AUGUSTA, Kan. (KSNW) - Air Force veteran Aaron Ewy is enjoying family life in Augusta, but he wouldn't be here without the Air Force and the family members who inspired him. "My older cousin, Christina, she had joined the army, and I looked up to her a lot, and when it got my turn to graduate high school, and I saw everybody going off to college, I don't think I was ready for that. I was ready for something different," said Ewy. After enlisting in 2013, Ewy trained to become a "water and fuel maintenance technician." He says he didn't initially join with that role in mind but found tremendous pride in building the things that kept his fellow service members safe and focused on their jobs. "The creature comforts of HVAC, A/C, water, and electricity, those go a long way when you're in the desert, and it's 130 degrees every single day," he said. But Ewy wasn't just limited to working on plumbing projects. One of his most memorable moments came from his time protecting American jetfighters in Kuwait. "We basically built giant metal walls that held sand and rocks and stuff like that so that we could store fighter jets with live ammunition on the flight lines, as opposed to having to get the call to respond and then load up with ammunition and then go drop warheads on foreheads," he said. After a little over a half-decade of serving as a maintenance technician, Ewy was ready for a new challenge protecting his brothers and sisters in the Air Force and so he pivoted to emergency management. The role shares similarities with civilian emergency management services but is tailored to protecting people during a disaster or attack on a military base. "It's preparing people for potential chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear attack incidents and preparing the base population for use and wearing of gas masks, and taking protective actions should the base be attacked," he said. Ewy wrapped up his time in the Air Force this year. He's now focused on playing with dogs and being a dad. Local veteran spent 20 years in the Navy but never served on a ship "I do miss the Air Force, but you know, nothing beats this life that we protect, right?" Ewy said. If you want to nominate a veteran for our Veteran Salute, send an email to [email protected] or fill out our online contact form!