After graduating from Minersville Area High School in 1971 as salutatorian, Droskinis went on to Penn State University to continue his education. He graduated from Penn State with a Bachelor of Science in Law Enforcement and Corrections in 1975. Soon after, he went on to have an impressive military career. While serving in the U.S. Army, he pursued further education and graduated from Central Michigan University with a master’s degree in personnel management.
After joining the American Army in 1976 as a Private First Class, he went on to Fort Benning, Georgia, for Officer Candidate School (OCS), where he graduated in 1977 with a commission as an infantry officer. His military education at Fort Benning included Airborne and Infantry Officer Basic Training, where he honed leadership abilities that equipped him for a variety of positions in the Army. Off duty, he played spring football for the Ft Benning Doughboys as a wide receiver.
Droskinis held a variety of command and staff positions during his 23-year service in the army, which included time spent in both active duty and reserve assignments. Notably, he served with the Aviation Brigade, 7th Infantry Division, and was involved in combat activities during “Operation Just Cause” in Panama in 1989 as the Task Force Aviation Adjutant.
He retired at the U.S. Army Forces Command Headquarters (FORSCOM) in 1999 as a Lieutenant Colonel, bringing an end to his military career. Droskinis was commended by a 4-star general with a Legion of Merit (LOM) and acknowledged for his efforts, leadership, and commitment to the country during his time of service.
His professional experience in defense contracting included international work in combat zones as an International Business Manager in 2008–2009, during which he traveled extensively in in both Kabul, Afghanistan, and Baghdad, Iraq. He conducted business at US embassies located in challenging areas at this time.
During his time in the military, Droskinis formed a few oldies bands and coached and played softball on every post he was assigned. He held a number of important positions: As Adjutant General Senior Personnel Staff Officer (Dep G-1, FORSCOM-Georgia), he managed the Active Guard Reserve (AGR) Program; serving as Operations Officer (First US Army-Georgia), he coordinated personnel actions across 27 states, Washington, DC, and two US territories, and was involved in planning scenarios and spent two years writing the State Funeral Plan for President Jimmy Carter; in his role as Strategic Future Analyst (USARC-Georgia), Droskinis managed special initiatives to improve retention in the US Army Reserve and contributed to the RCI pilot program in Germany; and his tenure as Force Structure Officer (USARC-Georgia) involved managing force structure actions for various army divisions and successfully restructuring units to streamline mobilization actions. Additionally, at the 76the Division (Training), he excelled as the strength management officer. Other duties included recruiting company commander, executive officer (XO), operations planner, and senior staff positions in different divisions and commands.
Droskinis worked as a senior management analyst at MAI in Vienna, Virginia, where he contributed to numerous US Navy projects and overseas projects in Germany. Droskinis is also a published author and editor whose works can be found on Amazon. His writings and editing combine his experiences from both his military and civilian occupations with his views. Let’s go over some of his published work:
• MINERSVILLE HIGH SCHOOL CLASS OF 1971: 50th CLASS REUNION (2021)
• Pitcher from The King and His Court, Rich Hoppe: Tales of the Last Barnstormer (2021)
• UNDEFEATED UNTIED UNSCORED UPON: The Perfect Season: The Story of Pennsylvania’s 1957 Cass Football Team (2017)
• Dave Booth’s Journey, In the Shadow of a King (2022)
James Droskinis’ multifaceted life experiences represent what the human mind is capable of. While many put a full stop to their lives after retiring from the military, Droskinis decided to put those conventional stereotypes to bed by excelling brilliantly even after surpassing tremendous goals in his military life. A true renaissance man.
