“Military service changes people,” said local retired Air Force Major Candice (Conroy) Mociak, “and it sure changed my life.”

Mociak said she was standing at the chalkboard teaching fourth graders when the janitor walked in and asked where the teacher was.

“I thought, I gotta get out of here and do something else for a while,” said Mociak.

So, in Nov. 1978 five-foot-one-inch Candi joined the U.S. Air Force.

Mociak also said her father inspired her to join. “I remember my dad telling my sister if he was a woman, he would go into the military.”

She continued, “I joined the Air Force thinking I would go back to teaching after my first enlistment. I never expected to stay but I did, retiring in 1993.”

Mociak said she grew up in a middle class neighborhood in Denver where her parents were schoolteachers. “But I spent my military career in an organization made up of every race and color. I would never give up the experiences I had in the military.”

“There is a pride in having served your country and a bond between military people that no one who hasn’t served can understand.”

Aircraft maintenance was Mociak’s specialty in the Air Force. Mociak said she liked maintenance because it gave her a chance to learn new skills.

“Mechanics, tools and hydraulics were foreign to me and it took me a while to learn, but as soon as I did, I hit the ground running.”

And run she did to stints at Langley Air Force Base in Va., Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma, Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, as well as at bases in Alaska, Texas and California.

All members of the military,” said Mociak, “pledge their lives to our country.  I took that commitment very seriously—that pledge to my country was more important than my life.”

Sometimes that pledge took Mociak and her then husband Elden Kocourek, who was an Air Force pilot, away from their two children—Matthew and Janna—and each other.

One of those times was when he had three separate tours of one month each in Saudi Arabia, and she completed a 90-day stint in Saudi Arabia. The two were together during 30 days of that tour. Mociak’s parents took care of the children while the two were deployed in Saudi Arabia.

Despite the great sacrifice to family, Mociak said she was proud to have served.

She is also proud to have been chosen to be featured in the August 1991 issue of  ‘Lear’s” magazine. The article tells of Mociak’s life in the military.

Another memorable moment for Mociak was in 1988. “I was chosen to escort the Olympic torch when it came to Virginia.”

Mociak concluded by saying, “I believe that this is a Christian nation and our faith is one of the things that makes our country great.  My heavenly father, my family and my country—I still believe that all of these are worth fighting for.”

After retirement from the service, Mociak   went to work as a substitute teacher for the U.S. Department of Defense in Germany.

Today, Candi and her husband, Charlie, live in rural Westcliffe.  

She is an active member of American Legion Post 170.

To honor Mociak and others who have served in the military, post 170 is hosting a Veteran’s Day banquet this Saturday, Nov.  7, at the historic Alpine Lodge.

– Nora Drenner