John Shakeshaft, an Alplaus resident, honored on retirement from Air National Guard

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1st Lt. John Shakeshaft

LATHAM, NY (04/24/2013)(readMedia)-- John Shakeshaft , an Alplaus resident, has been awarded the Air Force Commendation Medal, as he concluded his service in the New York Air National Guard after 29 years in the military.

Shakeshaft, a first lieutenant in the 109th Airlift Wing at Stratton Air National Guard base, joined the Air Force in 1981 after graduating from Niskayuna High School.

He joined the 109th Airlift Wing in 1997, serving as a medical technician in the 139th Areomedical Evacuation Squadron. Since then he has deployed to Kosovo, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Oman and Pakistan, Iraq, and the Horn of Africa, and served as medical support officer in Greenland. In 2008 he played a key role in evacuating hospital patients from Texas before Hurricane Ike hit that state.

He has logged over eleven hundred hours in Aeromedical Evacuation aircraft including the C-130, C-17, KC-135, C-141, and C-9.

As a senior enlisted Airmen he served as a aeromedical evacuation controller and trainer.

In 2005 Shakeshaft was commissioned as a Nurse with the rank of First Lieutenant and following Reserve Officer Training School and Flight Nurse Training, he was awarded the United States Air Force Flight Nurse Honor Graduate of the year at the School of Aerospace Medicine.

As an officer he deployed with Central Command as the trainer for medical evacuation systems in the Middle East.

Shakeshaft also served as a member of the 109th Air Wing's Base Honor Guard participating in 229 funerals and ceremonies.

Shakeshaft, who works as a nurse, and his wife Gail, who also served in the Air Force, have two adult children. Their daughter Shelley is an Adolescent Physiology Councilor, and their son John JR is a Cobra helicopter mechanic in the United States Marine Corps.