Air Force Memorial: Serving others is self serving

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Shad Eidson
  • Air Force Print News
WASHINGTON (AFPN) --  The three spires of the Air Force Memorial were not locked into representing any one idea but left by design to the imagination of visitors to see all aspects of the Air Force by threes -- the three core values, or those who served before, serve today and will serve and even active duty, Reserve and Air National Guard.

Air Force Reserve Maj. Audra Griner has her three 'spires' from her 13 years of active duty service in the Air Force before switching to join the ranks of those in the Reserves and civil servants.

As a civil servant with the Air Force District of Washington at Bolling Air Force Base, D.C., Mrs. Griner coordinates ceremonial plans for events in the Washington area. The memorial dedication taking place Oct. 14 became one of them in early February.

"I never would have dreamed that the Air Force memorial dedication would have been one of my events," Major Griner said. "It's one of those events you can look back on and say 'I was part of that.'"

While the planning is part of her normal duties, she volunteered additional time to support other aspects of the ceremony using skills from her four years with the Reserves as an Air Force headquarters resource manager at the Pentagon. During the dedication ceremony, she volunteered to work in the memorial site operations center to help the people making it happen. Helping others ties back to her first job in the Air Force.

"The Air Force was a wonderful opportunity to see the world, to serve the country, and to do some good things for people who were serving. Especially in services, because we actually support the troops," said the major who considers Kunson Air Base, Korea her best assignment.

"Even though it's a tough assignment, you get a real sense of what your mission is," Major Griner said. "It's probably the one job I had that signified what the Air Force is all about."