Air Force Veteran’s War Injuries Lead to a Career in Banking

Originally published on U.S. Bank company blog

When Anthony Winfield was in high school, he was offered something many teenage boys dream about, a college scholarship to play baseball. But Winfield, who is now a U.S. Bank branch manager, had something else in mind.

Winfield and Maizy recently completed training to be certified as a service dog team.

“I had a plan,” Winfield said. “I wanted to do 20 years in the military and then retire.”

He enlisted in the Air Force and for 13 years, things went according to that plan. Winfield lived the military life, with assignments in the U.S., South Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan, where his plan changed dramatically.

While stationed at Bagram Airfield, then the largest U.S. base in Afghanistan, Winfield and his team were on a mission that involved climbing a stair tower. A rocket exploded into them and Winfield plummeted to the ground, landing on his back and sustaining critical injuries.

He completed his deployment and was assigned to Fort Dix in New Jersey, but the injuries eventually took their toll.

The explosion left Winfield partially deaf, with nerve damage and multiple back injuries. A series of surgeries followed, including a failed spinal fusion and electrical nerve stimulation.

Winfield wanted to stay in the Air Force, but was given a medical retirement despite his protests.

“I even went to Texas to petition the military board,” he said. “I was crushed.”

Following the military retirement, Winfield’s wife, Danielle, wanted to move back home to Ohio and they settled in the Cleveland area with their children, Emilia and Brennen.

“I said to her, ‘You have followed me around my entire career, now it’s time for me to follow you.,’” he said.

Winfield spent the next six years working in auto sales management but wasn’t happy, he said.

Winfield’s brother, Andre Thompson, a mortgage retail branch manager for U.S. Bank a couple hours away in Columbus, urged him to apply for an open branch manager role at the U.S. Bank branch inside a Walmart in Parma. Winfield joined the bank in January 2023.

“Anthony may be newer to banking, but his experience as a strong people leader shines through in all that he does,” said Kayleigh Musil, U.S. Bank district manager in Ohio. “His servant leadership style fosters a team culture of positivity and confidence, inspiring those he leads. He embodies our core values so naturally and inspires those around him to do the same. I'm so grateful to have Anthony on the Lake Erie South team.”

To help deal with daily hardships from the injuries he sustained in the military, Winfield recently purchased a service animal, a young German shepherd named Maizy that Winfield brings to work.

Winfield and Maizy have completed training to be certified as a service dog team, and he is benefitting from his canine companion, he said.

“I want people to know there’s help regardless of what they are experiencing,” Winfield said.

Learn more about branch manager careers at U.S. Bank.