TINKER AIR FORCE BASE -- Command Chief Master Sgt. Phillip Cherry retired Dec. 10. As the rain poured down and iced against the roads, the Tinker community reminisced the 72nd Air Base Wing command chief's near 30-year career.
   More than 150 Airmen, civilians and family attended the official ceremony at the Tinker Club ballroom. Among them were Col. Mark Correll, 72nd Air Base Wing and installation commander, and his wife Brandy; John Over, Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center executive director; Brig. Gen. Judith Fedder, 76th Maintenance Wing commander, and Brig. Gen. Lori Robinson, 552nd Air Control Wing commander.
   "Initiative and tenacity are words which best describe (then) Staff Sgt. Cherry," said Colonel Correll when he chronicled the chief's impressive 29-year career, which will officially conclude March 1.
   "He always knew what the mission was and it always came first," Colonel Correll said. "When there was a job to do, no matter how tough, or what time, he was the first there and the last to leave. These words were true when written in 1987 for Chief Master Sgt. Phil Cherry's (Enlisted Performance Report) by his rater, Capt. Mark Correll, and they are true today."
   Following the colonel's opening remarks, Chief Cherry and his wife, Cathy, were honored with several awards, gifts, letters of appreciation and commendation. Among them were two letters to Chief Cherry from Oklahoma's Governor Brad Henry and Eliot Spitzer, governor of New York, the chief's native state.
   Chief Cherry was also recognized with a flag passing ceremony that highlighted the accomplishments through his career from airman basic to 72nd ABW command chief.
   "There are no higher positions among enlisted people than chief master sergeant and no higher distinction among chiefs than command chief," said Chief Master Sgt. Roddy Hartsook during the flag passing ceremony.
   Chief Hartsook, 72nd Mission Support Group superintendent, served as the narrator for the event.
   Chief Cherry enlisted in the Air Force in 1979. He completed 19 assignments, and spent 17 years overseas, not including deployments, said Colonel Correll. He transferred to Tinker in November 2006.
   "There's no doubt, I will miss being a part of such a diverse organization that on any given day, the task to kill people, break things while at the same time, delivering life-saving humanitarian aid and helping rebuild countries that have been ravaged by decades and centuries of tyranny," said Chief Cherry. "These missions and our stellar executions of them prove that we are truly the best Air Force in the world."