JOSEPH
POTOSNAK

Joe Potosnak joined the U.S. Navy in January 1984 and continued his education in Construction Mechanics.  He was stationed in Guantanamo Bay Cuba and Gulfport Mississippi.  He deployed to European bases in Crete and Spain and was the material liaison for Midway Island and Diego Garcia.  In addition to his mechanical education and certifications, he qualified in Chemical, Biological and Radiological warfare, Rapid Runway Repair and M-60 machine gunner training.

 

Joe served stateside in Rhode Island, Hawaii and Virginia and deployed to Japan, Puerto Rico, Antarctica and Kuwait and during his Navy career.  He was lead mechanic and made several deployments to Antarctica in support of the U.S. Scientific Foundation offloading supplies for the base from ships. Guantanamo Bay Cuba providing components of the fleet hospital in support of the base prison. Deployed as an Expeditionary Forces to Kuwait prior to hostilities to offload needed machines and materials for fighting forces. Assigned to the Marine Corps 2nd FSSB as an Explosive Driver moving explosives to forward troops. He served over 20 years active duty with unwavering commitment to our country and the missions put before him.

 

After retirement he worked for Carter Caterpillar in Newport News Virginia as a field service mechanic and then returned to Pittsburgh working for Cleveland Brothers Caterpillar as a Field Service Supervisor, Main Shop Supervisor, and Condition Monitoring Analyst. He would remain in Pittsburgh with the Port Authority of Allegheny County as the Fleet Maintenance Coordinator.

​

He currently lives in the Pittsburgh area with his family and service dog Helma. He is a member of the Executive Board of Directors for Gunny’s Ridge Mission.