Commander Biography
Captain George A. Yarchak serves as the Commander of Maxwell Composite Squadron, Civil Air Patrol. He assumed this duty on the 25th of March, 2022. Captain Yarchak joined CAP as a Cadet in 1975 and rose the the rank of Cadet Lieutenant Colonel before enlisting in the United States Air Force in 1979 as an Avionics Technician on the F-111. Captain Yarchak rejoined CAP shortly from 2010-2011, and then again in 2019 until his present duty. He holds Technician ratings in Cadet Programs, Emergency Services, and Information Technology, and a Senior rating in Communications. Captain Yarchak also holds a number of Emergency Services Operations Qualifications, including Aircrew as Mission Scanner and Mission Observer, Urban Direction Finding, Mission Radio Operator & Communications Unit Leader, Liaison Officer, and Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) Pilot. Captain Yarchak's Civil Air Patrol honors include: 4 Achievement Awards, 3 Command Commendations, 2 Search & Rescue FIND Ribbons, the Disaster Relief Ribbon with “V” device, the Crisis Service Ribbon, and the Command Service Ribbon.
Captain Yarchak served over 30 years in the military; beginning as an Avionics Technician in the USAF at Mountain Home AFB in Idaho and RAF Upper Heyford in the UK and also in the Alabama Army National Guard in Birmingham, Alabama, then as a Maintenance Officer in the Army Reserves, and finally as a Cyber Communications Superintendent in the 226th Combat Communications Group - Alabama Air National Guard. While in the Alabama Air Guard, he served as an augmentee to the State Domestic Operations Group at the Alabama National Guard Headquarters from 2015 to 2020 under Major General Sheryl Gordon. He retired from the ALANG in August of 2020.
His civilian career included business phone systems field engineer and network communications field engineer. He earned many technical certifications during this time, including: Novell Network System Administrator, Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, and Cisco Systems Certified Network Professional. He started working for the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) as a Unisys contractor in 2003 before becoming a Civil Service Information Technology employee in 2006. He held several key positions at DISA, to include: infrastructure team lead, node site coordinator, Automated Call Distribution systems Program Manager, and Application Support Team Lead. He retired from Civil Service in July, 2023.
Captain Yarchak now calls Prattville, Alabama home. Growing up in Hoover, he attended W.A. Berry High School before joining the military in 1979. He went on to earn his Bachelors degree in Criminal Justice with Minor in Military Science from the University of Alabama in Birmingham (UAB) in 1991 and his Masters degree in Management information Systems with emphasis on Certified Information Systems Security Profession (CISSP) in 2017 also from UAB.
His military awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Air Force Achievement Medal, Air Reserve Forces Meritorious Service Medal, Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Air Force Overseas Ribbon, Air Force Longevity Service, and Armed Forces Reserve Medal with “M” device.
Captain Yarchak is married to Donna Yarchak, a retired Pharmacy Technician and Nurse. They are raising their granddaughter Jordan who is currently a Senior at Prattville High School and plans to enlist in the Alabama Air Guard after graduation before coming home to Alabama and attending Nursing School at UAB.
