John has been flying for about 23 years and has over 13,000 hours of flying time. John was introduced to flying by one of his friends shortly after he graduated high school.

John continued to take flight lessons during college and in his senior year, John discovered the Air National Guard.

After graduating from the University of Minnesota, Duluth, John went to the Air National Guard pilot training program where he got his wings from the Air Force in Texas and was assigned to the Air Guard in Minnesota. Now he flies both the C-130 Hercules and the F-16 for the Guard.