John Szoka is a former NC State Representative and former Energy and Public Utilities Chairman and energy policy expert.

Szoka is a graduate of West Point, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Infantry. He served over 20 years as an Infantry Officer, retiring from active duty in 1996 as a Lieutenant Colonel.  Ranger and Airborne qualified, Mr. Szoka served in a variety of command and staff positions during his career; and in 1985 he earned a Masters Degree in Operations Research from the University of Texas at Austin.

Since his retirement from active duty, he has owned several successful small businesses, including his current company, Falcon37, which manufactures charging handles for AR-15 rifles.

Representative Szoka and his wife, Laurie, also a retired Army officer and a Nurse Practitioner, reside in Fayetteville, North Carolina and have two grown children, Hunter and Morgan.