Commanding the Cloud: An Air Force Veteran’s Journey to DevOps Engineering

Veteran Officer Chris “Dizz” Dzikowski spent his service supporting Air Force personnel. When he left the military because of a family emergency, Dizz traded working in the clouds for deploying Cloud-based software as a civilian DevOps Engineer. His transition showcases how military skills combine with software expertise, helping him and other Veterans master DevOps and Cloud Engineering at Code Platoon and beyond.

The former Air Battle Manager’s journey began when he enlisted in the Air Force in 2007 to enter computer networking. Dizz was only in IT Systems Operations for about a year, but it introduced him to his DevOps career.

“Many DevOps fundamentals still resemble their Systems Operations roots: ensuring technical systems perform optimally. DevOps is just implemented with Cloud computing,” Dizz says. “When I first got into tech, the Cloud didn’t exist, so the systems I used to work with were all tied to physical servers in different locations. Now, the Cloud connects a global network of these servers, so the resources I need are available on demand 24/7. It’s a paradigm shift.

The best way to understand DevOps is by breaking down the word itself. ‘Dev’ stands for developers, the people who create software applications, while ‘Ops’ refers to operations, which includes managing the application’s network, storage, and maintenance. By combining these roles, ‘DevOps’ enables professionals like me to rapidly iterate and automate essential deployment operations, ensuring smooth and predictable software deployments.

Dizz left his IT AFSC behind for more responsibility as an Air Force Officer. He developed problem-solving and risk-management skills essential to both his Officer role and future DevOps career, but his thirst for tech challenges remained unquenched.

A turning point would arrive from an unlikely source:

“I read a book about a car parts manufacturer using DevOps philosophy to turn the company around,” Dizz says. “It was fiction, but DevOps Engineering and its applications resonated with me. It reminded me of what I loved about tech.”

The novel couldn’t have come at a better time. After fourteen years in the Air Force, Dizz was sent back down the technology path by family and, later, international emergencies.

When family needs back home in Chicago arose, Dizz applied to separate from the Air Force before his retirement date. On the positive side, returning to Chicago would allow him to apply tor Code Platoon’s In-person Software Engineering Bootcamp via the DoD SkillBridge program for transitioning Servicemembers. Unfortunately, the rising conflict in Ukraine revoked Dizz’s SkillBridge plans, but he uncovered an even better option: Code Platoon’s first DevOps and Cloud Engineering Bootcamp.

“It was an easy choice. Code Platoon had the only DevOps training program I found. It was designed for the military community, the program included essential AWS certifications in the Cloud Engineering curriculum, and my tuition was completely paid for by a Veteran scholarship.”

Dizz worked hard during Bootcamp and gained hands-on experience from real projects deploying web applications. After graduating, he was selected as a DevOps Engineering apprentice with corporate partner Geneva Trading, where he immediately dove in.

“I started participating meaningfully in my team’s projects on my first morning. I began making changes to our software after only one week. I still use Bash scripting on Linux, AWS deployment, and Ansible configuration management daily. Code Platoon perfectly prepared me to be a DevOps Engineer,” he says.

Every day on the job is different, but Dizz’s favorite part is problem-solving. He loves learning how to apply his toolset to the processes the DevOps Engineering team already has in place.

“Last week, I needed to containerize and deploy a Java executable. Even though I hadn’t used Java much, I learned how to apply my DevOps skills from Code Platoon to the new tools I was given and deployed the product.”

Another benefit to Dizz’s apprenticeship has been experiencing the fast-paced, high-impact environment of technology at Geneva Trading and learning from his new colleagues.

“One of my major concerns transitioning out of the military was the potential lack of purpose in the civilian world, but my apprenticeship at Geneva Trading has been dynamic and purposeful. Geneva is in growth mode, which means that operations are swift. I contribute significantly every single day,” Dizz says. “I work with great people. The snacks in the breakroom are great too!”

“I’ve learned Veterans make excellent DevOps Engineers because we’re unphased by change. DevOps moves fast as technology advances, but change is the way of life for us. Leaving the military mid-career was a little scary, but I’m glad I made the career shift. If I had to go back, I’d definitely embrace this opportunity again.”

Kayla Elkin is the Marketing Content Specialist at Code Platoon. In this role, she uses her marketing, writing, and editing skills developed from previous higher education and educational technology positions. Kayla has degrees in English and Sociology from Clemson University and completed the Study in India Program (SIP) at the University of Hyderabad.