Richard Gorka - Richard Gorka, Retired Military Professional
Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Richard Gorka served in the U.S. Army Reserve for two decades, with tours of active duty in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2000-2001 and at MacDill Air Force Base in 2003-2007. In civilian life, he has worked for the U.S. Postal Service and Lockheed Martin Corporation, and founded and managed a recreational vehicle rental company.
As an undergraduate at Kent State University, Richard Gorka joined the honorary military fraternity, Scabbard and Blade, eventually serving as its president and earning Distinguished Military Graduate honors. He received his Bachelor’s degree in business management with a minor in French. Though he worked as a stockbroker, tire center manager, and insurance claims adjuster, Mr. Gorka remained in the U.S. Army Reserve, and in 1989 he entered the Army’s Command and General Staff College through Idaho State University. He completed the program in 1992 and received a superior rating. In 2000, Richard Gorka accepted an assignment as Director of Strategic Plans with the U.S. Army peacekeeping force in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Tasked with developing mission requirements for a multinational division, Mr. Gorka proposed various methods of restructuring to reduce the amount of personnel and materiel in Bosnia. He edited and reworked the summary report for a six-month review of the restructuring effort.
Having worked for the USPS nearly 19 years in the Spokane area, in 2003 Richard Gorka took a four-year leave for active military service stationed at MacDill. One of his assignments, as Executive Officer for U.S. Central Command’s Plans, Policy, Strategy Directorate, took Lt. Col. Gorka to the Persian Gulf state of Qatar. There, he briefed senior U.S. officials and military officers about coalition activities in the Iraq War theater of operations. As a Task Coordinator, he guided U.S. Army staff interactions with representatives of 64 other nations. After returning from the Gulf and retiring from active duty, Lt. Col. Gorka served as an Operations Researcher for Lockheed Martin, for whom he coordinated American military intelligence resources in the Iraq theater.