JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- The 78th Air Refueling Squadron lost a leader when Chief Master Sgt. Tony Pierce, chief boom operator, retired. Lt. Col. Scott Kadar, 78th ARS commander, said he is proud to see a good man, who made a lot of sacrifices for our country, move on to a new life centered around his family including five grandchildren.
Pierce is a selfless leader, said Kadar, a family man proud of his Native American heritage. He served 30 years for this country. He was born in 1956 in Germany to an American soldier. Europe was rebuilding under the Marshall Plan at the time and communism was in the headlines. Back then there was no mention of terrorist attacks and no one could imagine planes flying into our skyscrapers.
Pierce grew up an Army brat and first landed in Fort Dix in 1958. He moved back to Germany twice before his family returned to New Jersey and settled in Browns Mills in 1968. In 1978 he met Wanda, and married her two years later. They’ve been married for 36 years. She retired last month as a teacher from the Pemberton School District.
Pierce followed in his father’s footsteps and joined the military. He started Air Force basic training in 1985 and following basic became a loadmaster on the C-141 Starlifter in the 514th Air Mobility Wing. In 1994 Pierce cross-trained as a boom operator on the McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender and remained a boom until retirement. He served his entire career, here, in the Freedom Wing.
Kadar said Pierce now holds the aircrew record for the longest standing service in the 514th AMW .
Some career highlights he experienced was the start of evaluation performance reports for Reserve enlisted members in the late 80s. His first EPR covered the period of 1985 to 1998. The number of days supervised was 4,748. Thirteen years of service was captured in 17 bullets.
His first reserve deployment was as a member of a total force “Operation Southern Watch.” Today the squadron still deploys to the same area. Pierce amassed at total of 6,800 flying hours as a loadmaster and boom operator. If the hours were placed back-to-back that would be approximately one year of doing over 40,000 touch and goes. When asked about his most memorable moment, Pierce said it was seeing the Iraqi POWs and the expression of fear of what they were going to deal with when they were returned to their homeland.
Pierce has touched the lives of more people than he can ever imagine, said Kadar. He represents less than one percent of our population that’s served and he reached the highest enlisted rank. Kadar told Pierce, “You will always be “a Chief” and you will always have a place in the 78th ARS.