FORT NOVOSEL, Ala. — 5 soldiers, with a combined 108 years of service, retired at the Fort Novosel Quarterly Retirement Ceremony Oct. 25 in the U.S. Army Aviation Museum.
Col. Jason Woodward, 1st Aviation Brigade commander, officiated and spoke at the ceremony, assisted by Command Sgt. Maj. John Bonilla.
The following are short write-ups on each retiree.
Chief Warrant Officer Four Michel Helland
Chief Warrant Officer Four Michel Helland entered military service in 2003 as an 11B, infantryman. In 2009, he applied for and was selected to attend Army Warrant Officer CID special agent. During his 21 years of military service, he has served in various locations, including, Fort Riley, Kansas; Fort Jackson, South Carolina; joint base Lewis-McChord, Washington; Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Virginia; Fort Belvoir, Virginia; Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland; Fort Novosel, Alabama; and overseas in South Korea and Kuwait. In addition, he served multiple combat tours in support of operations Iraqi and enduring freedom. He has served as an infantryman, CID special agent, digital forensic examiner, senior digital forensic examiner, special agent in charge, detachment commander and senior policy analyst.
Chief Warrant Officer Four Helland stated the highlight of his career was being a CID insert in Afghanistan in support of combined joint interagency task force 435 to develop rule of law-based investigations, prosecution and detention of al-Qaeda members and insurgents.
He and his spouse Sherie have six children. Upon retirement they plan to reside in Minnesota.
Chief Warrant Officer Four Marc Johnson
Chief Warrant Officer Four Marc Johnson entered military service in 2001 as a 67Y, Apache armament/avionics/electronics repairman. In 2006 he applied for and was selected to attend army warrant officer flight training. During his 23 years of military service, he has served in various locations, including, Fort Campbell, Kentucky, Fort Novosel, Alabama; and an overseas location in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In addition, he served five combat tours in support of operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom. Johnson served as an AH-64D/E pilot in command, instructor pilot and standardization instructor pilot.
Chief Warrant Officer Four Marc Johnson stated the highlight of his career was visiting all the Army’s Apache units while serving in both the directorate of standardization and the directorate of simulation.
He and his wife Sara have three children. Upon retirement they plan to reside in Enterprise, Al.
Master Sgt. Omar Savon
Master Sgt. Savon entered military service in 2004 as a 15Q, Air Traffic Control Specialist. During his 20 years of military service, he has served in numerous locations including fort Novosel, Alabama; Memphis recruiting company, Tennessee; Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina; Fort Riley, Kansas; Department of the Army regional office, Atlanta, Georgia; and overseas locations in Latvia, Germany, Iraq, and Kuwait. He has also served multiple combat tours in support of Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom. Savon has served as an air traffic controller, shift leader, recruiter, airspace command and control NCO, platoon sergeant, and department of the army regional representative for the Eastern and New England regions.
Master Sgt. Savon stated the highlight of his career was marrying his beautiful wife and having completed his service.
Upon retirement, he and his wife Annalie plan to reside in Huntsville, Alabama.
Sgt. 1st Class Roaman Johnson
Sgt. 1st Class Johnson entered military service in 2004 as a 92A, automated logistical specialist. During his 20 years of military service, he has served in numerous locations including Fort Liberty, North Carolina; Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Eglin Air Force Base, Florida; and overseas locations in Iraq, Syria and Turkey. He has also served multiple combat tours in support of operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom. Johnson has served as a paratrooper, squad leader, section sergeant, platoon sergeant, and battalion support operations sergeant.
Sgt. 1st Class Johnson stated the highlight of his career was marrying his beautiful wife and having three wonderful children.
Upon retirement, he has his wife Kristie plan to reside in Navarre, Florida.
Sgt. 1st Class James Tebbe
Sgt. 1st Class Tebbe entered military service in 2001 as a 93P, now a 15P aviation operations specialist. During his 24 years of military service, he has served in numerous locations including Fort Bliss, Texas, Fort Carson, Colorado, Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Fort Cavazos, Texas; Fort Novosel, Alabama; and overseas locations in South Korea, Puerto Rico, Germany, Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He has also served multiple combat tours in support of operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Inherent Resolve, and Operation Enduring Freedom. Tebbe has served as a flight operations specialist, assistant aviation operations sergeant, AIT platoon sergeant, air space operations NCOIC, AIT instructor, senior aviation operations sergeant, and operations NCOIC.
Sgt. 1st Class Tebbe stated the highlight of his career was marrying his beautiful wife of now over 21 years.
Upon retirement, he and his wife Jessica plan to reside in Enterprise, Alabama.
For more photos from the ceremony head to our FLICK album