Brian Schwartz is a handy guy to have around. He can design your home and fix the F-16 you have parked in the garage.

Yes, there is a connection.

Schwartz said he has been a drawer for about as long as he can remember, and airplanes are among his favorite subjects. While in high school, he decided to join the Air National Guard to help pay his way through college. He has a degree in architecture from Iowa State University.

“I turned wrenches on F-16s when in college, then I faced a tough decision whether to stay in (the Air National Guard) for 20 years, or throw in the towel,” he said.

Schwartz cautions that he was mostly a glorified grease monkey as a fighter jet mechanic, but the experience did lead to a trip of a lifetime.

When ISU students would express an interest in joining the National Guard, Schwartz would tell them about his experiences, take them for a tour of the base and drop them off at the recruiting office if they thought they wanted to sign up.

When three decided to enlist and said they were doing so because of Schwartz, he earned a trip on an F-16. 

“Before that, I had sat in the plane, just not when it was running,” he said.

Schwartz might be understating his expertise as a mechanic when saying he was mostly a grease monkey. He was named maintenance airman of the year while in the Air National Guard.

One thing he does not understate, though, is the impact his sister Stacey Kehrt has had on his life. This is worth a mention, because with 6 1/2 years difference in their ages, he was a full-blown pesky little brother.

“I did my best to bother her every way I could,” he said.

Schwartz visited Stacey while she was in college, consulted with her before joining the Air National Guard, and “she had to get along with my wife,” Jennifer.

“She paved the way for me,” he said.

Now, Schwartz is paving the way for others, B.J. Baker, chairman and CEO of Baker Group, said. “He leads by example through hard work and by bringing the best to those around him.”

Reasons he’s a forty:

• “He is willing to get down in the trenches and work on programs and events for various organizations,” BJ Baker, chairman and CEO, Baker Group.
• He is a project coach for the Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute; he was a member of the 2009-20110 leadership program.
• He assists with Habitat for Humanity projects.
• He volunteers for the Boot Camp for New Dads program at Mercy Medical Center — Des Moines.