Chief Master Sergeant Cheryl Garin returns home

Lansing native retires after 28-year U.S. Air Force career

by Susan Cantine-Maxson

Cheryl  Garin has come full circle, returning to the family farm in Lansing after 28 years in the U.S. Air Force.
In November, Garin's retirement from the Air Force made the news because the KWWL television station made a special interview tape with her parents, Leo and Mary Lou Garin of Lansing, to send to Cheryl to surprise her at her retirement ceremony because their health prevented them from traveling to Virginia  in person for the event. Now Garin has officially retired and returned to Lansing, enjoying the time that she can spend with her family.
"It's so much fun to be able to go to church and shopping with our daughter now," shared Mary Lou and Leo Garin. "She takes us to visit the rest of the kids. We used to worry so much about her being so far away and now it's a weight lifted off with her being here. We enjoy her company so much and we don't have to worry about it. It is so good to have her home now."

HER CAREER
Garin explained that her decision to join the Air Force was rather spontaneous. She had completed one year of college, and thought she wanted to go into biology, but circumstances in the family brought her back to the farm to help her parents with the dairy cows.
Garin stated, “I was 24 when I was milking and several things happened at once, like the manure spreader breaking down, and my mom said to me, ‘What are you going to do with your life? You need to get a job that offers you some security and retirement. I always wanted to be a WAC. Why don’t you call the Air Force recruiter?’ So I did, and I ended up staying in the service 28 years. Really, the hardest part of the 28 years was the day I left for the service, I didn’t turn around and look back at my parents because I knew I would cry.”
Garin’s career in the Air Force took her through many jobs and to many places in the world. She primarily worked as a trainer at several different bases. She worked in maintenance, medical and support positions. She often wrote curriculum for the courses which trained the young military personnel. She supervised training and also made sure that they passed the various skill levels they needed for each job.
Her jobs varied from supervising the fuel loads for the B-2 stealth bomber, to creating lesson plans for the instructors who taught the people about missiles, to participating in exercises which required her to wear a chemical suit to perform all her duties, including operating a computer. She also was a medical training supervisor at Andrews Air Force Base, where the President of the United States and all the wounded from overseas come back to the United States. She typically had 800 to 1,000 people to supervise.
Garin was assigned to numerous bases in the United States as well as several overseas including Thailand, Denmark, Korea, Japan, Kuwait and Germany. She remarked, “I don’t think I would have ever done that much traveling without being in the Air Force. I saw a lot of different cultures and had a lot of varied experiences.
"When we flew into Kuwait, we landed at night. We had to unload our own luggage with weapons and everything and loaded them up in semis. Then, we traveled in buses and had to have the shades drawn in the bus, even though it was night, and we had to unload the semis. It was the dead of night and there was barbed wire around the whole base and it was in the middle of nowhere. We went in the shed and sorted out our luggage. Then we went to our trailers and tents and stayed there for the next six months. There was sand everywhere. I don’t remember seeing anything green or even a bird. Many times after I came home, I kissed the ground because it was so good to be back on home soil.”
She progressed through the ranks, winning numerous awards for exemplary service, such as 2007 Training Manager of the Year for the entire Air Force. At Offut Air Force Base in Omaha, NE, her Maintenance Training Flight won Maintenance Training Flight of the Year. She also won Air Combat Command Trainer of the Year and was promoted to Chief Master Sergeant.
Garin moved up to Force Support Squadron and was the chief enlisted manager for about 800 people. Then she went to Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, becoming Air Combat Command Functional Commander. She created the training assignments for all of air combat command. She proudly displays two large wooden shadow boxes which contain all of her medals, ribbons and stripes, as well as a list of her Air Force postings.

HER RETIREMENT
Garin planned on staying in the Air Force for 20 years but somehow the 28 years happened before she knew it. At that point, some serious health issues shocked her into changing her perspective and her priorities.
She explained, “I was very sick. Air Force supported me through all of that but my family became more important. My parents came to me and helped me out when I needed them. After that happened and my parents’ health was also declining, I decided I wanted to be here for them. I didn’t want to miss out. My job was also getting more stressful and I thought it would be more fun to come home to harass my parents on a daily basis.”
Garin continued, “There are 17 little ones in our family now and I want to see them grow up. I missed out on a lot of family activities over the last 28 years. I only got home for Christmas three or four times. My brothers and sister were always here, but I wasn’t. I wanted to be a part of that again."
Garin was totally surprised by the videotaped message from her parents at the retirement ceremony. She explained, “The girl who worked with me was in charge of my ceremony. She had asked me all kinds of questions. Many people have a ceremony but I knew my parents couldn’t come and I thought I might not have one, but it was important to our history and tradition in the service. It’s important to show the younger ones the culmination of the years of service.”
The Master Sergeant in charge called the priest in Lansing to get Garin’s parents’ names and then called KWWL to set up the videotape. The reporter came up and made the videotape.  Garin elaborated, “We were at the ceremony. The Colonel had presented a slideshow of my career and had completed the official stuff. The ceremony was finished and they told me to sit down to see the video. I thought it was just the presentation that the Colonel had made and I was ready to get up and they said, ‘No, there’s more.’ All of a sudden, they (my parents) appeared on the screen. I felt like crying. They took photographs of me watching it and I taped a video back to them. I was shocked, but I was so happy. I called them after the ceremony, I think if my mom hadn’t been able to do that interview, she would have felt really bad that they couldn’t be there. They got to participate in a way they wouldn’t have otherwise. I really appreciate the way everyone helped them out to make it."
Garin further offered, "My parents had always been there for me before but this time they couldn’t be there in person. When I was so sick I really thought I was going to die, but when they came, I knew I could get through it. At that point in my life, I felt so separated from my family and they’ll never know how much it meant to me that they came and were with me during my illness. Now I’m going to be here for them.”
Being close to family is Garin’s number-one priorty but she also looks to her own future.

FUTURE PLANS
Garin always loved the farm. She knew that’s where she wanted to return.
“There’s too much traffic where I was. I’ve always been a nature person and I want to be close to nature again. What used to be important to me isn’t anymore. I never thought I’d come back here without a job and now I’m totally content being here with my folks. I’m sure I’ll get another job, but I’m not in any hurry. I want to do something that helps people directly, such as the elderly or the ill. I may explore doing something through my church. I have a Master’s degree in Psychology, so maybe I can put that to use."
“The Air Force stresses being involved in the community and I realize how important that is," Garin further explained. "I want to get involved in the community and help those who need it the most. I want to raise a huge organic garden. I think that could tie in with helping people. I think there are a lot of hungry people in small towns as well and I think they could benefit from healthy foods."
“People who knock little towns should live in the rat race for a while," Garin shared. "You know if you live in a small town, you know that if something happens, someone will help you. I have a lot of high school friends who are still here and I’m trying to reconnect with them.
“I’m moving back to the family farm when I get more settled. I won’t do dairy again because we don’t have the facilities. It’s kind of bizarre because I’m going back to where I left 28 years ago. It’s full circle. When I was so sick and I thought I was going to die, I knew then that if I could I wanted to come back home again. And now I’m here.”