Frank B. Myska, Sr. has always had a love of flying, and of the United States. In January 1951 he entered the United States Air Force, leaving the farm he grew up on in rural Massachusetts. He has often said that what got him through his training to be an officer and pilot was a determination that nothing was going to keep him from flying. After a few years on active duty, he served honorably as a Reservist through the Bay of Pigs crisis, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, and through the bulk of the Cold War, attaining the rank of Colonel and status of Command Pilot. Col. Myska flew a wide variety of aircraft - the T-6, B-25 (training), C-46, C-54, C-l 19, C124, and he finished his flying career in the C-130. In 1974 he returned to active duty and spent a tour at Air Force Reserve Headquarters, Robbins Air Force Base. Col. Myska retired from the Pentagon in 1982, where he served, among other positions, as Chief, Operation, Plans and Readiness Division, Office of Chief, Air Force Reserve, HQ USAF. Among his many decorations are the Legion of Merit and the Meritorious Service Medal with One Oak Leaf Cluster.
Col. Myska was also involved with flying outside of the Air Force. For several years he worked with the David Clark Company in Worcester, Massachusetts. During his time there, he worked on both the X-15 flight suit and the Project Mercury flight suit. During this time he got to know Scott Crossfield, of X-15 fame. He also held a commercial pilot's license for a number of years.
Outside of flying, Col. Myska spent 14 years teaching at David Prouty Junior High School in Spencer, Massachusetts. He was a very talented teacher, and rose to become the Assistant Principle, before returning to active duty in 1974. He counts this among his proudest accomplishments. He touched many lives and has occasionally comes across former students in interesting places, including one former fifth grade student who turned up in 2002 as the Navy Admiral commanding U.S. military activities in Iceland.
Despite these achievements, Col. Myska has consistently expressed the most pride in his family. As of this writing in May 2004, he has been married to Mari for 49 years, has three adult sons - Frank, Jr., Alfred, and James; two daughters-in-law - Liz and Alison; and a granddaughter, Shoshanah. Col. Myska has always seen his most important "job", his most significant achievement in life, as being a husband and a father. It is we, his wife, his sons, and his daughters-in-law who submit this profile and photo to the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum as a wholly inadequate token of our profound pride and boundless love for our husband and father.