Commentary: Kentucky Air Guard Public Affairs Officer reflects on 40-year career

Official Statements

• 123rd Airlift Wing, November 12: “Saturday marked my final day in uniform. After 40 years, 8 months and 29 days, I am officially retired from the Kentucky Air National Guard and the United States Air Force.”

• 123rd Airlift Wing, November 12: “I started this journey as an Airman Basic in 1986, assigned to the Kentucky Air Guard’s 165th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron as an imagery production specialist. That’s a fancy term for photographic darkroom tech - I made custom prints from aerial reconnaissance film so intelligence analysts could study potential targets and enemy fortifications. Having had a keen interest in photography since kindergarten and a home darkroom at the age of 12, I don’t think I could have created a better job for myself.”

• 123rd Airlift Wing, November 12: “But the Kentucky Air Guard mission soon changed to tactical airlift, with the C-130s Hercules replacing our RF-4C Phantom IIs. I was moved to the Aerial Port Squadron and trained as an Air Transportation Specialist under the legendary Chief Master Sgt. Tommy Downs.”

• 123rd Airlift Wing, November 12: “As much as I respected the new mission, I was planning to separate when my current enlistment ended. I needed to focus on completing a bachelor’s degree in journalism. But Lt. Col. P.J. Rhodes, at the time serving as vice commander of the 123rd Airlift Wing, talked me into staying with the promise of a new job as NCOIC of public affairs. The post would allow me to serve as editor of the base newspaper and use my photography skills as a photojournalist.”

• 123rd Airlift Wing, November 12: “I’m thankful to this day that Colonel Rhodes saw promise in me way back in 1995. Within two years, I had earned the highest journalism prize in the Department of Defense - a Thomas Jefferson Award for newswriting - and was named Air Force Print Journalist of the Year. The base newspaper also was selected as the top funded publication in the Air Force. Until Saturday, I had been working in Public Affairs ever since. During those 31 years, I produced and published thousands of articles and photos.”

• 123rd Airlift Wing, November 12: “They were recognized with 74 awards of excellence, including five-time Air National Guard Print Journalist of the Year, two-time ANG Civilian Writer of the Year and ANG Photographer of the Year. Along the way, many of my photographs were featured by scores of news outlets, from the Louisville Courier Journal to the Washington Post, the LA Times, ABC News and The Times of London, reaching an audience of tens of millions of people.”

• 123rd Airlift Wing, November 12: “The job - which I regard as the absolute best gig in the Air Force - has taken me to 16 countries to cover military operations on five continents: peace-keeping missions in Bosnia, combat support taskings in the Persian Gulf, partnership-building in South America and an Ebola-response campaign in west Africa. At home, I had the privilege of supporting recovery operations for floods, tornadoes, ice storms and more hurricanes than I can recall.”

• 123rd Airlift Wing, November 12: “Among the most rewarding missions were two deployments to rural Kentucky, where Guard Airmen provided millions of dollars in no-cost health care to chronically underserved Kentuckians who couldn’t otherwise afford it. That’s one of the things I loved most about the Guard: We help our neighbors in their darkest moments, trying every day to leave the world a better place than we found it.”

• 123rd Airlift Wing, November 12: “The Kentucky Air National Guard has been the one constant in my life since I was 19 years old, from Airman Basic to Lieutenant Colonel. It has given me high purpose, which I’m not sure I could have found any other way. And I’ve had the privilege of meeting and working alongside some of the finest human beings on the planet. To my colleagues and fellow Airmen: You have made me a better person with your sense of integrity, commitment to service and pursuit of excellence.”

• 123rd Airlift Wing, November 12: “I take comfort in knowing that the next generation of Airmen will step up to do incredible things at the 123rd Airlift Wing. The public affairs team has more talent now than I’ve ever seen, with world-class skills and limitless potential. The future is in good hands. It has been an honor and a privilege to serve.”