FORT STEWART, Ga. - "When people ask me, 'What do you do'' The answer that I give is, 'What am I doing today''"
Throughout his life, Maj. James Galluzzo, 3rd Sustainment Brigade S-1 officer, has been in a position to acquire more than superficial understanding about many different interests. Some might say he is a jack of all trades, a factotum, a modern day Renaissance Man.
"I guess that's the classical term for a guy that has his hand in a lot of different things," said Maj. Galluzzo. "I've never actually considered myself that. I'm just involved in a lot of activities."
A native of Salem, N.H., Maj. Galluzzo attended school in upstate New York at Clarkson University. He began his Army career as a field artillery officer at Fort Sill, Okla. Since then he has been stationed all across the United States and Germany with his wife, Melissa and 10-year-old daughter, Cate.
Besides being a field artillery officer, he has also worked as an Eurasian Foreign Area Officer and commander of the Fort Lee Military Entrance Processing Station; he has graduated from the Defense Language Institute; he is learning Russian; and he has earned his master's degree in business administration.
"I work best when really busy, and when I have a lot of stuff going, because it keeps my mind challenged," he said. "There are lots of things that interest me. I never want to say, 'I am going to close that door and never have an opportunity to do that.' So the more things I have exposure to, the more options I have. It's always a good idea to have options, to do whatever it is you want to do in life."
And options are one thing that he has in spades.
"I sing in my church choir, I have been participating in community theater for 20 years, I obtained my private pilot's license in Kansas and also I'm a member of the National Youth Sports Coaching Association," said Maj. Galluzzo.
Major Galluzzo has been heavily involved in his church since he was a child. He teaches Sunday School, is involved with Bible Study and sings in the choir at his current church, the United Methodist Church in Richmond Hill, Ga.
His uncle, who is a professional stagehand, and his mother, who did community theater and was a choreographer, encouraged him to take tap dancing, which he did for seven years as a child. This led to him participating in community theater. He has been in many roles in the theater including actor, stage and set builder, designer, lighting, sound technician and even director.
While at Fort Lee, his Army theater troupe was rated best theater production in the Army for the Sound of Music, where Maj. Galluzzo played the character, Uncle Max.
But Maj. Galluzzo's broad spectrum of hobbies doesn't stop with the arts. Obtaining his private pilot's license also piqued his interest. So when he attended the Command and General Staff College, that's exactly what he did.
"Normally, most officers will obtain their master's degree while there, but I already had a master's degree, so I wanted to do something that was challenging, something that was a little outside of my normal box," he said.
There are two Army pilot clubs or flying clubs; one in Fort Leavenworth, Kan. and the other one in Aberdeen, Md., he said.
"This gave me the opportunity take the lessons and learn how to fly."
Also, being a member of the National Youth Sports Coaching Association, he has the opportunity to coach basketball, soccer and softball.
Currently, Maj. Galluzzo is the 3rd Sustainment Brigade's S1 OIC. This is his first divisional assignment, he said, and enjoys the opportunity to be here.
"I really enjoy working with the Soldiers in the S1 shop. They're some the best I've ever worked with," he said. "There is a lot of potential and I'm excited to part of this team."
"I've always said that the military is a finite career, and at some point, I'll no longer be in the military," he said. "When that day comes, I want to know that I have more than one thing that I can do when I leave the military. I can go on and do whatever additional career that I'm going to do."
This is why when someone asks Maj. James Galluzzo, the pilot, the coach, the Soldier, the husband and the father, 'What do you do'' The best answer he can give is, 'What am I doing today''
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