Ebbing Air National Guard Base, Fort Smith, Ark. -- Chief Master Sgt. Kenneth D. Tankersley, operations chief for the 188th Logistics Readiness Squadron, retired in a formal ceremony held here, Dec. 8, 2022.
Tankersley retired having served in the 188th for 29 years surrounded by friends, family, and his fellow service members. The event was presided over by Lt. Col. James T. Garvey, 188th LRS commander.
“Chief Tankersley leaves a legacy of a leader who provided great empathy and Airmen care for others, and he did the same for his leadership both here and abroad,” Garvey stated. “I thank him for his service and congratulate him as he opens a new chapter in his life.”
Tankersley joined the 188th Fighter Wing on Sept. 11, 1993 as a metals technologies specialist with hopes of working on the wing’s F-16 fighter jets. He worked as a metals technologies specialist for 14 years. During that time, he deployed to the Middle East three times.
In 2007, Tankersley became the fabrication supervisor for the 188th Fighter Wing, in that position he deployed to Afghanistan twice. In 2014, he briefly took the role as chief of the Maintenance Squadron before becoming the LRS operations chief, a position he held up to his retirement.
In addition to his official papers of retirement, Tankersley was presented with numerous awards, citations, and accolades earned during his distinguished years of service.
Tankersely reflected on the end of his career saying, “I have absolutely loved being a chief. Your whole career, your whole life you're always saying ‘If I had the opportunity to fix this or work on this or take care of this’ when I got promoted to chief, I had that opportunity and I love taking care of people by making wrongs right. I really love it.”
In retirement Tankersley plans to spend his extra time fishing.