Retirement marks end of 45 years of service Published Dec. 11, 2008 By Susan Griggs Keesler News staff KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, MISS. -- Ron Bublik, 81st Force Support Squadron, retires Dec. 31 with a combined Air Force and civil service career spanning nearly 45 years. Mr. Bublik enlisted in the Air Force in 1964 and attended technical training at Keesler and Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas. In addition to assignments at Keesler and Goodfellow, his other military tours included Misawa Air Base, Japan, Chanute AFB, Ill.; Samsun, Turkey; Izmir, Turkey; Laughlin AFB, Texas; Ander-son AFB, Guam; Rickenbacker AFB, Ohio; Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz. and Myrtle Beach AFB, S.C. After retiring from the Air Force as a master sergeant in 1984, Mr. Bublik began his civil service career at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Biloxi. Mr. Bublik transferred to Keesler in 1987 and worked as a personal affairs technician in the consolidated base personnel office. The following year, he moved to the newly-formed family support center as the Air Force Aid Society officer. He later took over the center's personal financial management program, and helped launch the new transition assistance program in 1991. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Mr. Bublik's actions helped the family support center to become the first support function that was fully operational after the storm. He helped with the disbursement of emergency Air Force Aid Society funds immediately after the storm, helped set up a satellite family support center at Thrower Park for retirees, set up a family support center attic that disbursed thousands of pounds of donated items to Keesler families and moved the center's offices from the Sablich Center to old Cody Hall. As the Sablich Center's building custodian, Mr. Bublik worked with civil engineers and contractors to facilitate the $7.5 million rebuild of Sablich Center and coordinate the move back to Sablich Center earlier this year. He was honored with the Civilian Achievement Award for his actions after Hurricane Katrina. He and his wife, Rebecca, have five children, nine grandchildren and recently became the great-grandparents of twin girls. They'll remain in the Biloxi area, and he plans to work part-time in a nonappropriated fund job on base after he takes care of his wife's "honey-do list."