Fautz concludes military career spanning more than 30 years

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Joshua Horton
  • 123rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs Office
KENTUCKY AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, LOUISVILLE, KY --  Chief Master Sgt. Martin E. Fautz was officially retired in a ceremony here June 10, concluding a military career that spanned more than 30 years.

Lt. Col. Phillip Howard, who recently retired as commander of Kentucky’s 123rd Civil Engineer Squadron, took the stage to express his gratitude for the outgoing chief, who most recently served as squadron’s chief enlisted manager and base facility manager.

“When it came to facility operations, I often described him as the iron peg, driven into the ground, to which everyone and everything is tethered,” Howard told the audience. “Chief, I just want to thank you for the many messes that you’ve gotten me out of.”

Fautz enlisted in the Kentucky Air National Guard in 1981 as a heavy equipment operator. After a two-year break in service from 1987 to 1989, he came back as a staff sergeant and worked his way through the ranks until becoming a chief master sergeant in 2012.

In 2000, Fautz deployed in support of Operation Nuevos Horizontes to build clinics and school houses in Esmeraldas, Ecuador. He also participated in Operation Southern Watch in 2002, Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 and 2004, and Operation Enduring Freedom in 2010 and 2011.

Back home, Fautz deployed in support of state emergencies during a flood in 1997 and an ice storm that paralyzed the Commonwealth in 2009.