAY (present or historical),  WHO WOULD THAT BE---AND  WHY?  I would have to say Neil Armstrong. I can’t imagine anything cooler than being the first person to set foot on the moon. “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind….”

 

MOST FAMOUS PERSON MET -  President Bill Clinton was at my academy graduation.  Got to meet him on stage.

 

ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO SHARE –I had an opportunity to visit the South Pole.  Even though it is customary to strip naked and get a picture, I passed on that opportunity. However, while I was there, I did take the opportunity to walk around the world in about eight seconds.:)