Following high school, Shankwitz enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, was stationed in England, and received an Honorable Discharge in 1965.
In 1975, Shankwitz was transferred to the Phoenix area to be part of a new 10-man Motorcycle Tactical Unit designed to work throughout the state.
For the next seven years, whenever assigned to small towns, Shankwitz would visit local grade schools and talk about bicycle safety and let the children sit on his motorcycle.
In 1980, Shankwitz was one of the primary officers from the Arizona Highway Patrol who was involved in making the "wish" of seven-year-old Chris Greicius, who had end stage leukemia at the time, come true.
Greicius wanted to be a Highway Patrol Motorcycle Officer like his heroes, Ponch and Jon from the television show, CHiPs.
[11] In 2010, Shankwitz was featured in Brad Meltzer's book, Heroes For My Son, identified as one of the 52 people who have made a difference in the world.
[16] In 2019, BBC Outlook Weekend interviewed Shankwitz about surviving his own challenging childhood, developing his philosophy of giving back, his brush with death, and his work, mentioning the film about his life, Wish Man.