47 years of faithful service

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Roger Dennison
  • 436th Maintenance Group
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  In 1965, man still had yet to walk on the moon, the Beatles were a new smash hit in the United States and the Marines sent the first combat troops into Vietnam. Also, in that same year, William Charlton was starting his Air Force career.

Charlton, a retired Senior Master Sergeant of 24 years, retired after 23-years of service as a civilian Airman on March 31, 2014, bringing his total years of service to the Air Force to 47. Charlton said he doesn't regret anything from his nearly five decades of service to the Air Force.

"It has been a great career and I have seen a lot of things," Charlton said. "From being a Vietnam War veteran to working with the Defense Intelligence Agency, it's been an interesting career. I just thank my family for helping me reach this day."

Charlton began his career after his mother Marie received notification that he had been drafted. After basic training and completion of aircraft mechanics technical school, Charlton was stationed at Clark AFB, The Philippines, where he deployed on several 120-day rotations to Vietnam.

In 1968, Charlton met and married his wife Josie. During his second tour to Vietnam his son William, Jr. was born. After assignments in Virginia, New Jersey, the United Kingdom and Greece, Charlton was accepted for a special duty assignment with the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington, D.C., where he escorted ambassadors on missions around the world. His personal area of responsibility stretched from The Philippines to Australia from 1980-85 and from Liberia and Libya to Africa's western coastal countries from 1985-87.

During his time with intelligence, Charlton performed several tasks to include security, emergency maintenance on VIP aircraft and intelligence collection.

"I was in a different country every other month the whole time I was in intelligence," Charlton said. "It was a real exciting time, but I was ready to get back to maintenance."

Charlton retired from active duty in 1989 and after spending two years working for a private aircraft agency, he returned to Dover AFB as a transient maintenance manager.

Senior Airman Jacqueline Shelton, a special air missions flight attendant with the 1st Airlift Squadron at Andrews AFB, Md., and former co-worker of Charlton when she was at Dover AFB, said he will be missed.

"He was a great guy and he was always thoughtful and knew his job," Shelton said. "He was always there when you needed him and he was always willing to lend a helping hand."

The thing Charlton will miss the most as he leaves the Air Force for good, is the Airmen.

"I will miss the atmosphere in the office and watching the Airmen grow into professionals," Charlton said. "I will miss helping Airmen grow professionally and playing a part in their growth and development."

Charlton said he and his wife are both looking forward to his retirement.

"She is looking forward to having me around more and I'm excited to be able to be there with her," Charlton said. "I'm looking forward to being able to spend more time with my wife and getting closer to my grandkids."