Friends, family and colleagues gathered Mar. 4, at the Illinois Military Academy in Springfield, Illinois, to recognize Chief Warrant Officer 4 Lindsay Glynn on her retirement.
Glynn, a native of Niantic, Illinois, began her military career in 2001 as personnel services specialist for the 623rd Personnel Services Detachment and from early on knew she wanted to be a warrant officer.
“It was one of my first drills and I saw Chief David Mavis and saw how he and the other warrants worked and the expertise they had,” said Glynn. “I said to myself then, ‘that’s what I’m going to do.’”
Glynn worked in nearly every major command in the Illinois Army National Guard as a personnel services NCO before becoming a warrant officer. After commissioning, Glynn served in a multitude of positions including warrant officer strength manager for the Recruiting and Retention Battalion and as the officer in charge for Joint Force Headquarters.
Col. Lenny Williams, Chief of Staff for the Illinois Army National Guard, said Glynn never shied away from the tough jobs and always looked to take care of Soldiers.
“Lindsay has had some tough assignments as a warrant, few were probably tougher than her last one as OIC for JFHQ, a unit that’s not only one of the largest, but is also heavy with senior and general officers,” said Williams. “She not only excelled at being the OIC but was an asset to the senior staff and always took care of the Soldiers in the unit.”
Glynn thanked those in attendance, but broke from traditional gifts for family, opting to give her mother, sister, and aunts custom tote bags instead of flowers as “flowers die.”
For her hard work and dedication over more than 20 years, Glynn was awarded the meritorious service medal.
“Now is the part of the ceremony where we’re supposed to leave words of wisdom for the rest of you,” said Glynn in closing. “I don’t have any sage advice, except step out of your comfort zone, be willing to volunteer and do things that you may be uncomfortable with. You may fail, but you’ll never miss an opportunity.”