USAFA Class Histories

Upon graduation with the Class of 1963 of the United States Air Force Academy, Cadet Matjasko was commissioned an Ensign and Engineering Duty Officer in the US Navy. He served on the destroyer USS Forrest Sherman (DD-931) as Main Propulsion Assistant and as Damage Control Assistant. After graduation from MIT with Naval Engineer and Master in Electrical Engineering degrees in 1968, he served at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in various production and project management positions building and overhauling deep diving, nuclear attack, and missile submarines. While there, he qualified as a Submarine Engineering Duty Officer. In 1972, at the Strategic Systems Project Office in Washington, D.C., he supported the operation of missile submarines as Program Officer for the Navy Navigation Satellite System, including R&D and procurement of new satellites. He coordinated with NASA and the Air Force SAMSO for management of launch vehicles (Scout 4 stage missile) and launch at Vandenburg AFB into polar orbit. He supported satellite constellation operations with the Navy Astronautics Group at Pt. Mugu, CA. Captain Matjasko completed his military career serving in various engineering billets as a reserve officer, retiring in 1992. 

In 1974, he joined Bethlehem Steel Shipbuilding in Beaumont, Texas, serving in various production and project management leadership positions building mobile offshore jackup and semi-submersible drilling rigs. He completed the conversion and lengthening of a Maersk Line container ship to an advanced maritime prepositioning ship for use by the Maritime Administration for the US Navy. At the same time, Captain Matjasko completed his MBA degree at Lamar University. 

In 1985, he served as Operations Manager for a major industrial fire protection equipment and systems distributor and Business Development Manager for Ansul Fire Protection. 

In 1991, Captain Matjasko became Division General Manager of two privately owned proprietary commercial sheet metal products manufacturing companies in Los Angeles. Here, he developed new UL listed fire rated products while substantially increasing profitability through application of Lean Manufacturing techniques. 

In 2001, Captain Matjasko became President and COO of a small public company engaged in contract manufacturing of precision machined items and motion control and high speed rotating products. Captain Matjasko retired from full time career activities in 2003. He then served as a consultant and led manufacturing operations at a major aerospace aluminum and magnesium foundry. 

From 2009 to 2017, Captain Matjasko and his wife, Karen, served as Executive Director and Program Director respectively of the 501 (c) (3) nonprofit Circle of Change in the Illinois/Wisconsin stateline area. The organization, through the process of rescue dog rehabilitation, helps veterans, referred by the Veterans Administration, who suffer from anxiety, PTSD, and traumatic brain injury (TBI) issues to recover a better quality of life. 

He and his wife, Karen, live in Rockton, Illinois.