After serving 26 years in the United States Army and traveling all around the world, so to speak, and visiting 16 different foreign countries both work-related and for R&R, as well as traveling to and thru 40 or more of the States in the United States to include Hawaii and Alaska, I decided it was time to hang up my guns and retire.
My last job assignment in the Army was at Fort Ord, CA (February 1990 until May 1991) as Senior Career Counselor (00R50) for Headquarters, 1st Aviation Brigade.
During the last year of my long Army career and after submitting for retirement, I worked part-time at a local Radio Shack in Marina, CA outside of Fort Ord. At the end of May 1991, after my retirement ceremony, buying a new truck, and loading up my worldy goods, I left Fort Ord around 4 a.m. on a Friday morning loaded with bottles of water and snacks in an Ice Chest, a Thermos of Coffee on the front seat, a pack of No-Doze Tables, the Pacific Ocean and California in my rear-view mirrow. I headed East towards Hampton Roads and the warm beaches on the Alantic Ocean side of Virginia. (Here's the crazy part) With only a few days rest along the way while visiting family members in Indiana and Ohio, I made the coast to coast journey in less than a week (Never again!).
After retiring from the Army in May of 1991 and moving back to Virginia, I again worked part-time at a Radio Shack located in the Hampton Mall in Hampton Roads, VA. After about nineteen months in Virginia and getting a good Tan, I got homesick for Tennessee, so in February 1993, I moved from Virginia to Gatlinburg, TN, (Closer to home) and lived and worked for about six months for a Chalet Company, making Reservations. Around June 1993, I moved from Gatlinburg to Cookeville, TN, and worked part-time at a Walmart store, then enrolled in, and graduated from, an Architectural Drafting School in Livingston TN and then moved to Dale Hollow Lake in Pickett County TN where for about ten years I ran my own Professional Photography business and also worked part-time at a local Funeral Home.
In 2004, my wife and I moved back to Scott County Tennessee where I was born and raised, and for two or three years I worked part-time for FOUR OAKS FUNERAL HOME before finally retiring for good.
Name of Award Meritorious Service Medal (1969-2016)
Devices
none
Year Awarded 1980
Last Updated: Jul 28, 2022
This ribbon will display Multiple Award devices automatically based on the total number of awards listed
Details Behind Award
1st Award: EXCEPTIONALLY MERITORIOUS SERVICE FROM 4 JULY 1979 TO 3 JULY 1980 AS REENLISTMENT NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICER, HEADQUARTERS AND HEADQUARTERS COMPANY, 2D INFANTRY DIVISION. BY USING EXPERTISE AND INNOVATIONS ENTIRELY HIS OWN, SERGEANT AUSTIN UPGRADED THE REENLISTMENT PROGRAM OF HIS UNIT AND ALL UNITS OF THE DIVISION TO A DEGREE THAT RESULTED IN EACH UNIT SURPASSING THE ASSIGNED REENLISTMENT OBJECTIVES AND PASSING ALL INSPECTIONS CONDUCTED BY THE DIVISION INSPECTOR GENERAL DURING HIS TENURE. SERGEANT AUSTIN OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE OF DUTY IS IN KEEPING WITH THE FINEST TRADITION OF THE MILITARY SERVICE AND REFLECTS GREAT CREDIT UPON HIMSELF, THE 2D INFANTRY DIVISION AND THE UNITED STATES ARMY.
Proud, and honored, to have been awarded the Meritorious Service Medal (MSM), Four different times during my 26-year career. First Award was for the period: 4 July 1979 to 3 July 1980, 2nd Infantry Division, Korea. The second Award was for the period: 14 August 1980 through 15 February 1985, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell. The third Award was for the period: 26 January 1987 to 26 January 1990, Headquarters, 7th Signal Brigade, Germany. The fourth Award was for the period: 1 June 1981 to 31 May 1991, when I retired from 7th Infantry Division, Headquarters, 1st Aviation Brigade, at Fort Ord, CA - and the United States Army.
