Stephens retires after 37 years Published March 31, 2014 By Senior Airman Jami Lancette 434th ARW Public Affairs GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind. -- In 1977, Jimmy Carter became President of the United States, the first Apple computers had just hit store shelves and a young Air Force lieutenant was beginning his career. That lieutenant, a now Col. William Stephens, concluded his 37 year career as the 434th Mission Support Group commander as he was surrounded by family and friends during a retirement ceremony here recently. A lot can happen in nearly 40 years, and such was the case for Stephens, who referred to his entire career as a highlight reel full of amazing experiences. "This job has unintentionally by design allowed me to do things and meet people that I would have otherwise had the opportunity to do and meet and go places that I could never alone," said Stephens. "It's been an incredible journey." Stephens began his career as a KC-135 Stratotanker navigator, but served in a variety of positions to include executive officer, chief of civilian personnel, weapons controller, combat crew commander, safety officer, squadron commander and group commander to name a few. Prior to his assignment at Grissom, he served as the 315th Mission Support Group commander at Charleston Air Force Base, S.C. He's also deployed in support of Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn. "My career has given me the opportunity to hold numerous [military jobs], and as a result, I have had numerous experiences," Stephens recalled. "Probably my most unique experience was when I was a security forces commander. "At that time, my unit had a different mission than most security force units because we had an air base ground defense mission, which meant our job was to protect the perimeter of the base outside the wire from basically the base perimeter to about five miles out," he added. "So, we trained much like the army infantry in terms of combat tactics." It wasn't just the jobs Stephens held that were unique. During his career he had the opportunity to meet and work with several historic figures. "When I was a young lieutenant at Castle Air Force Base in California, I was assigned to escort a World War II dignitary during a B-25 Mitchell fly-in for a museum opening," Stephens recalled. "On that B-25 was the Strategic Air Command commander and a fellow by the name of Jimmy Doolittle." Retired Gen. James Doolittle lead an attack of 16 B-25 medium bombers from the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Hornet, with targets in Tokyo, Kobe, Osaka and Nagoya, Japan. And, if meeting a famed World War II general wasn't enough, as a major on a temporary assignment to England for the 75th International Air Show, Stephens said he found himself face-to-face with both Britain's Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Jordan's King Hussein bin Talal. "It was quite an experience for a young major," he remarked. With a multitude of such experiences, Stephens offered some advice as he took a retrospective look back. "For many, especially when you're younger, impatience is a hard personality trait to overcome when you're young and you don't think things are going fast enough," he said. "My best advice would be to continue to focus on the immediate job that you're trained to do and do it well. "Become the go-to expert who exhibits reasonable advice and counsel and be dependable," he continued. "A career in the best Air Force in the history of all the air forces the world is the best career an individual can have, and I would say stick with it and give our country all you got." Stephens now serves as a city manager in Arizona. The 434th MSG is part of the 434th ARW, the largest KC-135R Stratotanker unit in the Air Force Reserve Command. Airmen and aircraft from the 434th ARW routinely deploy around the world in support of the Air Force mission and U.S. strategic objectives. Stay connected with the 434th ARW on Facebook and Twitter. (Editor's note: Tech. Sgt. Mark R. W. Orders-Woempner, 434th ARW public affairs, contributed to this article.)
