Lindsey Graham retires from Air Force ahead of expected White House run

By Eric Bradner, CNN
Updated 1:07 PM EDT, Thu May 28, 2015
Click through to see highlights from U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham
Photos: Lindsey Graham's political career
Click through to see highlights from U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham's political career:
PHOTO: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images
Graham; Sir Elton John, center; and filmmaker and John
Photos: Lindsey Graham's political career
Graham; Sir Elton John, center; and filmmaker and John's husband, David Furnish, pose after testimony at a U.S. Senate hearing on the global fight against AIDS on May 6, 2015. Graham and Democratic Sen. Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont hosted John as part of their bipartisan effort to combat HIV infection.
PHOTO: Paul Morigi/Getty Images for EJAF
Graham rushes to the Senate chamber to vote on an attempt to override U.S. President Barack Obama
Photos: Lindsey Graham's political career
Graham rushes to the Senate chamber to vote on an attempt to override U.S. President Barack Obama's veto of the Keystone XL Pipeline legislation March 4, 2015. Graham was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002 and was re-elected in 2008 and 2014.
PHOTO: Win McNamee/Getty Images
Graham listens to testimony during a Senate Armed Services Committee meeting on national security strategy on January 27, 2015. According to his website, Graham continues to serve his country in the U.S. Air Force Reserves as a senior individual mobilization augmentee to the judge advocate general.
Photos: Lindsey Graham's political career
Graham listens to testimony during a Senate Armed Services Committee meeting on national security strategy on January 27, 2015. According to his website, Graham continues to serve his country in the U.S. Air Force Reserves as a senior individual mobilization augmentee to the judge advocate general.
PHOTO: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images
Graham arrives for a closed briefing of the Armed Services Committee on July 30, 2014. Before serving in the Senate, Graham was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994.
Photos: Lindsey Graham's political career
Graham arrives for a closed briefing of the Armed Services Committee on July 30, 2014. Before serving in the Senate, Graham was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994.
PHOTO: Win McNamee/Getty Images
Graham talks to U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, before a news conference on Capitol Hill on July 24, 2014.
Photos: Lindsey Graham's political career
Graham talks to U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, before a news conference on Capitol Hill on July 24, 2014.
PHOTO: Alex Wong/Getty Images
Graham and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, right, listen as President Barack Obama delivers the State of the Union address on January 28, 2014. Graham was in the U.S. Air Force and logged six-and-a-half years of service on active duty as an Air Force lawyer.
Photos: Lindsey Graham's political career
Graham and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, right, listen as President Barack Obama delivers the State of the Union address on January 28, 2014. Graham was in the U.S. Air Force and logged six-and-a-half years of service on active duty as an Air Force lawyer.
PHOTO: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Graham holds a news conference on Benghazi, Libya, at the U.S. Capitol on October 30, 2013. From left, he is flanked by Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona; Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah; and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. Graham has been an outspoken critic of how the Obama administration has handled the September 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. diplomatic, in which four U.S. citizens died.
Photos: Lindsey Graham's political career
Graham holds a news conference on Benghazi, Libya, at the U.S. Capitol on October 30, 2013. From left, he is flanked by Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona; Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah; and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. Graham has been an outspoken critic of how the Obama administration has handled the September 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. diplomatic, in which four U.S. citizens died.
PHOTO: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, meets with U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, and Graham on June 30, 2013, in Jerusalem.
Photos: Lindsey Graham's political career
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, meets with U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, and Graham on June 30, 2013, in Jerusalem.
PHOTO: Kobi Gideon/GPO via Getty Images
McCain, left, and Graham speak during a news conference about Benghazi on February 14, 2013, on Capitol Hill.
Photos: Lindsey Graham's political career
McCain, left, and Graham speak during a news conference about Benghazi on February 14, 2013, on Capitol Hill.
PHOTO: Alex Wong/Getty Images
Graham talks with reporters before heading into the Senate Republican Caucus policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol May 8, 2012.
Photos: Lindsey Graham's political career
Graham talks with reporters before heading into the Senate Republican Caucus policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol May 8, 2012.
PHOTO: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Graham speaks to reporters after a news conference about his Social Security reform plan at the U.S. Capitol on April 13, 2011.
Photos: Lindsey Graham's political career
Graham speaks to reporters after a news conference about his Social Security reform plan at the U.S. Capitol on April 13, 2011.
PHOTO: Jonathan Ernst/Getty Images
Graham, left, and McCain call on participants during a health care town hall meeting on September 14, 2009 at the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. According to his website, Graham is a native South Carolinian and grew up in a blue collar family in the small town of Central, where his parents ran a restaurant and pool hall.
Photos: Lindsey Graham's political career
Graham, left, and McCain call on participants during a health care town hall meeting on September 14, 2009 at the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. According to his website, Graham is a native South Carolinian and grew up in a blue collar family in the small town of Central, where his parents ran a restaurant and pool hall.
PHOTO: Richard Ellis/Getty Images
U.S. President George W. Bush, left, stands with Graham on the steps of Air Force One at the airport in Greenville, South Carolina, in March 2002.
Photos: Lindsey Graham's political career
U.S. President George W. Bush, left, stands with Graham on the steps of Air Force One at the airport in Greenville, South Carolina, in March 2002.
PHOTO: TIM SLOAN/AFP/Getty Images
(CNN) —  

Lindsey Graham is leaving the Air Force Reserves – even though he “wouldn’t leave if they weren’t making me,” he says.

The South Carolina senator and likely Republican presidential candidate said Thursday that he’s retiring after more than three decades of Air Force service – including brief work in Afghanistan over the Memorial Day holiday – because he’s reaching the mandatory retirement age when he turns 60 on July 9.

“The Air Force has been one of the best things that has ever happened to me,” Graham said in a statement. “It identified and developed my talent, and helped me become useful to my country. It offered me adventure and showed me the world. It gave me a purpose bigger than myself. It put me in the company of patriots. It’s been almost like family to me.”

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Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has created a political committee that will help him travel and raise money while he considers a 2016 bid. Additionally, billionaire businessman David Koch said in a private gathering in Manhattan this month that he wants Walker to be the next president, but he doesn
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Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is establishing a committee to formally explore a White House bid. "If I run, my candidacy will be based on the idea that the American people are ready to try a dramatically different direction," he said in a news release provided to CNN on Monday, May 18.
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PHOTO: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/File
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On March 2, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson announced the launch of an exploratory committee. The move will allow him to raise money that could eventually be transferred to an official presidential campaign and indicates he is on track with stated plans to formally announce a bid in May.
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PHOTO: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images
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He added: “I’m going to miss it an awful lot, and I wouldn’t leave if they weren’t making me.”

Graham is a leading hawk in the Republican Party and has lambasted President Barack Obama for what he’s called a too-passive approach to problems like ISIS in Iraq and Syria. He’s called for the United States to do more to support revolutionary forces in the Middle East.

Graham was on active duty with the Air Force for six years, from 1982 to 1988, which included four years in Germany. He also served in the South Carolina Air National Guard from 1989 to 1995 before joining the U.S. Air Force Reserves in 1995.

As a judge advocate in the 1980s, he exposed the mishandling of urine test samples that had led to false positive tests and dismissals of Air Force service members.

Graham retires with the rank of colonel.