MEO chief retires after 43 years Published June 2, 2006 By Tech Sgt. Kevin Williams 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. -- After serving 20 active-duty years and 23 years as a civilian, Samuel Bonham, 20th Fighter Wing chief of military equal opportunity, will call it a career. Mr. Bonham joined the Air Force June 1962 after hearing about the experiences his older cousin, Duke, had when he was in. His original plan was to serve four years in each branch of service, but ultimately stuck with the Air Force. “The Air Force is a pace-setter as far as how its people are treated,” He said. “People are treated with dignity and respect.” Throughout his active duty career, Mr. Bonham served at nine different installations; Hunter Air Force Base, Savannah, Ga.; Norton AFB, San Bernardino, Calif.; Northeast Cape, Alaska; Eielson Air Base, Alaska; Grand Forks AFB, N.D.; Beale AFB, Calif.; Tempelhof AB, Germany and Minot AFB, N.D. He entered the Air Force as an Inventory Management Technician. In 1973, he retrained into Social Actions, which led to where he is today in MEO. In 1983, he began his civil service career at Griffiss AFB, N.Y. and continued working in Social Actions. Then he moved to the Family Support Center, where he worked for three years. When Griffiss closed 10 years later, he relocated to Shaw and became the chief of social actions. In 43 years, he has a lot to reflect on. “I’ve seen a lot of changes,” he said. “I look back and capture how many people I trained … it’s probably in the thousands. That’s a lot of impact.” As Mr. Bonham looks forward to what kind of changes lay ahead for him. He also looks back at the things that have changed in the Air Force. Besides all the uniform changes he has seen in 43 years, he also noticed changes in people. “I came in at a time when there was some discrimination in job placement,” he said. “The evolution of time changed that for the betterment of the Air Force. People are more accepting of each other now. They look at people for who, not what, they are. I see core values more pronounced than 40 years ago, but we always did take care of people with in the confines of the day.” Mr. Bonham reflected on what he will take from the Air Force and hopes the Air Force benefited from him.“I will miss the camaraderie,” Mr. Bonham said. “I developed life-long friendships, traveled, met people from every walk of life and had new horizons open. We are all more alike than we are different. We all want the same things for ourselves and our families. I have no regrets -- except this chapter of my life has to come to close at some point, but I will stay close to it in some capacity.” “It’s going to be sad to see Mr. Bonham go after 43 years of service to this great country,” said Col. Bill Hyatt, 20th Fighter Wing commander. “Throughout his service, he has touched many lives and the Air Force is better because if it. Of course, his wife Thelma, who stood by Mr. Bonham throughout his career, will also be missed. I wish them the best in their new life together.” After he retires, Mr. Bonham will stay in the Sumter area, but his goal is to relocate to his hometown of Pensacola, Fla. “Whenever I want a white Christmas, I’ll go to the beach and look at the white sand,” he said.