Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Interesting

Order of the Sword for Flowers: Air Education and Training Command's enlisted corps inducted retired Maj. Gen. Alfred Flowers into the Order of the Sword—the highest honor the enlisted force can bestow on an officer—during a ceremony at JBSA-Randolph, Tex. "Without question, what General Flowers has contributed to the enlisted force throughout his career, specifically for us in AETC, as the 2nd Air Force commander, and then as he moved on to be the Air Force [financial manager], has certainly furthered [airmen's] development, furthered their ability to meet the demands and needs of our nation," said CMSgt. James Cody, AETC command chief. Flowers, inducted on April 6, last served as the Air Force's deputy assistant secretary for budget. Before his retirement on Jan. 1, he was the longest serving airman in the Air Force's history, with 46 years on active duty, including 13 years as an enlisted airman. "I'm humbled by the experience. This is as good as it gets," said Flowers at the ceremony. He added, "It's the men and women that surrounded me that made me as successful as I became." (San Antonio report by SSgt. Clinton Atkins)
Forty-six years is a long time to serve!  I'm very impressed with General Flowers service and can't imagine me being in the Air Force for that length of time.  OTOH, mebbe I could... because of this:
Anyone retiring after January 1, 2007 with more than 30 years of total active service will receive credit for service over 30 years. For example, a member who served 32 years will receive 80 percent of their retired pay base and a member who has served 42 years will receive 105 percent of their retired pay base. In most cases, there is no longer a cap on the percentage multiplier to be utilized in the computation of retired pay.  (Excerpted from a Military.com article on retired pay)
That means Gen. Flowers draws over $14,000.00 a month in retirement pay.  I don't have any issues with that at all... he earned it.  But I will admit to bein' just a tad envious.

(Current and past military pay scales here)

8 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Agreed, Skip. I liked mine, too... but 22 years was enough.

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  2. *sigh* "Retiring after 2007." Pepper bowed out in 2005 with 35 years.

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    Replies
    1. All y'all have the same sorta luck I do, Moogie.

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  3. That IS interesting, Buck. Must be one helluvaguy, and like Uncle Skip said...really liked what he was doing.

    I can understand it. My Daddy started working at an appliance and TV store for my Granddaddy when he was about 21. He eventually bought it, and ran it until he was about 56, and the Mom & Pop stores became unprofitable. But, I guarandamntee ya', he'd still be doing it now at 77...because he LOVED it. He continued to mess with used appliances until just a few months ago...buying, repairing, selling.

    So, I can understand how General Flowers could stick around that long.

    I hope retirement doesn't kill him.

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    Replies
    1. I hear ya about retirement. Statistically speaking, retirement ain't good for longevity. I fully intend to be an outlier on THAT stat.

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  4. Doing something that you love - maybe that is the key to happiness and possibly longevity.

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Just be polite... that's all I ask.