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| News > "Finish strong": Sheppard AGR superintendent closes 38-year career |
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Official photo for Chief Master Sgt. David Morris, Sheppard Air Force Base AGR liaison superintendent. Morris is retiring effective Jan. 1, 2013 after 38 years of federal service. (U.S. Air Force photo)
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"Finish strong": Sheppard AGR superintendent closes 38-year career
Posted 11/19/2012 Updated 11/14/2012
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by Dan Hawkins
82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
11/19/2012 - SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Not too many service members can say they know what it's like to walk in the boots of their counterparts in different branches of the military. For one Air Force reservist stationed here, he really can say he knows what a mile in their boots is like.
Chief Master Sgt. David Morris, Sheppard's Air Force Guard and Reserve liaison superintendent, is retiring effective Jan. 1, 2013, after 38 years of federal service.
Morris' time in the military includes both active-duty and reserve time in the U.S. Navy, traditional Guard service in the Texas Army National Guard and reserve time in the U.S. Air Force. He has been on active duty with the Air Force reserves non-stop since October 1997.
"It's really a geographical thing," Morris said when asked about people's reactions to his varied career path. "Location and life happened and I ended up being in the Navy, Army and Air Force. A lot of people ask me why I didn't go in the Marines, but I never really gave that a thought."
Morris began his military career in 1974 as a Navy personnel specialist, attending basic training before being stationed aboard the U.S.S. Coral Sea in Long Beach, Calif. After a short stint at Naval Air Station (NAS) Alameda, Morris moved on to NAS Kingsville (Texas) for a two-year assignment before transferring to the Naval reserve.
"I went to a unit in Houston to serve my reserve commitment while I was living and attending college in Huntsville at Sam Houston State University," Morris said. "I was working as a mechanic and one of my customers was the Army Guard recruiter. He convinced me to give tanks a try."
From September of 1980 to June, 1983, he was assigned to the Texas Army National Guard's 163rd Armored Cavalry Regiment based in Huntsville.
"I loved tanks," he said. "The loader in the tanks was pretty impressive...the recoil of a battle cannon 105 is pretty incredible."
After a short visit to see an Air Force reserve security forces unit at the now-closed Bergstrom Air Force Base in Austin, Morris decided to switch gears once again, joining the Air Force in June of 1987.
"My first visit to Bergstrom was an eye-opener," the chief said. "In the Army we would go through 30 to 90 days of training before a deployment. In the Air Force I was suddenly in a unit that could deploy on 24 hours notice and I loved it. I never looked back."
With time at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., and back at Bergstrom as an air base defense instructor, Morris was accepted to be a reserve liaison in October, 1997, at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. He has been on active reserve duty since and will retire with over 20 years of active service.
"My favorite job in the military was being the NCOIC of a 44-person security forces mobility flight," Morris said. "There was never a dull moment taking care of Airmen."
A devoted runner, his personal motto is "Finish strong."
"Make sure you run over that finish line," he said. "Leave no doubt you did it right."
As for life after the military, Morris sounded like he was still running hard.
"I've got a lot of options right now," he said. "But I'm excited to see what's around the corner...there's no finish line in sight yet."
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