User Panel
Posted: 9/1/2015 6:09:13 AM EDT
Yes, that includes leap days. 26 years, 17 days of wearing USAF blue.
I came on active duty on the 14th of August, 1989. Since then, I’ve had 25 different jobs at 15 different locations, only three of which were both above ground AND had windows. I've served under 12 USAF Chief of Staffs, 9 Secretaries of Defense, and five presidents, with my commission signed by a sixth (All Hail Renaldus Magnus!). I’ve done 27 promotions, nine reenlistments, 31 commissionings, one retirement, and one court martial (not mine), I've spent 279 days on nuclear alert, 300-ish days on space operations crew, 357 days deployed to Afghanistan, and served a three-year sentence at the Pentagon with no time off for good behavior. I’ve been a crew commander, flight commander, detachment commander, instructor, evaluator, educator, staff officer, operations officer, and snack bar officer. In my time in the Air Force, I’ve learned that at 30 below, a boiling hot cup of coffee thrown in the air will freeze before it hits the ground, I’ve had lunch with the Afghan Army Chief of the General Staff, I’ve visited some of the biggest nuclear weapons facilities in the country, I’ve had to figure out the best way to get a dead cow out of a sewage lagoon, and I spent one really fun Christmas Eve answering the phones for the annual NORAD Tracks Santa event, earning the undying gratitude of parents by telling their kids they had to go to bed RIGHT NOW or he’d pass them by. And I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat. Except for the Pentagon tour. The really funny thing is I never planned on making it a career—it just happened that every time I was wondering what the next step was, the Air Force promoted me and sent us off to another cool assignment in a great place that made it worth sticking around. So, here I am, a quarter century later, a lot more grey hair and a lot lower PT test scores than when I started, but MAN, was it a fun ride. Except for the Pentagon tour. Anyway, I’ve had a great run, but it’s time for someone else to sign for the alert. Limaxray, Lt Col, USAF, and as of today, (Ret). |
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That's a lot of days. Congrats and thanks for your service.
Enjoy retirement. You spent more time in the military than I've been alive |
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Congratulations on your retirement,Sir!!! enjoy it!! you've earned it!!!
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Thank you for your service, and enjoy your well earned retirement
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Congrats. Treat yourself to something nice.
Felt strange to me, at first, when I retired but I got in the civ groove pretty quick. A buddy just retired lat year at 30 and took a year off to decompress. He's just now getting back in the game, but on his own terms. |
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Quoted:
Congrats. Treat yourself to something nice. Felt strange to me, at first, when I retired but I got in the civ groove pretty quick. A buddy just retired lat year at 30 and took a year off to decompress. He's just now getting back in the game, but on his own terms. View Quote Funny story, that "civilian groove" thing. No idea what you're talking about. I took six weeks off during terminal leave, did the whole beard and no haircut thing. Hung around the house and harassed the wife. Three weeks ago I shaved it all off, put my blues back on, and went back to work...as an AFJROTC instructor. So not only am I still doing the USAF thing, I had my first day of high school....again. |
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Quoted:
Funny story, that "civilian groove" thing. No idea what you're talking about. I took six weeks off during terminal leave, did the whole beard and no haircut thing. Hung around the house and harassed the wife. Three weeks ago I shaved it all off, put my blues back on, and went back to work...as an AFJROTC instructor. So not only am I still doing the USAF thing, I had my first day of high school....again. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
Quoted:
Congrats. Treat yourself to something nice. Felt strange to me, at first, when I retired but I got in the civ groove pretty quick. A buddy just retired lat year at 30 and took a year off to decompress. He's just now getting back in the game, but on his own terms. Funny story, that "civilian groove" thing. No idea what you're talking about. I took six weeks off during terminal leave, did the whole beard and no haircut thing. Hung around the house and harassed the wife. Three weeks ago I shaved it all off, put my blues back on, and went back to work...as an AFJROTC instructor. So not only am I still doing the USAF thing, I had my first day of high school....again. Still wearing a uniform and having to put up with kids? That doesn't sound like retirement |
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Thank you for your service sir, and for not dropping that nuke
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26 yrs, 17 days, you retire and immediately get a job in the uniform again?
Lifer |
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Congratulations on a great career and thanks for your service! Enjoy your new life... |
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The wife's uncle is a retired army lt. Col. And he is doing the same for a jrotc in Cheyenne.
Congrats, Sir. |
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Like others have already said, congrats and thank you for serving your country
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Congratulations to you. Rest easy and enjoy yourself, sounds like you earned it.
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Congrats, sounds impressive to me.
When I retire, it's going to be a story of how many different cubicles I had... |
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And I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat. View Quote Congrats Colonel! That's a life well-lived. Now enjoy retirement. |
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Wait what- that wasn't really Santa being tracked???
JK- thank you for your service, Sir! |
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Congrats!
Now I've got to hear why that pentagon tour was so awful. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Makes My '82-'86 of Flight Line slavery seem pretty puny! The Ol' Crew Chief |
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Thank you for your service!
Are you planning on getting a civilian job, or is it a real retirement? |
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Congratulations. Can you tell us about living underground and what that was like?
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Quoted:
Yes, that includes leap days. 26 years, 17 days of wearing USAF blue. I came on active duty on the 14th of August, 1989. Since then, I’ve had 25 different jobs at 15 different locations, only three of which were both above ground AND had windows. I've served under 12 USAF Chief of Staffs, 9 Secretaries of Defense, and five presidents, with my commission signed by a sixth (All Hail Renaldus Magnus!). I’ve done 27 promotions, nine reenlistments, 31 commissionings, one retirement, and one court martial (not mine), I've spent 279 days on nuclear alert, 300-ish days on space operations crew, 357 days deployed to Afghanistan, and served a three-year sentence at the Pentagon with no time off for good behavior. I’ve been a crew commander, flight commander, detachment commander, instructor, evaluator, educator, staff officer, operations officer, and snack bar officer. In my time in the Air Force, I’ve learned that at 30 below, a boiling hot cup of coffee thrown in the air will freeze before it hits the ground, I’ve had lunch with the Afghan Army Chief of the General Staff, I’ve visited some of the biggest nuclear weapons facilities in the country, I’ve had to figure out the best way to get a dead cow out of a sewage lagoon, and I spent one really fun Christmas Eve answering the phones for the annual NORAD Tracks Santa event, earning the undying gratitude of parents by telling their kids they had to go to bed RIGHT NOW or he’d pass them by. And I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat. Except for the Pentagon tour. The really funny thing is I never planned on making it a career—it just happened that every time I was wondering what the next step was, the Air Force promoted me and sent us off to another cool assignment in a great place that made it worth sticking around. So, here I am, a quarter century later, a lot more grey hair and a lot lower PT test scores than when I started, but MAN, was it a fun ride. Except for the Pentagon tour. Anyway, I’ve had a great run, but it’s time for someone else to sign for the alert. Limaxray, Lt Col, USAF, and as of today, (Ret). View Quote |
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