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| "Once an MSC, always an MSC" - Charles W. Brown III, Colonel, USAF, MSC, Retired |
After Colorado, Ben had a tour in Africa then left the Air Force to attend Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in German. From there, he studied law at UT Austin and then passed bar exams in Colorado and Texas. He was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to study German/American comparative law for two years in Germany and has since been practicing law in San Antonio.
The Air Force has given me Ben and Cindy Buecker as friends and I am grateful they are here to join us tonight some 20 years later. I am proud of their friendship and very proud of my association with all of you here. I am still learning from you and I will miss that the most.
My time here, and Air Force career are complete and I want to pay tribute to some of those who have taught me so much through the years. As a way of doing this, I will say a little about what I have learned.
I remember a retirement parade in 1965, on the hot, hot ground at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico. My first boss, Technical Sergeant J.A. Clark was retiring. From one of the parade flights, and a position of attention, I glanced at him. There were tears in his eyes. For me, he epitomized NCO's who care about our country and it's people.
It's Lieutenant Colonel John P. Lench, USAF, MSC, Retired. "JP-4" he was called. For those of you who don't know, JP-4 is jet aircraft fuel and it described his fiery temperament to be sure. He was a Tactical Air Command hospital administrator. I was a brand new MSC. He found fundamental disagreement with the TAC Surgeon General's office. He wrote a flaming, JP-4-type letter to that effect and was cashiered for it. He taught me about strength of conviction.
It's Colonel Charles W. Brown III., USAF, MSC. Twice promoted below-the zone. A genius at moving paper and softening resistance to change. A master of delegation, he could "bend arrows" like no other and challenge to you to perform at your total potential. He taught me about leadership.
It's Colonel Paul McNally, USAF, MSC, Retired. I worked for him at Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane, Washington. He was a fountain of enthusiasm and creativity. An expert, sincere listener. A thoughtful provocateur. In his relentless search for new ways, he inspired people to perform beyond their own expectations. He taught me to be bold.
It's Doctor Colonel Robert McDonald, USAF, MC Retired (RIP). A former Army bugler and corporal. He was the Malmstrom Hospital Commander and I was his Administrator. He was a down-to-earth, grass roots man. He frowned on pretense and met sincerity with a gleaming twinkle in his eye. He brought out the best in me. He brought out the best in everyone. He taught me to believe in myself.
It's Doctor Ben Buecker, Lieutenant Colonel Norm Paulsen and captain Don Palen. I believe all of you who know them will agree they are largely sustained in life with humor. I believe there is great humility and concern in laughter at ones self... and the human condition. All three have reinforced this belief. They taught me about this and I aspire to be the same.
Finally, it's Lieutenant Colonel Paul Warren Murrell, USAF, MSC. A paragon of integrity. A seeker of balance and a true expert in finding it. With us, as we together worked in MSC career development and assignments, it was point, counterpoint. The "agree to disagree" that most helped us help them. It was the perennial look at things from both points of view and, no less important, the grey area in between. He taught me about representing people's best interests while keeping the mission foremost. He taught me about matching diverse personalities in a complex organization. He taught me about winning, and losing with grace, the latter being most difficult. He taught me about using humor to diffuse friction.
How do you develop character and with it, concern for people? Perhaps you're born with something...it's certainly not character...more likely spirit. As you pass through life, you confront people and you decide upon value. You see traits in others and you model yourself after those you admire. In the final analysis, if you're lucky, you've met people with character. If you are truly fortunate, the best part of each confrontation rubs off.
Years ago at some turning point in my life, my greatest hero, and wife Julieann presented me with a plaque bearing a quote from Albert Einstein. It said; "Try not to be a man of success, but rather, a man of value." This is the foundation of character I will take with me. It was given to me by Julieann, by all the bosses whose performance reports I've written here and by all of you.
They all carry a message...
To first be sincere in caring about people...
To believe in yourself...
To be of value.
(Footnote...I recently discovered this in a small file of old retirement papers and wanted to perhaps better preserve it by making it a blog entry. I have the original, hand typed on paper now yellowed by the years. The four pages have a good old government-style 45 degree staple in the upper left hand corner and a crinkly, tactile feel that is pleasant to hold. I did some light editing with this transcription but all the main points remain as they were. Looking back on the thirty years that followed, I am happy to report that, while it wasn't always easy to retain those leadership lessons, I did okay and was able to pass some of them on to others.)
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