Sharing a summary of the pilot’s retirement festivities. After a little less than 22 years in the Air Force, he finished!
I started this post several times and I have so much to say, so I ended up dividing it into two articles: a summary of the incredible military career of the pilot and everything we have done to celebrate + My thoughts and my experience with Life military life.
It’s a day that has surrounded us for some time, and we are so grateful that so many friends and family could have celebrated with us.
A photo of so many people that we love who came to celebrate with us:
The pilot retired a few weeks ago and we had an entire weekend to celebrate this important step. The family started flying on Wednesday afternoon and evening, so we just caught up drinks and zinburger here at home. Thursday, we organized a family party at the Corbett with tons of applications and a friendly pickleball competition. We came back here for dinner and Friday was the big day.
He had the standard “Flight finish”, which is your last flight in the squadron. He led a four ships from some of his friends closest to Tucson, managed to pull the pistol several times, and we were able to head to the flight line to watch him land. Everyone applauded while flying above, it was quite emotional.
He rolled to park the jet for the last time and made a sign from everyone, Top gun style.
One of his closest crew chief friends came from Vegas for the day to be his team leader one last time.
We sprayed it with water and champagne,
took a million photos
(Love these ladies so much)
(Pilot’s best friends since the age of 7)
Then went inside for the official ceremony.
I was not sure how they would consolidate his incredible career in a short ceremony, but they did an incredible job. The short version: he had 3,400 hours in the A-10, four deployments, 7 and a half teachers at the A-10 school, a bronze star and several meritorious service medals. He was an instructor pilot, assessor (can make control trips to other pilots), combat research and rescue and the front air controller.
Even with all his achievements on paper, I have really been behind the scenes of everything he has done as squadron commander in the past three years. He was constantly on the phone to check and sort the problems, on his computer every hour of the night, and really cared for everyone in the squadron. He helped others through serious illnesses and enormous life changes, helped transition to find new opportunities and new jobs, have written prices, retired and transitions and provided a Constant support for the squadron. He did all this while working hard to try to balance everything with family life.
It was an honor to be by his side, and I am proud of his achievements and his leadership.
After the ceremony, it was time for the party! We headed for the squadron bar where we had the restoration of Hawaiin Bros (an ode to the roots of the 47th squadron), the most epic cake and the Village Bakehouse Cupcakes
(There were all the patches for each squadron of which he is a part)
And they made other prices inside.
Everyone returned home to relax and regroup, then we made an open day in Three Canyon, a local outdoor coffee with live music. I thought that friends and family entered and said hello and left when they would like it (especially since we were on the basis for most of the day), but our friends were all presented and closed the restaurateur With us. It was epic.
The next day, I planned some optional events for friends and family who were in town: a hike in Sabino Canyon,
The basketball match of P (she could not miss her club games because they are in a tournament),
and dinner in El Charro.
For our 25-year-old group, El Charro really went beyond. I reserved the reservation a few months in advance and they had us in the back room with a defined menu.
Children’s table:
Everyone obtained salads, guacamole, salsa, fries and cheese chips with green chili, then had the possibility of enchiladas, tacos or tamals. We made Margaritas pitchers for the tables and everything was super easy, so fresh and so good. It was the ideal way to top the weekend!
I had a few questions about what the pilot will do now that he has retired from the Air Force. He takes the next two months off and then returns to the world of the commercial airline. For the moment, he is enjoying a well-deserved X-Box time with his friends, additional naps and just relaxing. After so many years of such a high lifestyle, I am so happy that he is lucky to relax a little.
xoxo
Gina
* All the photos of finish Flight and Ceremony are incredible Kristi Harris
