For the Gazette

TRAVERSE CITY, MI – Stevens Point native, Commander Mark Graboski, has retired as Executive Officer of Air Station, Traverse City US Coast Guard, after 29 years of service in the Navy and Coast Guard.

Mark graduated from UW- Madison through the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps in 1989 and was commissioned as an Ensign in the

US Navy. Following deployments in the Western Pacific and Arabian Gulf, he transitioned to the US Coast Guard and served in Washington, Alabama and D.C. He ultimately landed in Michigan at Air Station Traverse City, which operates air facilities throughout the Great Lakes region, performing search and rescue operations and other critical missions along the entirety of Lake Michigan and significant portions of Lake Superior and Huron.

As an executive officer and a helicopter pilot, Graboski led a team of 168 personnel and three MH-60 helicopters for search and rescue operations throughout the Great Lakes and Midwest. He has accumulated more than 5,700 flight hours and his decorations include: the Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal, 3 USCG/Navy Commendation Medals and two USCG Achievement Medals.

Mark is the son of Jim and Mary Graboski, Stevens Point. He and his wife, Tammi, are the parents of Sean, Cameron, Audrey and Alyssa.