After 41 years working as a systems and chief engineer as well as a systems architect in the aerospace and defense industries, Richard Biro was not ready to just grab a beer and retire to the front porch swing. Deep down in his bones, he knew that he still had much more he wanted to contribute. He found Midway, and it was the perfect match.
“While I had retired from my paid professional career, I knew I still had a lot to give and decided to give back to the community, and to the men and women who defend our country,” said Richard, a Chicago native. “I decided then to start my volunteer professional career here at Midway.”
During his farewell event at Northrup Grumman in 2019, colleagues asked Richard the standard retirement question of “what are you going to do with all your free time.” More than once, the USS Midway Museum was mentioned, and when he discovered there was no requirement to have served previously in the military, he decided to take a look.
“My wife, Jean, and I had been to Midway before, but we went again after I retired,” remembered Richard, who earned his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and his master’s degree in systems engineering from Wright State University. “I looked at it differently and talked to a few docents about volunteering. I came away with a positive impression. With 41 years of aerospace and defense experience, I felt Midway was a natural fit. I know a lot about aircraft and weapon systems. I also have a lot of organizational and leadership skills. All this combined, I felt that these would be applicable to Midway.”
Richard is also a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician. He decided volunteering for the safety team was the best place to lend his talent and experiences. Richard came out of the box running, and from day one, has committed all his energy to being a red hat.
“My role in the safety department is multifaceted, but first and foremost, I’m a safety officer,” said Richard, who has already amassed more than 8,500 volunteer hours. “We help keep employees, volunteers, guests and contractors safe. We also respond to incidents like medical emergencies as well as handle kids who have become separated from their families.”
It wasn’t long after becoming a volunteer that Richard started taking on additional responsibilities in the safety department.
“I’m also a safety training officer, a role which I relish,” said Richard, whose wife Jean is also a safety volunteer. “This is a job my peers and I take very seriously. We work with safety trainees, walking them through the procedures, demonstrating proper techniques and evaluating and documenting their progress.”
In addition to being a safety training officer, Richard is a safety lead and part of a small team responsible for periodically reviewing and updating critical safety-related documents including the museum’s emergency action plan and safety standard operating procedures. He is also one of Midway’s subject matter experts on the museum’s Evolv scanner technology used at our main entrance.
Richard’s passion and achievements have not gone unnoticed. Although unexpected, he was recently named Midway’s volunteer of the year for 2024.
“Wow, I knew I was among a select group of volunteers to even have been nominated and it was stiff competition to be sure,” said Richard, who moved to San Diego from the Midwest in 2010. “By the time all five of us (nominees) were introduced, I was pretty much convinced I had at least one, if not two more years of being nominated before I would even have a chance. When my name was announced as this year’s awardee, my emotions ran wild, from disbelief, to why are all these people standing up, looking at me, clapping and shaking my hand. At that point I realized that it’s really true.”
Regardless of the accolades, the ultimate satisfaction for Richard comes from being part of Midway’s volunteer family and engaging with those visiting the museum.
“Volunteering at Midway is an incredibly rewarding experience,” said Richard, who volunteers 120 to 160 hours per month. “I love seeing the smiles on kids’ faces when they get their Junior Pilot’s wings and the reaction of former Midway sailors, airmen and Marines when they see their former berthing or work spaces. I love the challenge and teamwork, as well as the camaraderie of my fellow Midway volunteers and employees. I get tremendous satisfaction when, at the end of the day, I can look back and say, ‘We did our job right.’”
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