The Pilot’s retirement ceremony and festivities

Sharing a recap of the Pilot’s retirement festivities. After just under 22 years in the Air Force, he’s done! 

I’ve started this post a few times and have so much to say, so I ended up splitting it into two posts: a recap of the Pilot’s amazing military career and everything we did to celebrate + my thoughts and experience with the military wife life.

This is a day we’ve been excited about for a while, and we are so grateful that so many friends and family were able to celebrate with us.

A pic of so many people we love who came to celebrate with us:

The Pilot retired a couple of weeks ago, and we had a whole weekend to celebrate this significant milestone. Family started flying in on Wednesday afternoon and evening, so we just caught up with drinks and Zinburger here at the house. Thursday, we had a family pickleball party at Corbett’s with tons of apps and some friendly pickleball competition. We came back here for dinner, and Friday was the big day.

He had the standard “fini flight,” which is your final flight in the squadron. He led a four-ship of some of his closest friends around Tucson, got to fire the gun a few more times, and we were able to head to the flightline to watch him land. Everyone cheered as they flew overhead, it was pretty emotional.

He taxied over to park the jet for the last time, and waved at everyone, Top Gun style.

One of his closest crew chief friends came in from Vegas for the day to be his crew chief one final time.

We sprayed him down with water and champagne,

took a million pics

 

(love these ladies so much)

(the Pilot’s best friends since he was 7 years old)

and then headed inside for the official ceremony.

I wasn’t quite sure how they’d consolidate his incredible career into a short ceremony, but they did an incredible job. The short version: he had 3,400 hours in the A-10, four deployments, 7 1/2 years teaching at the A-10 schoolhouse, a Bronze Star and multiple meritorious service medals. He was an Instructor Pilot, Evaluator (can give check rides to other pilots), Combat Search and Rescue, and Forward Air Controller.

Even with all of his accomplishments on paper, I got to truly see the behind-the-scenes of everything he did as a squadron commander for the past three years. He was constantly on the phone checking in and sorting out problems, on his computer all hours of the night, and genuinely cared about everyone in the squadron. He helped other through severe illness and huge life changes, helped those transitioning find new opportunities and employment, wrote awards, helped with retirements and transitions, and provided constant support for the squadron. He did all of this while working hard to try and balance everything with family life.

It was an honor to be by his side, and I’m proud of his accomplishments and his leadership.

After the ceremony, it was party time! We headed to the squadron bar where we had catering by Hawaiin Bros (an ode to the roots of the 47th squadron), the most epic cake and cupcakes by Village Bakehouse

(it had all of the patches for every squadron he’s been a part of)

and they did some more awards inside.

Everyone went home to chill and regroup, and then we did an open house at Three Canyon, a local beer garden with live music. I thought friends and family would pop in and say hi and leave when they’d like (especially since we’d been on base for most of the day), but our friends all showed up and closed down the restuarant with us. It was epic.

The next day, I planned a few optional events for friends and family who were in town: a hike at Sabino Canyon,

P’s basketball game (she couldn’t miss her club games since they’re in a tournament),

and dinner at El Charro.

For our group of 25, El Charro truly went above and beyond. I booked the reservation a couple of months in advance, and they had us in the back room with a set menu.

Kids’ table:

Everyone got salads, guacamole, salsa, chips, and green chile cheese crisps, and then had the option of enchiladas, tacos, or tamales. We did pitchers of margaritas for the tables and everything was super easy, so fresh, and so good. It was the perfect way to cap off the weekend!

I’ve had a few questions about what the Pilot is going to do now that he’s retired from the Air Force. He’s taking the next couple of months off, and then he’s heading back to the commerical airline world. For now, he’s enjoying some well-deserved X-box time with his friends, extra naps, and just taking it easy. After so many years of such a high stress lifestyle, I’m so happy he’s getting the chance to chill a little.

xoxo

Gina

*All of the fini flight and ceremony photos are by the amazing Kristi Harris