Military roll of honor

>> Air Force Airman Lelonie A. Chavez has graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio. She is the daughter of Delia Jimenez of Odessa.

>> Marine Corp Pfc. Justin Lee Walker recently graduated from military boot camp Aug. 1 in San Diego Marine Corp. He will be stationed at Cherry Point, N.C. He is the son of Keith and Marie Walker and Melissa and Phil Kinney. His grandparents are Bo and Robbye Walker and Betty Smith, all of Odessa.

>> Army Pvt. Michael H. Handy Jr. has graduated from Basic Combat training at Fort Sill, Lawton, Okla. He is the son of Michelle Handy and Mike Handy Sr., both of Odessa. He a 2006 graduate of Permian High School.

>> Navy Lt. Cmdr. Randy Tanner of Newport News, Va., formerly of Odessa, retired from the Navy after 25 years of service. He served as an aeronautical maintenance duty officer for the last three year at the Norfolk Naval Air Station.

He has served tours in Aeflavik, Iceland; Sigonella, Sicily; the Mediterranean; and the Persian Gulf.

Tanner and his wife, Betty, have three children, Christopher Tanner of Jetmore, Kan.; Nathan Tanner of Newport News and Sarah Mattingly of Lusby, Md. They five grandchildren, Michael, Jonathan and Luke Tanner of Newport News and Angel and Levi Gaines of Seminole.

Tanner is a 1971 graduate of Odessa High School. His nephew, Aaron Corbell of Midland, has followed in his steps to join the Navy, and is now serving on the USS George Bush CVN 76 on the West Coast.

A retirement ceremony and reception was held July 25 at the New Life Church in Odessa. Tanner's long time friend of 28 years, Jerry Montgomery of Odessa, served as master of ceremony.

>> Navy Cmdr. Todd M. Watkins, son of Katherine C. and James H. Watkins of Odessa, recently relinquished duties as the commanding officer of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 113 during a  ceremony aboard USS Ronald Reagan.

Watkins will head to European Command, Stuttgart, Germany, for his next assignment.

Watkins is a 1984 graduate of Odessa High School and joined the Navy in October 1989. He is a 1988 graduate of Sul Ross State University, Alpine, with a bachelor of arts degree and a 2005 graduate of Marine Corps University, Quantico, Va. with a master of science degree.