COMMENTARY>>Remember why you joined

By Lt. Col. Scott Brown
19th Medical Group acting commander

I began my Air Force career, as did a number of my fellow officers, as an enlisted Airman. The year was 1984, and a co-worker at my civilian workplace had signed up with the Navy.

He was excited at the prospect of moving into a new and challenging career, at the opportunity to see other countries and experience new things. After listening to him and reading the information, it didn’t take me long to decide that the military seemed to be a great option for me. I’d attempted college one semester but just didn’t have the self-confidence or drive that it took to complete the classes, and my blue collar job at the time didn’t offer any real advancement opportunities or prospects for a stable career.

My wife and I talked it over, and the following week I met with an Air Force recruiter. Within a few short weeks, I’d completed the requirements for entry and locked in a guaranteed job as an information management specialist, all the while nervous and questioning why I would do this, especially at age 27. But my recruiter had offered an opportunity for me to build a real future for our family with the help of the Air Force while contributing to the strength of our nation as a member of the military, and I wasn’t going to pass it up.

Basic training was tough, especially having to leave my family behind, but during that time I learned things I wouldn’t have learned in most civilian jobs. I learned to push myself to the limit physically and mentally, and accomplish things I would never have thought possible. I learned that with hard work, I could build my endurance and complete all physical training requirements even though I hadn’t worked out regularly for years. I learned I was capable of completing academic goals and gained a level of self-confidence that would see me through every challenge that came my way. Most of all, I learned to take pride in the accomplishments of my teammates and the contributions and sacrifices each of us made in order to achieve our team’s goals. Despite the stress and the hectic pace, we knew we’d achieved those tough goals together and graduated as a team. Knowing we were now ready to put our new skills to work for the bigger Air Force team made all the hard work well worth the effort.

Fast forward 25 years and we’ve progressed from typewriters and hard-copy inboxes to computers and seemingly endless e-mails. Our nation has moved from a Cold War state to a state of war against terrorists. Many of us deploy regularly, leaving family behind and many times leaving short-manned work centers to cope with additional workload while we’re gone. We’re constantly asked to do more when we’re convinced we’ve reached our limits. But our nation and our Air Force team have a huge goal that they need our help with--to win the war.

This goal challenges each of us to recall our reasons for talking with our recruiters, to recall how tough basic training was and to remember the pride we felt when we graduated basic training as a team and then took on and overcame constant additional challenges. We will win the war and the pace will slow, and we will achieve that goal together.

Always take pride in your team’s and your accomplishments, use that self-confidence gained in basic training and keep a positive attitude. Remember why you joined.