Florida Veteran Health Heroes

Joe Bosko was born in Akron, Ohio, and grad- uated from Cuyahoga Falls High School in June of 1983 and left for Navy recruit train- ing in Orlando, Florida, that September. Fol- lowing boot camp, he reported for training as an Aviation Electronics Technician in Millington, Tennessee. After com- pleting electronics training he reported to Naval Air Sta- tion Pensacola for Naval Aircrewman Candidate School (NACCS), then attended Radio Operator School at Naval Air Station Moffitt Field, California, and followed that with Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape (SERE) School in 1984. Upon completion of radio school, Joe reported to his first duty station of Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squad- ron One (VQ-1) at Naval Air Station Agana, Guam, as a Naval Aircrewman and Aviation Electronics Technician. He deployed frequently to Atsugi Japan, CUBI Point Phil- ippines, Osan Korea, and a number of other sites, flying over 2000 flight hours in support of Navy reconnaissance operations. In 1988, Joe transferred to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, to Oceanographic Development Squad- ron Eight (VXN-8), to work as a Radio/Radar Operator and technician. In 1992 Joe and his family transferred to Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sicily, Italy, as he joined the CINCUSNAVEUR Executive Transport Detachment. During this tour, Joe was an electronics technician and a radio/satellite communications operator for Admiral Mike Boorda, Admiral Leighton Smith, and others trav- eling throughout Europe. When his tour completed in 1995, Joe went to Naval Air Station Miramar to attend Navy Drug and Alcohol Counselor School (NDACS). Later he reported to Naval Station Mayport for shore duty as a Drug and Alcohol Counselor. After a successful tour as a counselor, Joe transferred to Naval Air Station Jackson- ville as part of VP-30’s Executive Transport Detachment (VP-30 VR Det) supporting the Chief of Naval Operations and other military commanders. By the time Joe left the VR Det, he was a Chief Petty Officer, had logged over 7500 flight hours, and had completed a bachelor’s de- gree in Computer Information Systems at Columbia Col- lege of Missouri. In 2003 Joe reported for his final tour. He took a shore duty position at the Naval Branch Health Clinic Mayport as the Director of the Substance Abuse Rehabilitation Program at NAS Mayport, Florida. During his final two tours, Joe completed a Master of Business Administration Degree (MBA) at Webster University. He retired from active duty in October of 2007. In 2008, Joe moved to Tampa, Florida, to work as an electronics technician and crewmember flying into hur- ricanes for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad- ministration (NOAA). While at NOAA he operated and maintained all of the weather systems, computer sys- tems, and radars on board the hurricane hunter aircrafts N42 and N43. Joe was promoted and continued his flight and maintenance duties while deploying to a variety of remote sites in the Caribbean and Newfoundland, Can- ada. In 2015, after over 32 years of working on planes, and approximately 10,000 flight hours, Joe was ready for a change. He left the Hurricane Hunters and moved back to Jacksonville to attend an accelerated nursing school program at Jacksonville University. Following the rigorous 17-month Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program, at 54 years old, Joe was hired by Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville as a Transplant Nurse, where his duties primarily include caring for transplant patients. He loves being a nurse and knows that this is what he was meant to do. He likes to joke that he is the only individual who can honestly say, firsthand, that it is easier flying into a hurricane than it is to be a nurse. Joe Bosko, RN, BSN 5 2019 Florida Veteran Health Heroes