Master Sgt. Armando Torres arrived early for Monday afternoon’s ceremony in Bob Jones Auditorium.
He was among seven honorees in the Redstone Arsenal quarterly retirement ceremony. Collectively they culminated 215 years of federal service.
“Today what’s really important is the importance of the families and the individuals,” Lt. Gen. Chris Mohan, the ceremony’s presiding officer and Army Materiel Command deputy commanding general and acting commander, said.
The retirees included Torres, Col. Ronnie Preston, Lt. Col. Doris Haynes, Sgt. 1st Class Lashunda Hutchinson, William Zaharis, Archie Scott and Anne Martin.
A contracting specialist at Army Contracting Command, Torres shared his thoughts on retiring after 22 years of service.
“Definitely scary but exciting at the same time,” he said.
His 22 years in uniform have included three deployments to Afghanistan. He received a Purple Heart after being hurt in combat.
“With the good and bad times, I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” he said of his career.
Torres, 40, from Puerto Rico, has been with ACC for 11 years including time at Fort Drum in New York, Italy and Redstone. He has been at Redstone five years and his last day is Dec. 15.
The Huntsville resident and his wife of 15 years, Yeni, have three sons – Alan, 24, Louie, 23, and Ricky, 14.
Torres said he plans to “continue to serve my nation in a different capacity.”
Preston, of the Army Materiel Command, culminated 33 years of service; Haynes, of Army Futures Command, 30 years; Hutchinson, a human resource sergeant, 22 years; Zaharis, of AMC, 39 years; Scott, of the Program Executive Office for Aviation, 42 years; and Martin, of Fox Army Health Center, 24 years.
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