{"id":2213,"date":"2013-09-28T10:18:36","date_gmt":"2013-09-28T10:18:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bucksurdu.com\/blog\/?p=2213"},"modified":"2013-09-28T10:18:36","modified_gmt":"2013-09-28T10:18:36","slug":"my-formal-retirement-ceremony-from-the-us-army","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/2013\/09\/28\/my-formal-retirement-ceremony-from-the-us-army\/","title":{"rendered":"My Formal Retirement Ceremony from the US Army"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"MG<\/a>
MG Greene presenting my retirement certificate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On 26 September 2013 I participated in my formal retirement ceremony conducted by the Old Guard at Conmy Hall at Ft. Myer, VA. \u00a0More pictures can be found at\u00a0http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/theoldguard\/sets\/72157635920974634\/.<\/p>\n

\"Marcel<\/a>
Marcel "Frenchy" Lettre, Tommy, and Candy before the ceremony began<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Many family, friends, and co-workers attended, including Marcel “Frenchy” Lettre, who was my battalion commander when I was a company commander (above); my parents, mother-in-law, sister, and brother-in-law; a couple of folks I wargame with; and many of the people with whom I have been working.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Old Guard color party<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I was disappointed when I learned that the ceremony would be indoors, but with the lowered lights and spotlights, the ceremony was terrific.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Old Guard fife and drum corps<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The US Army Band, "Pershing's Own"<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"MG<\/a>
MG Greene providing comments on retirement from active duty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The presiding officer for these ceremonies is selected from the (many!) general officers stationed in the national capital region. \u00a0I was pleasantly surprised to know the presiding officer for my ceremony. \u00a0I had first worked with COL Greene when I was a PM at DARPA and he was PM Battle Command at Ft. Monmouth. \u00a0Then, when I was Chief of Staff for Research, Development, and Engineering Command, BG Greene was our deputy commander. \u00a0In fact, I attended his promotion ceremony to BG. \u00a0Now he is a major general working for the chief of Army acquisition. \u00a0He had nice comments to make to all us retiring soldiers and our families.<\/p>\n

\"Thirty<\/a>
Thirty nine soldiers lined up to receive retirement certificates and flags<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thirty nine of us held our retirement ceremony Thursday morning. \u00a0Each of us received a retirement certificate and a folded US flag individually. \u00a0People asked why I opted for the ceremony at Ft. Myer rather than doing something at Ft. Meade. \u00a0First, at Ft. Meade it can be difficult to get visitors through the gates. \u00a0I think those who attended the ceremony would agree that it would be difficult to top the send off provided by the Old Guard.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The calm before the storm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The ceremony was in the middle of the day, so we scheduled a party for the evening when we thought more people would be able to attend. \u00a0 When the smoke cleared, we think we had about 80 people attend. \u00a0Mark Ryan (right in the picture above) gets the award for having travelled the farthest to attend. \u00a0He tarred his driveway in the morning on Long Island, drove almost six hours to the party, stayed until about 2100, and then drove four hours home.<\/p>\n

\"Candy<\/a>
Candy giving instructions to Hannah, who generally managed the food during the party so we could concentrate on our guests<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When I was a PM, we used to host about three events this size each year. \u00a0We quickly found that we spent so much time managing the food platters and drinks that we never got to spend time with our guests. \u00a0We typically hire a girl we know who we think can keep up with everything to manage this part of the party for us. \u00a0For this party, Hannah did a very good job helping us manage the party, keeping trays full, reheating food, taking out trash, etc.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

While the guests initially broke into their “comfort” groups, we did try to encourage intermingling.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It was a nice day, despite my mixed feelings about taking off the uniform. \u00a0I will have to adjust to being “just another guy.” \u00a0Yesterday, I was in the mall and I was joking to my daughter that I didn’t want to go into a store with her that had “Navy” in the name. \u00a0She said “you’re not in the Army any more.” \u00a0That’s not exactly true. \u00a0A retiree from the Army is subject to recall to active duty until age 60. \u00a0More importantly, the Army isn’t just a job, or even a profession. \u00a0It’s even more than the camaraderie based on shared suffering, experiences, and accomplishments — even if any two people have never actually served together. \u00a0It’s a way of life, and there are many aspects of being a soldier and being a colonel that I will miss as I change my signature block from “Colonel, US Army” to “Colonel, US Army, Retired.” \u00a0I’ve been wearing the uniform of this nation for 32 years, beginning as a cadet at West Point. \u00a0While you can take the soldier out of the Army, I don’t think you can ever take the Army out of the soldier.<\/p>\n

\"Getting<\/a>
Getting ready for work my last day in the Army Combat Uniform<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On a side note, I had lost my dog tags in an airport screening machine at BWI airport and didn’t notice it until the next day. \u00a0I’ve had that same set of dog tags for more than 20 years, and I wear them every day, including my time in Iraq, Korea, and Italy, through jump school and Ranger school, during hundreds of days in the field, so I was sad to lose them two days before my retirement. \u00a0Yesterday, I got a hold of TSA lost and found at BWI and learned that they found my dog tags, so I will be able to pick them up today. \u00a0After almost 30 years I have an emotional attachment to them, and I was sad that I might have lost them. \u00a0I guess that’s what comes of clean living. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On 26 September 2013 I participated in my formal retirement ceremony conducted by the Old Guard at Conmy Hall at Ft. Myer, VA. \u00a0More pictures can be found at\u00a0http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/theoldguard\/sets\/72157635920974634\/. Many family, friends, and co-workers attended, including Marcel “Frenchy” Lettre, who was my battalion commander when I was a company commander (above); my parents, mother-in-law, sister, … Continue reading My Formal Retirement Ceremony from the US Army<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2213"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2213\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}