Original Post Date: Saturday, May 24, 2008
Last Thursday I went to a retirement ceremony for SMSgt Paul Riffle. He spent 23 years in the Security Forces career field. He has been deployed several times before and after 911. He rose from just an airman on flight, to the position of Security Forces Manager. He has seen the ups and downs of this career field and stuck it out longer than most airmen. For those that have never went to a military retirement ceremony and ever get the chance, you should go to one. It is a celebration of a life of a person that sacrificed more than 99.9% of the US population for this country. This includes even me, because I will be getting out of active duty soon. Most people that even join don't stay in the service as a career. I personally can not do it. SMSgt Riffle has been stationed at Ramstein, AB Germany; Lackland AFB, Texas; Kunsan AB, Korea; Taegu AB, Korea; Hickam AFB, Hawaii; and finally (where I met him) at Davis-Monthan AFB Arizona. I don't know exactly how many deployments he has been on, however his last one was with me in the International Zone Baghdad, Iraq. What SMSgt Riffle, myself, and all the others that deployed there went through, cemented a bond between us.
I wanted to write this to honor him and lifetime service to our country. Also I wanted to honor all the people that pinned on the SF badge and worn the beret during this definitive time in our country's history, even if it was for only a few years. I will have spent 9 years 6 days in this career field and over 2 and half years deployed when I finally go back to active civilian life. I do not regret enlisting and reenlisting. I would not change one thing about my career as a Security Force member. I have met some very good people in my career field while serving. So for all fellow SF members I have on Myspace, even if I haven't talked to you in years. To Brian, Jolly, Shea, Manley, Watson, Waites, Hagedorn, Kim, Mike, Renee, Matt, Zien, Granger, Lisa, Hester, Jeff, David, Jason, Meagan, Pops, Spencer, Payne, and of course my brother Brian; also to anyone I might have missed or maybe one day read this message. Hope life is treating you well and even if I lost touch with you completely, I will always remember the good and the bad times I shared with you. This passage is for you.
This passage was written on the back of SMSgt Riffle retirement pamphlet.
Remember This
I was that which others did not want to be, I went where others feared to go, and did what others failed to do. I asked nothing for those who gave nothing and reluctantly accepted the thought of eternal loneliness—should I fail. I have seen the face of terror; felt the stinging cold of fear; and enjoyed the sweet taste of a moments love. I have cried, pained, and hoped—but most of all I have lived times other would say were best forgotten, at least I will be able to say I was proud of what I was
A Security Policeman
--author unknown--
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Paul Riffle was a coward who slept on his cot in a hardened building also known as his office in Iraq while his troops slept out in their trailers absorbing IDF. He also got arrested for boarding a civilian aircraft with a weapon by the DHS. Let's not get things twisted about why he didn't make Chief and "gave up." I saw the reports myself.
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