Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Randall Burt Fisher of Ringgold, GA., officially retired after 32 years of military service on June 30. The most important thing, he told the Times-Gazette this week, is to note in his retirement announcement that he’s the grandson of 92-year-old Mabel Sue Burton of Shelbyville.

All joking aside, he said his grandmother wasn’t able to make it to the recent official ceremony last week, which was hosted by Major General (MG) Robert Harter at Red Stone Arsenal, AL. She was certainly there in love and spirit, he said.

LTC Fisher is the nephew of J Breton Burton of Shelbyville and son of Miriam Sue (Burton) Fisher and Randy Fisher of Vonore. He has two “wonderful and beautiful” daughters, Lilly and Jadyn Fisher; his brother and wife, Matthew and Stacey Fisher, attended the retirement ceremony.

To simply say Fisher’s honors were well deserved, might just be an understatement in his case. LTC Fisher served as Commander of a PLS Trucking Company in the Invasion of Iraq in 2003-2004 under Operation Iraqi Freedom, followed by additional combat operations as a Joint Information and Network Director in 2008, 2013, 2014 and 2015 under Operation Enduring Freedom.

He is a graduate of Combined Armed Services College and the Joint Operation Information Planning Courses, as well as Airborne School. He served for three 4-Star level Commands; Army Central Command headquartered in Kuwait, Forces Command located at Fort Bragg, N.C., home of the 82nd Division and 18th Corps Airborne HeadQuarters and Special Operations. He culminated his career at Army Materiel Command located in Redstone Arsenal, AL., that is co-located with partner agencies NASA, FBI, DEA, ATF, and three 2-Star Army commands.

LTC Fisher earned a master’s in administration; he also maintains certificates in life, health, auto and home insurance, media information, and mathematics. 

Fisher said an American soldier is not here to defend a piece of land, property or persons, but the Constitution. He said it’s all about the amendments built into the Constitution, whether freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, the right to bear arms or the freedom of press, all are the ideals that Americans are fighting for and what makes America strong.

Fisher said in his retirement speech it is not just up to people in uniform to support the Constitution, but families and communities. He also advised how the people at the state department and ambassadors in foreign countries keep everyone safe.

“We all play a part and only together, recognizing our ideals, will we move forward to defeating any enemy that stands in our way. Because, I believe those ideals are for the people and by the people.”

Fisher also talked about Elon Musk and Mike Pompeo and their situations in support of America. “Elon Musk is one of my heroes and is putting America back into space. If you didn't know, he came from South Africa and has specifically said he wanted to come to America because it's the only way to make things happen. And he actually had to go to Canada first and become a Canadian citizen, before coming to America to be a citizen. Musk invented PayPal and sold it to eBay, and has four or five other big name companies... TESLA, BORING, SPACEX, and NEUROLINK.”