A place to call home -- defining your roots

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Tim Cothrel
  • 5th Bomb Wing staff judge advocate
MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. (AFPN) --  “There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings.” -- Hodding Carter, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist.

My parents are in the process of moving. That is not exactly earth-shaking news for most middle-aged American men, but this is the first time my parents have moved since 1968. Lyndon Johnson was president when they moved into their current house. Men had not yet landed on the moon. The Beatles were alive, well and still together.

My parents didn’t move much before 1968, either. In fact, they are moving into what will be only the fourth home they have shared in the 48 years they have been married. In contrast, my wife and I have been married for only six years, and we are already living in home number four.

Why such a difference? Part of it is the changes in American society in general over the past several decades. In agricultural communities, families were tied to the land, and so they stayed in one area generation after generation. As the country became more and more industrialized, we became more and more mobile. Now that we are a post-industrial nation, whatever that means, we have to be poised to move at a moment’s notice.

By the time my son is my age, thanks to the exploding growth of technologies like the Internet and cellular phones, people will probably be in virtually constant motion, whizzing around the country in their hydrogen fusion-powered hovercars watching high-definition anime downloaded to the plasma screens on their palms and their berries with the MP3 ringtones and ... OK, I admit it. I don’t really understand what most of that mumbo jumbo even means (as a lawyer, I’m naturally mediocre when it comes to high-tech). But, I seriously do wonder if his generation will ever understand the importance the concept of “home” once had in American culture.

To me, home is, more than anything, about the feeling of belonging somewhere. The word itself creates an instant sense of comfort, familiarity and security. The house my parents are finally leaving remains my home. I lived there from first grade until I left for college. I’ve been back since for dozens of holidays, vacations and visits. I feel like I could drive there without a map from any point on the continent, guided by sheer instinct. In my heart’s eye, no matter where I am stationed, and no matter how plush my parent’s new condo turns out to be, that old brick house will always be what I picture when I hear the word “home.”

There are times I envy the stability of my parents’ lives. As an Airman, I will never have the roots they take for granted. I will never get to know a town or a school or a neighbor the way they did. I will never see a seedling oak grow to tower over my house like they did. I will never be able to tell my grandchildren stories about their father’s exploits in the very backyard where they are standing.

The Air Force can’t give us a life like my parents. To paraphrase Gen. George S. Patton, Jr., as Airmen, we fight where we are told (and win where we fight). The constantly changing needs of the mission and the system of professional development don’t permit us to grow such roots. Instead, we get wings. Wings make us agile, versatile and flexible to do what must be done where it must be done. Wings keep us moving not only from base to base and house to house, but onward, upward and forward in our growth and our performance as individuals and as teams.

But in spite of this necessity for regular changes in our jobs, locations, co-workers, etc., the Air Force still manages to give us roots of another kind. We share history, customs, traditions, experiences and above all, purpose. These are the roots that give us our identity and form the ties that bind us to each other, to the past and to the future. They create a neighborhood that has no geographical boundaries but is still as real as any village or parish or city.

We are not just working for the Air Force. We are members of the Air Force. We belong to it and it belongs to us, just like any family or community. No matter where in the world we go, no matter what mission we perform, every time we suit up, we come home.