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Southern Illinois University Edwardsville alumnus Officer John Cavanaugh is retiring from the Air National Guard on August 7. A retirement flag will be flown in his honor at Korte Stadium.

Cavanaugh earned his bachelor’s in music education in 1998. He was a band teacher for five years before joining SIUE’s Police Department. Inspired by his parent’s love for aviation and music, Cavanaugh decided to pursue a career with the Air National Guard, where he serves in a band unit. He will play in his last Annual Training Tour with the band on Saturday, July 3 at the Alton Amphitheatre. 

“I’m a little sad as my military retirement draws near because I’ve been doing this for 27 years,” shared Cavanaugh. “However, I’ve done everything I wanted to do in my military career and seen parts of the world I never would have. I look forward to spending more time with my family.”

Cavanaugh has held many responsibilities throughout the years, including working as a content writer for the publicity team, serving as a unit career advisor, and training fellow colleagues as a unit fitness program manager. While with the Missouri Air National Guard, he served as the assistant unit deployment manager, where he deployed with his unit twice to Southwest Asia and twice to South America. Currently, he serves the Illinois Air National Guard’s security and safety team as the unit antiterrorism/force protection representative.

Throughout his years of service, Cavanaugh developed a love for traveling. He was deployed to Iraq, Kuwait, Chile and Afghanistan. Standout moments in his career include performing at Mount Rushmore on the 4th of July, playing for his fellow deployed troops, and becoming YouTube famous with his band’s rock component, “Sidewinder.”

When asked to describe the difficulties of being an officer, Cavanaugh described missing family as the greatest challenge.

“I missed out on many family events, including my daughter’s first birthday and steps,” he said. “When I was deployed in a time zone several hours away, it was difficult to find a good time to call someone. Similar to when I work night shifts for the police department, I am awake when almost everyone else is sleeping.”

Cavanaugh has enjoyed working at his alma mater, expressing feeling like he is “coming home.”

“Even though I don’t teach music anymore, all the education and training I received at SIUE while studying for my music education degree helps me in my current career,” said Cavanaugh. “I learned to talk to all kinds of people from different backgrounds and be careful with my choice of words. I was also taught to try to always find the positive, and when you do have to give bad news, “sandwich” it between two pieces of good news!”

Photo: SIUE alumnus and Officer John Cavanaugh.