3 FORT POLK, La. After a 20-year career as an air traffic controller at the Fort Polk Army Airfield, Michael Elmes retires June 30.
He said he knows what retiring feels like because he’s done it before. Elmes served 20 years in the military. He initially signed up for three years and got out. He joined the National Guard and worked civilian jobs for a couple of years, but then reenlisted as an air traffic controller.
“There was a shortage at the time,” he said. “I went to Army Air Traffic Control school, graduated and worked in the field another 17 years before retiring from the Army.”