WRIGHT-PATTERSON Air Force Base, Ohio (AFLCMC) --- Lt. Gen. Shaun Q. Morris, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center commander, retired Nov. 6 after more than 35 years of service in the Air Force.
Gen. Duke Z. Richardson, Air Force Materiel Command commander, served as the ceremony’s presiding officer. The event was held at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, a venue that houses the Peacekeeper Rail Garrison Car, the first platform Morris worked on as a newly minted second lieutenant.
Morris was commissioned through the U.S. Air Force Academy after graduating in 1988 with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Mechanics.
“I’ve never met a smarter Airman than Shaun Morris. I never have…his ability to integrate information and make connections to other things that don’t seem like they’re part of the conversation, and make objective assessments is just off the charts,” explained Richardson. “We’re going to miss him. The family doesn’t see every day what he does for the Air Force, but I do.”
During his comments, Richardson listed several attributes when he thinks of Morris: integrity, intellect, leadership, distinction, wit, and results.
“As I go through his record a little bit, you’re going to see that we put him on the nation’s biggest problems. He forms a team and gets results. He finds a way, that’s what he does,” Richardson explained.
Throughout his career, Morris worked on various programs such as the Ballistic Missile Office’s Peacekeeper Rail Garrison System; the Ballistic Missile Office’s National Launch System Joint Program Office; the Air Logistics Center; the Aeronautical Systems Center’s Fighter/Bomber Engine Section; The Aeronautical System Center’s Propulsion Analysis and Modification Section; among many others.
He also held several command positions: commander, Defense Contract Management Agency – Middle East, Kuwait City; vice commander, Ogden Air Logistics Center; commander, Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center; and finally, commander Air Force Life Cycle Management Center
Being a data-driven organization, Richardson detailed Morris’ career by the numbers:
- 35 years 7 months of service
- 25 assignments
- 17 Permanent Changes of Station (PCS)
- 18 Household moves
- Four levels of command
- Three program executive officer (PEO) postings
- Five Air Force core functions impacted
- One wife, 33 years of marriage and four children
“There is nothing in this Air Force that that you didn’t impact in a positive way,” said Richardson.
“We’re retiring a good one today…on behalf of a grateful Nation thank you for 35 years and seven months of strong and faithful full service…Dede and I wish you all the best, and we thank you for 25 years of advice, mentorship, and friendship. We know we can always count on you, please know you can always count on us,” concluded Richardson.
“When you take command of anything, you really only have one goal, right? Which is when you hand the flag back at the end, the organization you took over is better than when you took it,” Morris explained. “And that is a challenge when you’re taking over and building on what great leaders here have done over the years. They [former AFLCMC commanders Lt. Gens Moore, Thompson, and McMurry] have really built something incredible here, and I have done everything I can over the last three years to make it a little bit better.”
In congratulating Lt. Gen. Donna Shipton, who was in the audience and is nominated to become the next Air Force Life Cycle Management Center commander pending confirmation, Morris commented that there is no one better suited to take over the center, and that she would continue to build on that [legacy] and make it much better.
When commenting on what he was proud of about his time in the Air Force Morris reflected that it wasn’t the things that he did personally, but it’s about the people that he worked with that are now going on to do greater things for themselves and for the Air Force.
Morris grew up in an Air Force family with his dad retiring as a chief master sergeant.
“This is going to be surreal. There has never been a day in my life that somebody [in the house] did not get up and put on a uniform,” Morris said.
Richardson reflected that if you ask Morris about his biggest accomplishment, he will say it’s been his wife Jean, their four kids, and the strength of their family.
When Richardson asked Morris about what lies ahead for him after retirement, Morris replied, “I haven’t set any future goals, but I know Jean and I will be together, so whatever comes along will be great.”