12-31-2011, 08:56 PM
To my friends here at Big Blue,
Tomorrow my signature will change...from LTC to LTC-Retired...as today is my last day serving my country in the armed forces of the United States. I served for 20 years combined in the United States Air Force and the North Carolina Air National Guard. I started my career as a Staff Sergeant at Officer Training School and ended as a Lieutenant Colonel. I've flown five different Air Force aircraft: T-37, T-38, C-9A, C-5A and C-5B, and C-130H2 and C-130H3. And I've flown 189 combat sorties in Iraq and Afghanistan, coming under direct fire several times. And it's time this career comes to an end.
I have served with so many great people, seen so many things, been so many places. I've learned that your true friends will never leave you, nothing you'll ever see replaces the smile of your child, and there really is no place like home. I have missed so much of my children's lives...first words, first steps, successes and accomplishments.
But I'm thankful to have had the privilege to serve my country and hope and pray I somehow made a difference. And thankful that, when it mattered the most, I could do my job under fire and return home to tell of it.
Thank you all for your encouragement, support, and friendship over the years. I'm continuing on in my civilian flying career...but staying closer to home and not half a world away.
To those still serving, to the good folks here with family and friends deployed in harm's way, I earnestly pray for their safety. They are and remain the true heros in our complex world. No matter what branch of the military they serve in, they are the living reminder to us all of MacArthur's words: Duty, Honor, Country.
Most humbly and respectfully,
Mark
Tomorrow my signature will change...from LTC to LTC-Retired...as today is my last day serving my country in the armed forces of the United States. I served for 20 years combined in the United States Air Force and the North Carolina Air National Guard. I started my career as a Staff Sergeant at Officer Training School and ended as a Lieutenant Colonel. I've flown five different Air Force aircraft: T-37, T-38, C-9A, C-5A and C-5B, and C-130H2 and C-130H3. And I've flown 189 combat sorties in Iraq and Afghanistan, coming under direct fire several times. And it's time this career comes to an end.
I have served with so many great people, seen so many things, been so many places. I've learned that your true friends will never leave you, nothing you'll ever see replaces the smile of your child, and there really is no place like home. I have missed so much of my children's lives...first words, first steps, successes and accomplishments.
But I'm thankful to have had the privilege to serve my country and hope and pray I somehow made a difference. And thankful that, when it mattered the most, I could do my job under fire and return home to tell of it.
Thank you all for your encouragement, support, and friendship over the years. I'm continuing on in my civilian flying career...but staying closer to home and not half a world away.
To those still serving, to the good folks here with family and friends deployed in harm's way, I earnestly pray for their safety. They are and remain the true heros in our complex world. No matter what branch of the military they serve in, they are the living reminder to us all of MacArthur's words: Duty, Honor, Country.
Most humbly and respectfully,
Mark
Mark
Citation Latitude Captain
--and--
Lt Colonel, USAF (Retired)
Citation Latitude Captain
--and--
Lt Colonel, USAF (Retired)