Deployed to serve

  • Published
  • By Col. Barry Mines
  • 455 Expeditionary Mission Support Group commander
BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (AFPN) --  As I reflect over the first eight months of my deployment to Bagram, I'm flooded with memories of the people who have passed through during that period. I have seen several rotations come and go, picking up where their predecessors left off and continuing to improve their work areas, their living conditions and the efficiency in their processes.

I also have seen many distinguished visitors, including high ranking general officers, members of Congress, former Olympic athletes, music stars, and television personalities. They visited us because they care about our military and our way of life, and they want to honor us and thank us for our service.

It can be difficult for those who are not closely connected to military service to understand why we follow a career path that requires us to perform under extreme conditions, endure frequent hardships and face long separations from family and friends.

A deployment provides ample time to reflect on the question of why you serve in the military. Are you truly serving? Are you making a difference in the mission? Are you ensuring continued success by growing your replacement? Are you playing well with your coworkers and fellow service members? We are deployed to serve, not to be served.

It is all too easy to let our focus slip from why we serve when faced with a myriad of daily problems and tasks. During a morale call to my wife, I gave in to whining about something here at Bagram. She responded that I needed to put on my "big boy underpants" and deal with it (which was very sound advice.) All of us occasionally need to be reminded of why we are here. Every airman at Bagram has a meaningful and purposeful job. If there was no need for your service, you would not be here. Each individual brings his or her own unique skills to our military service.

We all have key jobs to perform, whether flying the jets, making airdrops, maintaining the aircraft, fueling aircraft, billeting our personnel or ordering and tracking aircraft parts. There are so many jobs required for our wing to function properly, and all demand a dedication to service.

Every service member at Bagram makes a difference. Many have remarked that those who served in World War II were the greatest generation. Let us strive to serve in a manner which will allow history to look as kindly upon our generation.

As I draw closer to the end of my tour, I recognize there are things I will miss about Bagram and the people I have worked with during this deployment. A current country music song by Trace Adkins advises "You're going to miss this...these are some good times, and you may not know it now, but you're going to miss this."

After your deployment is over and done, I'm sure you will reminisce on many of the times you enjoyed with the people you served with. You can look back and pass on your own war stories to your friends and family. You can describe living in a wood B-hut, define a Chigo unit (small heating and air conditioner unit), and explain that a Cadillac is not a car, but the top of the line in expeditionary shower and latrine living. Only those who have deployed can truly appreciate those terms.

A unique appreciation for the classic film, "Groundhog Day," as well as the urge to take malaria pills on a regular basis, are traits that will also mark you as one who deployed to serve.

You may also remember how you improved personally during your rotation. How you worked on your career development course, progressed in your professional military education, took a college course, lost weight or got in shape. I know I will remember the various folks who joined me to run the perimeter road, and how they improved their times and set a new personal distance records. I thought it was fun, but some may not have experienced the same level of enjoyment.

Take care of the mission, take care of yourself, and take care of your coworkers. Remember, you deployed to serve, not to be served. Thank you for your service.

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