United States Army Colonel and Syracuse University employee Adam J. (AJ) Florkowski was born in Lansdale, Pennsylvania and grew up in the Bucks County village of Lexington, Pennsylvania. AJ graduated from Pennridge High School, excelling in soccer and playing on the U.S. Under-18 Men’s National Team and was also recognized as a Parade All-American after his senior year of high school. In 1995, he was admitted into the United States Military Academy at West Point alongside his older Stash. Together, the Florkowski brothers helped the Army Black Knights win the Patriot League title in 1996 and advance to their last men’s soccer NCAA appearance. AJ graduated from West Point in 1999, commissioning as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
AJ began his active-duty Army career as a combat engineer with the 2nd Armored Calvary Regiment at Fort Polk, Louisiana. After his assignment at Fort Polk, he served in South Korea with the 2nd Infantry Division as a Brigade Engineer Army Bridge. With the 18th Engineer Brigade in Germany, AJ was a company commander of an Army Multi-Role Bridge Company. He deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from September 2006 until December 2007 where his company conducted 30 bridge construction missions over the course of their 15-month deployment. AJ’s last active-duty tour was with the Army Corps of Engineers from 2008-2010, He was initially assigned to Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn, New York and with his final twelve months spent at Fort Drum, New York. In December 2010, AJ transitioned to U.S. Army Reserves at the rank of Major.
In 2010, he began his Army Reserve career as an Engineer Observer-Coach / Trainer (OC/T) and later as a Battalion Operations Officer. Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 2015, AJ initially served as an Intermediate Level Education (ILE) Instructor followed by an assignment in 2018 as an Emergency Planning Liaison Officer (EPLO) for the state of New York. In this role, he helped integrate US Department of Defense assets when called upon to support other government agencies, primarily related to emergency management operations. AJ was mobilized from February to July 2020 to assist with the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic, spending time in Albany and then ultimately in New York City integrating DOD assets into the federal response effort. In 2021, he was mobilized again to New York City, this time assisting with the federal vaccination mission in both Brooklyn and Queens. AJ was promoted to Colonel in 2023 and has since served as the regional lead for Region 2 which includes New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Over the course of his Army career, AJ has received the Bronze Star and three Meritorious Service Medals along with numerous other awards and recognitions.
In his civilian capacity, AJ began working for Institute for Veterans & Military Families (IVMF) at Syracuse University in April 2015, serving in program and operation manager roles until his mobilization in the Army Reserves to support the federal COVID response in 2020. Upon returning to Syracuse University in July 2020, AJ was asked to help lead the university’s response to the COVID pandemic and led the COVID Program Management Office (PMO) until the Fall of 2022. For his contributions to the university’s COVID response, AJ was recognized and awarded the Chancellor’s Medal. In August 2022 when Micron announced their plans to construct the largest semiconductor manufacturing plant in US history right here in Clay, New York, AJ was asked to lead Syracuse University’s Micron Program Management Office. Today, AJ continues to serve as the university’s lead in the Micron PMO. He is married to his wife of twenty-two years, Meghan, who is also a West Point graduate and Army veteran, and they have three children – Addy, James, and Ellie.
