VICTORIA, Texas- Lt. Colonel Lupe Gutierrez has served 30 years in the United States Air Force. With a long list of accomplishments, the most worthy to him is making his family in Victoria proud. His older sister, Adela Lopez nominated Gutierrez saying, “my family and I are so proud of my brother. He served, you know, over 30 years now and he’s done a wonderful job and we [are] just so proud of him.”
Gutierrez is currently stationed in Italy, so surprising him with his award was done through a FaceTime call! When asked why he chose to join the Air Force he said, “Well, originally, I was just like everyone else. I thought I’d do my four years [then] get out. But first and foremost, obviously [there’s] patriotism. [There’s] people in my family before me who had served, so I had that calling as well. I wanted to do something with my life. I love Victoria, love Texas, but I knew there was more for me out there. So, I made the decision and enlisted to the Air Force back in 1989.”
The most memorable contributions as a service member have been the opportunities to impact his airmen’s lives, Gutierrez adds that he “[has 325 airmen that are under my command and any impact that I have on them and their career and their family and our mission, that is what drives me to get up every day and do this for 30 years. So [really] just having that hand in my airmen’s lives is what drives me every day.”
