8 October 2005
Stop Being Stupid!
Why join the Air Force? This questions is often posed to me. Mostly in a curious tone but sometimes in a pity tone. Another way to ask the question, instead of using this pity tone, is: Hoy, why are you throwing your life away to a corrupt governement and a zombie institution?
I'm not too big on our country. I'm not a patriotic person. But what I see is a great opportunity to build leadership.
But Hoy, can't you build leadership through other programs? Won't you build those skills by serving in church? By working in the real world? Absolutely. That is 100% true. I could build my skills through those situations but I chose to join ROTC because I know that life is stressful in the military. I know i will be put in crazy situations where peoples' lives are in my hands. I'm not crazy, I love challenges. I believe those are the times when one grows the most (suceed or fail). The military is a structured environment where my job is to make important decisions that impact the whole. It is like this everyday. What better way to build leadership than to jump into the fire?
I noticed that people are ignorant. They believe our country is corrupt and that our military is horrible. This observation is wrong! People don't hate the military, they just don't agree with the leadership of our country. It just comes down on the military because it is the tool of the President.
What bothers me the most are the stories in the paper about mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, and siblings gone angry because their loved ones died. This is the worst kind of people. Shouldn't they know that their loved one was fighting for them? Shouldn't they know that their loved one was fully aware when he signed that contract that his life was at stake and it was very possible that he would die? Shouldn't they know that their loved one died for a reason that they should honor, not detest? These people make me very sad. It's as if they do not understand or know that military personnel volunteer to fight. They volunteer to die. What? Is that not reasonable? Does it sound absurd? Have you ever wanted to die for someone?
I volunteered to die for you. It's not the jobs we do in the Air Force that are more important, it is the values.
If my reason to join was an onion, then my second layer from the outside would be to build myself up for the future. I hope to be a husband someday. I great husband...I know it takes work and dedication. I thought the leadership skills would aide me in my daily duties but I have realized that to be a great husband does not take management skills, it takes love.
Setting priorities are tough, especially when it comes to work and family. I've learned through many conversations with captains, lieutenants, even majors, that what's more important is up to you. If your first priority is family, then family will be first. Personally, family will always be first to me. There is something about the feeling I get when I think about my family that is invaluable compared to an occupation and monitary rewards.
Joining the Air Force is more of a personal decision, rather than a patriotic decision. Serving the country is on the outside, but my hopes and goals deal with becoming a better person.
Hoy, what about spiritually? Killing people is wrong! No one said killing was wrong. Murdering is. Find out the difference if you need to. But cannot God use us in any situation? I may not revolutionize the world, but who does? My sphere of influence is those around me. God uses me for His glory, not mines. He uses me when I am sinful, when I am hopeless, when I am lonely, when i am joyful, when I am crazy, when I am heartbroken...why can't he use me in the military? =D I wonder what He will do....
