Military Retirement Ceremony

This post is for all those who have never had the opportunity to attend a military retreat or retirement ceremony.
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to help with the planning and execution of a retirement ceremony for our vice wing commander, Col Stephen Wolborsky. He had served is country honorably in the United States Air Force for 26 years and the intent was to give him a fitting tribute.

I had the honor of being the narrator for the event.

Here are some of those in attendance for the event.

During the retirement ceremony, Col Wolborsky was presented with the Legion of Merit decoration, as well as a retirement certificate, a letter from the president and since the Air Force does think families are important, a letter to his wife, for her support of his career.

The ceremony was officiated by Major General Rice, who flew in from Hawaii and also presented Col Wolborsky with the medal and all of those certificates.

He also had a chance to tell some anecdotes from his long (and very distinguished) Air Force career. You can tell that he’s a very animated story teller.

At the conclusion of the retirement ceremony, we had a retreat ceremony. The honor guard took the colors down, while the wing rendered the appropriate military custom.


The honor guard also did a flag folding ceremony for him. The wing staff also gave Col Wolborsky the flag as a token of their appreciation.

The flag was retired and presented to Maj Gen Rice, who in turn, presented it to Col Wolborsky.

A the end of the ceremony, a jet flying in the local exercise that had just ended coincidentally flew over and gave a fitting impromptu aerial display.


It was a very fitting tribute to the man who had done so much for the base. It was an honor to have worked with and for him.
–Jim
Note: many thanks to the base photographers who made these pictures.