Join us on Monday, September 13th for our luncheon with speaker Colonel (Ret) John D. Manzi. Colonel Manzi will share his experience flying the SR-71 Blackbird.
Colonel (Ret) John D. Manzi served 23 years in the United States Air Force as a Weapon Systems Officer (WSO), Squadron Commander, and staff officer at various locations throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. Col Manzi was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in 1978 when he was graduated from Purdue University and received his Navigator wings in April 1979. Colonel Manzi accumulated more than 2,000 jet hours flying primarily in fighter and reconnaissance aircraft, to include the F-111 Aardvark, RF-4C Phantom II, and the SR-71 Blackbird. Colonel Manzi flew as a Blackbird Reconnaissance Systems Officer from 1985 until the aircraft was retired in 1990.
After his flying assignments, Col Manzi served in various command and staff positions at MacDill AFB, FL, Beale AFB, CA, Cheyenne Mountain AFS, CO, and Peterson AFB, CO. He also attended two Professional Military Education schools, to include the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, and the French Senior War College in Paris, France. He retired from the Air Force in 2001 and has since been working in the Defense industry as a Model-Based Systems Engineering specialist, developing architectural models for Air Force, Space Force, and Army systems acquisition programs. He and his wife, Tracy, reside in Monument, Colorado.
