Air Force veteran Fred Higaki was helped by numerous volunteers throughout his 22-year military career.

When Higaki retired from his civilian job as a pilot with Northwest Airlines in 2004, he decided it was time he started giving back.

So the former lieutenant colonel and C-130 Hercules pilot started volunteering with the Red Cross and helping inside the pharmacy at the McChord Medical Clinic.

"I could have chosen anything (when it came to volunteering)," said Higaki, a 67-year-old Gig Harbor resident. "But I like the connection with the folks in the service."

Higaki and 26 other Red Cross volunteers - all either Air Force veterans or spouses - put in nearly 5,200 volunteer hours last year at the pharmacy and the Airman's Clinic.

"It's saved the clinic from paying for four or five full-time positions," said Bob Jeffrey, a retired chief master sergeant who's served as the Red Cross's volunteer coordinator at the McChord Clinic for the last 10 years.

In fact, the number of hours volunteers have put in have steadily increased each year Jeffery has been in the position. Coincidence? No, Jeffrey says with a laugh.

"I know a lot of people in the community," he said. "When I see someone I ask them if they're interested in volunteering."

That's exactly what happened with 72-year-old volunteer Roy Sowerby, a former C-141 Starlifter flight engineer.

He had been coming in to get his prescriptions at the pharmacy for years anyway, so when a volunteer asked him if he was interested he said yes.

"I decided it was time I give back a little something," said Sowerby, who volunteers about five hours a week.

He's since jumped in with both feet, even dressing up as Santa Claus for the clinic's annual Christmas party. The Yelm resident also enjoys seeing other Airmen he used to serve with, and usually enjoys a good laugh with them.

"I enjoy meeting a lot of people," he said.

Volunteer George Frohmader, 75, enjoys the wide variety of personalities inside the pharmacy. He heard about volunteering opportunities through the base's Retiree Activities Office and decided to give it a shot.

"The technicians wouldn't be able to do their jobs if they had to do all our duties," said Frohmader, also a former C-141 flight engineer. "We enjoy taking the load off them."

Jeffrey said it's all about putting volunteers in administrative jobs within the clinic they enjoy.

"I support the volunteers any way that I can," he said.

And it's evident they are indeed happy, as three out of the last six Volunteer of the Year awards that the Red Cross hands out to volunteers at Madigan Army Medical Center, Joint Base Lewis-McChord and the McChord Medical Clinic have gone to someone in Jeffrey's crew.

"The people are great," Jeffrey said of his volunteers.