Commanding the Cloud: A Veteran’s Journey to DevOps Engineering
TLDR: After 14 years in the Air Force, Chris “Dizz” Dzikowski leaped from managing operations in the sky to managing cloud infrastructure on the ground. When family needs brought him home to Chicago, he enrolled in Code Platoon’s DevOps and Cloud Engineering Bootcamp—a program built for Veterans like him. Now, as a DevOps Engineer at Geneva Trading, Dizz is proving how military experience and technical training combine to launch a powerful new career in tech.
Veteran Officer Chris “Dizz” Dzikowski started his military career in 2007, enlisting in the Air Force to pursue computer networking. Though he only spent a year in IT Systems Operations, it was enough to spark an interest in tech that would follow him throughout his service and set the stage for his future in DevOps Engineering.
A New Mission: From the Air Force to the Cloud
“Many DevOps fundamentals still resemble their Systems Operations roots: ensuring technical systems perform optimally. DevOps is just implemented with Cloud computing,” Dizz says. “When I first got into tech, the Cloud didn’t exist, so the systems I worked with were all tied to physical servers in different locations. Now, the Cloud connects a global network of these servers, so the resources I need are available on demand 24/7. It’s a paradigm shift.”
“The best way to understand DevOps is to break down the word itself. Dev means ‘developers’: the people who build the software applications. Ops is the operations: the application's network, storage, and maintenance. DevOps combines these roles, allowing DevOps Engineers like me to quickly iterate and automate essential deployment operations so developers don’t explode during deployments.”
Although Dizz left his IT AFSC behind for more responsibility as an Air Force Officer, his love for problem-solving and tech never left.
The moment that solidified Dizz’s return to technology came from an unexpected source: a novel.
“I read a book about a car parts manufacturer using DevOps philosophy to turn the company around,” Dizz says. “It was fiction, but DevOps Engineering and its applications resonated deeply with me. It reminded me of what I loved about tech.”
The inspiration arrived just in time. After fourteen years in the Air Force, family emergencies in Chicago and international conflict in Ukraine led Dizz to request early separation from the military. Dizz originally planned to join Code Platoon’s In-Person Software Engineering Bootcamp through the DoD SkillBridge program, but when these plans changed, he uncovered a new opportunity—one that would align even more closely with his skills and goals.
Why Code Platoon’s DevOps Bootcamp Was the Right Fit
Code Platoon had just launched its first DevOps and Cloud Engineering Bootcamp, and it checked all the boxes for Dizz:
It was an easy choice. Code Platoon had the only DevOps training program I found. It was designed specifically for the military community, the program included essential AWS certifications in the Cloud Engineering curriculum, and my tuition was completely paid for by a Veteran scholarship.
The program didn’t just teach theory; it gave Dizz hands-on experience deploying real software and working with tools used in today’s Cloud and DevOps roles.
Real-world Impact at Geneva Trading
After graduating, Dizz was selected as a DevOps Engineering apprentice with corporate partner Geneva Trading, where he immediately dove in.
I started participating meaningfully in my team’s projects on my first morning. I began making changes to our software after only one week. I still use Bash scripting on Linux, AWS deployment, and Ansible configuration management daily. Code Platoon perfectly prepared me to be a DevOps Engineer.
Every day on the job is different, but Dizz’s favorite part is problem-solving. He excels at learning new technologies and applying his toolset to the processes Geneva’s DevOps Engineering team already has in place.
“Last week, I needed to containerize and deploy a Java executable. Even though I hadn’t used Java much, I matched my DevOps skills from Code Platoon to the new tools I was given and successfully deployed the product.”
Why Veterans Make Great DevOps Engineers
Dizz believes that Veterans are uniquely suited for DevOps careers, and his experience proves it.
I’ve learned Veterans make excellent DevOps Engineers because we’re unfazed by change. DevOps moves fast as technology advances, but change is the way of life for us.
“Leaving the military mid-career was a little scary, but I’m glad I made the career shift,” Dizz says. “If I had to go back, I’d definitely embrace this opportunity again.”
