Bidding the AF Farewell

Monday, 15 August 2011, MSgt Steven Phipps was honored for his nearly 21 years of service to the Air Force and his country prior to his impending retirement.  The retirement ceremony was very impressive and well done.  As the spouse of a retired AF member and former AF civil servant myself, I can't tell you how many retirement ceremony's I have attended; however, there is something very special about ceremony's for your own family members.  It doesn't seem possible that Steve can be retiring shortly until you start adding up all the places he has been and all that he has done in his career.  Congratulations son and best wishes in your new life for this is truly the beginning of another chapter in your life.  Thanks for sharing it with us.

The ceremony was held a bit early so that Cameron and Morgan would be there for it.  They were excited and impressed enough that they behaved like the angels they can be.

It is nice that the Air Force also honors the military members spouse as they also truly serve.

The Air Force retirement pin was not sure it wanted to be pinned on just yet!

The flag ceremony is especially touching and the troops did a great job.  It is not easy to get it just right.

After the ceremony, there was a reception for everyone.  Helen wanted it to be special so she had a spread that included some type of food from every location where Steve served.  There was everything from cucumber kimshi (made by a friend's wife) to baklava to edamame so some of you will be able to tell just a few of the overseas locations Steve lived.

Morgan will try almost anything; Cameron is a little more choosy but he found plenty to try too.

That evening, about 50 friends and relatives joined Steve and Helen at the Boat Yard for a dinner.  It's right on the water so we got to see boats docking including a pirate ship!  Kids loved that.

The food was fantastic and the company great!

Everyone had a great time.

There were two slide shows set to music that covered Steve's life and career which everyone enjoyed seeing.  And there were also some additional presentations.

Right before we left the restaurant, we discovered that a water main broke up the road and the restaurant closed down to everyone except the retirement party.  They handled things so well that we didn't even know that there was a problem.