On Friday September 11th my career in the Navy will come to a close.  Retiring with 20 years of service has given me so much to be grateful for.  Before I ride away and since we cannot have a formal ceremony or large gathering for a retirement party I decided I owed to all of you to give a few reflection thoughts on my service.  I discuss the opportunities, the hardship, the gratitude and the lessons learned that come with an arduous and operational career.  I appreciate every one of you that helped me along the journey and those that supported me as there were hard times. Forever grateful,

BMC (SWO) Jeff Bayless (Ret).