COMMITMENT TO SERVICE Air Force vets ‘aim high’ towards second careers

Neither Kim nor Kevin Owens planned to go through most of their respective military careers married to each other—but that’s what happened.

“Our first date was on Friday the 13th,” Kim Owens remembered. “Yep, and it’s been hell ever since,” said her husband of 23 years, laughing out loud. “Lord have mercy,” she replied, rolling her eyes and laughing.

After she completed 20 years and he completed 27 years service in the United States Air Force, the Owens family moved to Enterprise in 2014.

But their journey began when they met while both serving in the Air Force on Lajes Air Base, Portugal, on Terceira Island in the Azores.

Kim Owens was then an airman assigned to Lajes as an information technology technician. It was her first military assignment after having graduated from Murphy High School in Mobile, completing two years of college, graduating from basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, and from information technology school at Keesler Air Base in Mississippi.

“Initially I wanted to be an air traffic controller,” Kim Owens said, adding that her recruiter steered her towards information technology school after seeing how high she scored on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), a test used to determine qualifications for armed forces enlistees.

Kevin Owens was also an airman stationed at Lajes. “I had a part time job at the NCO (noncommissioned officers) club as an ID card checker,” he said. “When she came walking through there sometime in June, I was like ‘Hey girl what’s going on? Are you even old enough to be in this club?’”

“I could not stand him,” Kim Owens remembered with a smile. “He gave me a hard time so we didn’t get along at all.”

Two months later, Kevin Owens managed to talk the blond airman into going on a date with him. They got married April 11, 1994 and except for a six-month overlap, were stationed together for the rest of their military careers.

Kevin Owens’ first step towards a military career was less traditional than his bride’s. “In March 1986, I was down at Spring Break at Panama City, Fla.,” the Samson High School Class of 1985 graduate said.

“And he went to jail,” his wife interjected. That is true, Kevin Owens laughed.

A fight landed Kevin Owens in jail, he explained. “I didn’t have the money to pay my fines so I called everybody I knew—with the exception of my sister who was stationed in Korea at the time.”

Kevin Owens’ sister was a federal government employee stationed in Korea as a drug alcohol abuse counselor. “So, I knew when I made that phone call I’d have to go through an hour dissertation about the evils of alcohol—which is what had actually gotten me into the situation I was in.

“I finally called her and said I need to borrow $400 to pay my fines and to pay for my buddy’s truck to be fixed where I put a dent in it,” Kevin Owens said. “She said, ‘I’ll loan you the money on one condition.’”

The condition was that her brother join some branch of the military. “So, I said, ‘I’ll do it.’”

Brenda Miller sent her brother the money and true to his word, Kevin Owens went to the Dothan Air Force Recruiting Office. “Aim High” is the Air Force Recruiting motto and that is what Kevin Owens did.

“To be honest, I had no intention of joining any part of the service until that moment,” Kevin Owens said. “My dad had served in the Army during Vietnam, my brother was in the Air Force, my sister was a federal government employee.

Kevin Owens went to basic training at Lakeland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, and information technology school at Keesler Air Base in Mississippi.

He was stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City, Fla., for five years and in January 1993, was assigned to Lajes Air Base in Portugal.

As a married couple, the Owens have been assigned to Vanderberg Air Force Base, northwest of Lompoc, Calif.; Barksdale Air Force Base, Bossier City, La.; Andersen Air Force in Guam; Keesler Air Force Base, Biloxi, Miss.; and, Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins, Ga.

Kim Owens retired as a Master Sgt. at Warner Robins, Ga., and transitioned into a civilian job on the base. When their eldest daughter enrolled in Troy University in 2014, Kim Owens and daughters Kelsey, now 22, and Kinsley, now 13, moved to Enterprise.

Kevin Owens retired from the Air Force as a Chief Master Sgt. and was still living in Warner Robins where he had a civilian career as a real estate agent. After he ”closed” on the final sales of the houses he had sold, he, too moved to Enterprise in November 2014. He is now a Realtor with Team Linda Simmons Real Estate.

Kim Owens has ventured into a retail career. In April 2015 she bought a boutique on College Street that she recently renamed Simply South.

“Most definitely worth it,” is how Kim Owens refers to her two decades of military service. “I got two associate degrees, a bachelors degree and a masters degree,” she said. “I got a skill set —information technology—where I could get a job most any time, in most any city.

“And the military reinforced my values,” Kim Owens said. “It reinforced the importance of integrity and, really, just how to be a better person and a good manager.”

Kim Owens credits her husband with being her inspiration to complete the 20-year stint. “I can’t lie,” she said. “Every time my enlistment was up, I said I was getting out and every time he encouraged me to stick with it.”

She also credits her husband with keeping life in perspective as the family of four maneuvered military life. “Kevin is a very big hearted person. He spent nine years as a First Sgt. and that is like being a combination of a psychiatrist, a mom and a marriage counselor.

“Kevin has heard and seen a lot so he can put anything into perspective that you can come up with,” Kim Owens said. “That helps with the chaos of life a lot.

“With our family and our extended family, he’s like the glue that holds it all together,” Kim Owens said. “You think the mom does that in a family, but for us it’s really Kevin.”

“Wow,” said Kevin Owens as he listened to his wife’s accolades “Can I get a hug?”

“No,” she deadpanned.

Enterprise is home to the retirees, they both agree. “We enjoy the small town atmosphere, of course, the people, and the Southern charm,” Kim Owens said. “It’s wonderful that the people outside of the military community welcome you.”