Executive Biography of Johnny Pantages

Johnny Pantages left Texas in 1968 after a semester in junior college and a ski trip to New Mexico. When a U.S. Army draft notice showed up, he joined the Air Force, went to jump school, ground radio repair school, and, in May of 1970, shipped off to Vietnam as a jump-qualified Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) member. Upon returning to the States, Sgt. Pantages was assigned to a USAF Combat Control Team (CCT). Within a year, he returned to the Pacific and Asia for duty in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines, and Micronesia.

The next 20 years were spent jumping, diving, and blowing things up, with half of his career in Southeast Asia and the other half in the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) compound at Fort Bragg, where he retired in 1990 after receiving a Bronze Star for Valor during the 1983 Grenada campaign. Johnny was a plank holder and, for several years, an operator in the current 24th Special Tactics Squadron, where he retrained as an Air Traffic Controller (ATC).

He finished his Air Force career as a Senior Master Sergeant (E8) assigned to the Operations Directorate (J3R), overseeing equipment development projects for joint special operations missions specializing in computer communications, night vision, and laser targeting systems. After receiving an MA degree in Information Systems, Johnny retired and became a contractor as a Requirements Analyst for Hilton Systems Inc. on a contract supporting the Special Operations Special Technology (SOST) program at Indian Head, Maryland.

In June 1991, Johnny and his original partner, Denzel “Jack” Parsons, incorporated WinTec Inc., now WinTec Arrowmaker, Inc., and established its headquarters at Fort Washington, MD.

Mr. Pantages is grateful to all those WinTec employees and friends who have helped build the company and made valuable contributions to our country’s military capability. He and WinTec have benefited greatly from the company’s senior leadership, which over the years has included VPs Gerald “Jerry” Uttaro, Alvin “Bernie” Bean, and Michael “Mike” Zonfrelli.