MSgt. S. Retirement Ceremony | US Air Force | Delaware Photographer

The Call To Duty

Every year there are many young men and women who take the oath to serve and protect our country. They are the brave and strong individuals who are willing to put their lives on the line and risk it all to spread and preserve freedom. When these young people join the service, no matter what branch they sign up for, they aren’t sure where this journey will take them. The day they take the oath to join the military is only the first step in what can be a very prosperous future.

Retirement

As the years go by, the pieces of the unknown journey fall into place. There were opportunities for job training and college education, travel, relocating to new places and leadership possibilities. While all of these are great things, there is still one thing that is probably most memorable of them all… camaraderie. Over all the years, there will be people that they make personal connections with. They are the people they see almost daily, and become like a second family. These close friends are part of what makes their time in service memorable and fun. Through everything the service member experiences, their spouse and children are right there with them. They are involved in all of the ups and downs together. They are the ultimate support system for the service member. During the retirement ceremony, many friends and family members are there to celebrate the accomplishments and years of service that this once, young man/woman, committed themselves to. Their retirement ceremony honors all that they and their families have done throughout their years of service to maintain their oath, create better communities, serve, protect and expand freedom.

An Honor

Recently, there have been a lot of cuts in the Air Force’s budget. One of the things that was cut from the budget was paying for a photographer to photograph retirement ceremonies. This means the families have to hire their own professional photographer if they wish to have one at the ceremony. When we were asked to photograph MSgt. S’s ceremony, we were delighted. My husband knows MSgt. S, and was happy to do the photos for him. We think everyone deserves to have great photos, especially for memorable occasions in their lives such as this one. As you can see above, there were quite a few special moments captured and much more than what we can share on the blog. It meant a lot to be asked to photograph his ceremony and we want to thank him and his family for their service.