When Retired Chief Master Sgt. Joel Shaw looks back on his decision to enlist in 1958, he doesn’t describe it as part of some grand plan.
“I wouldn’t qualify for anything, you know, a poor student,” Shaw said. “I was kind of immature. So I enlisted in the Air Force in 1958.”
What began as a turning point for a young man from Louisville, Kentucky, became a 28-year, three-month Air Force career that took him around the world and eventually to Hawaii, where he would continue serving for decades as a civilian.
Over the years, Shaw served in Germany and England, where he met his wife in 1959 and later at the Pentagon, in New York and in Thailand during the Vietnam War. Stateside assignments followed before he was stationed at Travis Air Force Base in California, the assignment he still remembers most fondly.
In 1978, Shaw was selected for an assignment to Hawaii. He would later retire in 1989 from Los Angeles Air Force Station as a chief master sergeant.
“I could have gone 30, but I went 28 years and three months,” he said. “Retiring from the Air Force was easy.” What stayed with him most was not location or rank, but people. During a tour with the Inspector General team in the Pacific, Shaw discovered a deeper appreciation for the broader mission.
“Best job I had in the Air Force,” he said. “I learned a lot, met a lot of good people.”
He especially valued mentoring younger airmen.
“I didn’t mind teaching you, long as you had a good attitude,” he said. “Because I always felt that to be successful, you’ve got to have some smarts, but you have to have a positive attitude, because it’ll take you a long way.”
After retiring from active duty, Shaw returned to Hawaii and continued working, first at a St. Louis school, then at the Hickam Officers’ Club, and later in federal civil service. As a resource adviser for the 647th Air Base Group, he managed millions of dollars in funding and supported base leadership for years. But even in roles centered on budgets and oversight, his focus remained on people.
“I’ve been able to work with no problem with people,” he said. Daily, he greets people throughout the 15th Wing Headquarters building, where his office is located.
In 2021, a conference room at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam was renamed in his honor. The recognition caught him off guard.
“I had no idea they were going to do it,” he said.
Still, the most meaningful moments came not from ceremonies, but from quiet messages sent years later.
“They said, ‘You made a difference in our life,’” Shaw said, his voice softening. “To me, that’s so important, being able to make a difference.”
Now fully retired after decades of military and civilian service, Shaw carries both pride and perspective. His wife, whom he met in England in 1959 and married in 1960, recently passed away at age 100. They were married 65 years. “We had a good life, really good life,” he said.
As he reflects on the Air Force today, his message is simple and steady.
“Keep doing what you’re doing. You’re only getting better,” he said.
From a young man who once described himself as immature to a chief master sergeant whose name now marks a conference room, Shaw’s legacy is not about rank or recognition. It is about attitude, mentorship and the quiet impact of showing up every day.
“You’ve got to have a positive attitude,” he said. “It’ll take you a long way.”