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Four years deployed: Retiring airman recounts life of service

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. J. Aaron Breeden
  • Air Forces Central Command Public Affairs
AL UDEID AIR BASE, Qatar --  After a nearly four-year deployment, Master Sgt. Alexander Malave, Air Forces Central Command force protection NCO in charge, said farewell during his retirement ceremony May 9, 2014.

Although Malave's deployment from Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, was initially a one-year assignment, his extended tenure allowed him to forge new relationships between the service members of Al Udeid and the Qatari community, earning him the nickname "The Mayor."

Having lived through Operation Just Cause, this Panama native could not help but to notice the similarities between his childhood home and the countries the U.S. Air Force was working so hard to help.

"I come from a country, Panama, where we lived under a dictatorship back in the 70's and 80's," said Malave. "The fact that I grew up the way I did helps me to be more sympathetic to the issues around here."

If you go to countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, where we helped to develop their democracies - even though they have their ups and downs - you'll see people are free to do more now than in the past," Malave added. "In Afghanistan they are exercising their right to vote - it is a huge deal!"

Malave said one of his most significant contributions while deployed was fulfilling U.S. Central Commands' security requirements for off-base living.

"I was a representative for force protection in reference to the different types of compounds and housing downtown," said Malave. "We worked with the embassy and Camp As Sayliyah, the (local) Army post."

Malave said more than a dozen compounds were considered and the inspection process included surveying for security threats and assessing overall safety within potential communities. After a compound was selected, Malave moved off-base with the initial wave of Airmen and was the first to do so with a family.

"I believe being here with (my daughter) made things a lot more interesting," said Malave. "You're more accepted ... when you present yourself with a wife and kids. It's a cultural thing."

Malave attributed this ease of integration in part to the fact that his daughter attended school locally.

"We would go to the mall and she would see her friends and they would greet each other in Arabic!" Malave said. "(She) was the best ambassador we had."

Above all Malave said it is the mission and the people he hates to leave behind.

"What I will miss above all is the camaraderie, especially as a member of force protection. We always feel proud of what we do," said Malave. "We protect people, we protect resources, and we stand the line. That is 24-hour business, and then some."

Everything we do, we do it for other people," he added. "I believe that is exactly what we stand for, equality and respect. It's something I feel proud to have been a part of."