On Saturday, Nov 6, 2010 Lill and I attended my cousin's retirement ceremony at the Redbank Club, Joint Base Charleston, followed by a party at his home in Somerville hosted by his lovely wife Debra and delightful daughter Emma, shown at left. His mother, my cousin Jeanette, was also there.
CDR Schmitz was the Commanding Officer at NOSC Charleston, SC. He earned a BS in physics at Tulane University and attended the Surface Warfare Officer School Division officer course. He served on the USS Osprey, the USS Whidbey Island, USS Robin, and the USS Kingfisher, as well as shore assignments in Lubbock, TX, New Orleans, and finally Charleston. While in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, he served as Officer in Charge of the East Bank complex, supporting 2000 Joint Task Force Katrina personnel. His decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal (3), Navy Commendation Medal (2), the Navy Achievement Medal (2) and the Army Achievement Medal. Bill is a passionate private plane pilot.
Lillian and I are very proud of his distinguished service to our country and wish him well in his civilian career with Booz-Allen.
Below are some pictures of the formal Navy ceremony where Bill both retires and is replaced by CDR Dennis Rieke.
Bill, along with Debra and Emma, as he goes on shore for the "last time".
The change of command cake was great, Bill is quite skilled at cutting cake under Emma's supervision.
It looks as if the Navy taught Bill well in the art of cutting cake. The cake represents all the medals Bill accumulated during his 22 year career. It depicts the wood presentation box seen to the left of the cake, containing the flag flown over NOSC and his medals. Again, great tasting cake, expertly cut, but this time under Debra's supervision. For me, the highlight was the keg of Blue Moon beer, appropriately served with a slice of orange.
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