Chief Enlisted Manager retires

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Nestor Cruz
  • 944 Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  Friends, family and Citizen Airmen filled every seat inside Club 56’s ballroom August 6, 2016 as Chief Master Sgt. Anthony Harback, 944th Civil Engineer Squadron chief enlisted manager, retired from the Air Force Reserves.

Harback kept a stoic pose during a retirement ceremony in his honor as the presiding official spoke about his career.

“What an impact this chief has had on this wing,” said Col. Anne Gunter, Air Force Reserve Command director of Manpower, Personnel and Services. “The chief has been right there leading the charge and making sure that 100 percent error-free deployment rate is retained. But more importantly, he made sure every deployer and his or her family was taken care of and he also made sure the mission succeeded.”

Harback’s career spans 33 years and includes a nine-year stint on active-duty as an entomology Airman.

Looking back on his Air Force career, Harback reflected on his experiences and thanked those who helped him reach this milestone.

“You don’t get 33 years, 20 years or even 10 years without help, without a little bit of mentoring and without some good luck, especially on my side,” Harback said. “So as I leave, I charge the rest of you to continue mentoring, to continue helping that person who fell by the wayside, pick them up and push them through because one day, they could be standing up here, too.”

The chief talked about an upcoming deployment and used it as a mentoring point for his fellow CES Airmen.

“One of the highlights of my career, actually THE highlight of my career, was my deployment to Iraq,” Harback recalled. “We went over there as a bunch of three-levels, but we totally tore it up. My proudest moment, I think, was that deployment.”

He continued by saying he understood today’s Airmen look at deployments differently, reprioritizing as deployment opportunities come up. His advice was to not pass up the opportunity to deploy as a team and create future memories.

Harback’s extensive experience includes serving as a heavy equipment and construction superintendent and as operations superintendent. He also served in several locations in Southwest Asia during Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn.