Col Pickett Retirement Preview | Southern Maryland Military Events Photographer

This retirement ceremony started out in a beautiful atrium full of friends, family, and colleagues. Col. Heather Pickett’s daughter sang the National Anthem and my photographer friend and I were busy snapping away from our designated spots.

The Nellis Honor Guard proceeded in and displayed the colors. As they exited and the ceremony continued, something incredible happened.

We were all told to evacuate.

No one knew what to think since all we knew was there was a suspicious package in the hospital.

Everyone gathered around to wait in the parking lot under the blazing, Las Vegas sun. One of the speakers had a fantastic idea to call a squad car and use their speakers as a microphone. The master of ceremonies had the entire ceremony and all the orders on her iPad and a retired general gave permission to continue within the protocol and regulations even though we were in a very un-traditional ceremony location.

This was definitely the most interesting retirement ceremony any of us had attended!

Reading the orders from an iPad!

I would photoshop a certificate in, but I think this photo captures the feeling of the moment: everyone was in such a good mood, considering the circumstances.

A beautiful mama and her proud babies.

And then, my favorite part of each retirement ceremony, the flag folding ceremony.

I was messing around with some of the color and came up with this. I am not sure how I like it, but it’s interesting.

Col. Pickett asked seven women who she had worked with throughout her Air Force career to perform a flag passing ceremony. It was a beautiful symbol of her career and the significance of the flag.

Thank you, Heather, for including me in this special day and congratulations! I can not wait to see what adventures are coming.

…

NOTE: Everything turned out fine. After almost 3 hours outside, the bomb squad blew up the mysterious package, which ended up being extra magazines from one of the clinics.