NRC West Palm Beach, Fla. –
Ensign Luke Galbicka joined the Navy Reserve in 2015. Like many other Sailors, he joined to fulfill his desire for adventure and to get out of his comfort zone. His current unit is Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command, Jacksonville, which maintains the Navy’s warfighting readiness through providing extraordinary patient care to service members. He drills at Navy Reserve Center (NRC) West Palm Beach.
Galbicka reached a personal goal when he transitioned from the enlisted ranks as a Hospital Corpsman 1st Class to a commissioned officer as an ensign in the Nurse Corps.
“Since commissioning recently, I now function as a nurse in both my naval and civilian careers,” said Galbicka. On the civilian side, he is a travel registered nurse specializing in medical surgery.
“Although nursing and corpsman have many similarities, [my career] is now simpler because my scope of practice is identical in both my careers, whereas it varied when I was enlisted,” said Galbicka.
Even though he has come this far in his 7-year career in the Navy, Galbicka doesn’t have any plans to settle for his latest achievements. He already has more long-term goals in mind.
“I am contemplating pursuing more education,” said Galbicka. “Potentially a Master of Nursing as a Nurse Educator or Nurse Practitioner. My goal is to advance to commander or higher [before] I retire.”
As a nurse, he has found himself to be a natural servant at heart, which explains his choice to pursue nursing. In effort to unite his values with career, he earned an Associate of Science in Nursing at the Indian River State College in 2018. He later earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Grand Canyon University in 2021.
Galbicka’s active duty experience as a Navy Reserve Sailor entailed a year of active duty for operational support orders as the funeral honors coordinator for NRC West Palm Beach. He had the honor and privilege to partake in more than 450 Navy funeral services.
“It’s challenging to describe how meaningful it has been to support the Funeral Honors mission whether sounding Taps, or folding and presenting our National Ensign to our grieving shipmate’s family members,” said Galbicka.
On his many travels, he’s been to several states and a couple countries, to include Bahrain and Guam on multiple occasions. He emphasizes the joy and honor he feels to wear the U.S. Navy uniform and encourages all of his shipmates to continue to do the same.
“I have grown in many positive ways thanks to the Navy Reserve,” said Galbicka. “I have learned to be a far better leader and example. From E-3 to now O-1E, the Navy Reserve has helped me grow in my nursing career exponentially. I tell many people, 'The Navy Reserve is similar to life; you get out what you put in.'” #ReadyNow