Samanka wins Bronze Star, named chief of Army casualty operations

Had you told Gene Samanka 30 years ago he would some day attend college, he would have laughed. That's the same response you would have received had you told him he'd join the Army, jump out of a plane, find himself in a bunker beside a nuclear warhead, and eventually be awarded a Bronze Star Medal. The one thing the 1973 Clarion graduate would not have laughed at was the idea that family would remain important to him.

Today Gene Samanka is known as Lt. Colonel Samanka. And after 22 years of military service and approximately 13 moves, he appreciates the tolerance of his wife, Dori, and daughters, Tracy and Kelley.

"It's been tough," Gene says. "My first year as an officer in the military, I was gone 260 days. When I was stationed in Germany, my wife had just arrived when I was deployed for five months in the Gulf War. She's put up with a lot. And my daughters have been in more than their share of schools."

Not surprisingly, he's more anxious to discuss his daughter Kelley's first place win in her first figure skating competition or his daughter Tracy's role in student government at Penn State than to talk about the Meritorious Service Medal he received for exceptional performance of duty as a program analyst in the Pentagon last December. The importance of family also comes into play in his most recent position in the Army, Chief of Army Casualty Operations in Virginia.

"Any time a soldier is injured or dies, my office makes sure family members are contacted within 24 hours," he explains. "Within the next three days, an officer or a noncommissioned office is sent to assist the family with information about benefits and making any funeral arrangements. The staff member is available to work with the family for 45 days or longer if needed. It's a personnel function but one that requires a more personal touch."

Although the position seems unrelated to his degree from Clarion in secondary education (social studies), Gene credits his experience at Clarion with helping him rise through the ranks of the military as well as discovering his interest in working with people.

"I was an average student in high school. When I graduated in 1969, I was just sitting around waiting to be drafted," Gene admits. His father and uncle had other plans. They drove him to Clarion University. "Although I applied too late to start in the fall, my father and uncle were able to help me get accepted on a conditional basis for the spring semester provided I wasn't drafted by then.

"Going away to college really changed me. Clarion was only 40 miles from my hometown in Sykesville, but it was the first time I was away from home," Gene says. "My dad said I could always come home on the weekends but he urged me to stay on campus and get 'used to it' and use the experience to grow. As a result, I learned to manage my time and be more responsible. I also joined a fraternity and that helped me build my self esteem and become almost fearless in some respects.

"I had started behind my classmates but by going in the summer, I was able to graduate with my class in 1973. I felt I had to do well because my dad would have lost it after going to all the trouble to get me in."

Despite earning a degree in secondary education, Gene took a job as a utility worker at a paper mill in Erie where his wife-to-be was attending college. He quickly worked his way up to swing shift, "where the money was" but after two years was going no where. An Army recruiter had spoke to his wife who had just graduated and suggested that Gene consider the military.

"I needed the stability so I decided to do it," Gene says. He went in as a private but because of his college degree was soon in officer training school and quickly became a second lieutenant. He went on to serve a three year stint in Germany overseeing field artillery. "We were the ones that fired cannons in support of the infantry," he says. "We also had the capability to shoot nuclear warheads. It was a very heavy thing for a young man to deal with then." From there he joined the 82nd Airborne Division as a paratrooper but realized that "jumping out of planes was not what I wanted to do."

"I've always wanted to work with people, so I started working on a masters degree in management while at Ft. Bragg. That opened the door to more opportunities. For example, as a captain, I commanded a control facility at Ft. Bragg for soldiers who had deserted the Army or were being held for misconduct. Then I commanded a personnel company with some 200 soldiers under me and the responsibility for some 17,000 personnel records."

The following five years were spent in Washington DC. At the Pentagon Gene worked in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel overseeing a large database project and earned a Meritorious Service Award for his work. From there he was nominated for his current position as Chief of Casualty Operations.

Yet neither Gene Samanka's career evolution or education has stopped. Nor has his desire to continue working with people. He is currently working towards a master's degree in education and human development at George Washington University. He hopes to retire from the Army next year and move into school counseling, possibly in the Pittsburgh area. He admits that the move to civilian life will be a big transition.

"In the Army, when you tell someone to do it, they do it. But that's not how it is in the civilian world," he says. "Fortunately, I never did lead that way. But the reality is that I'm going to be part of a new system. There seem to be more opportunities in the Pittsburgh area, and a lot of my fraternity brothers live around there. I'm not sure how I'll fit in, but I want to see what I can contribute to society.

"I've always liked working with people," he says. "In every position I've held, I've always felt that if I could at least help one person out of a thousand, that's all I really needed for success.

"The most important thing, though, is my family," Gene says. "A lot of people don't see the military as being family-oriented, but it really is. There are more married couples and families than ever which has been hard for the Army. I've been on both sides. I've worked in personnel, dealing with the logistics. And I've had to uproot my own family about every two years and deal with the changes, the paperwork, the uncertainty every time you're deployed somewhere. I think my military career, my education at Clarion, and my family experiences all will come into play as I move into the next phase of my career and my life."

Lt. Col. Victor E. Samanka '73 (center) received a meritorious service award last year and now serves as Chief of Army Casualty Operations in Virginia. Awarding the medal is Major General Arthur T. Dean while Samanka's wife, Dori, joins him.