Wingmen at home are not forgotten

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol
  • 416th Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs
KARSHI-KHANABAD AIR BASE, Uzbekistan --  In an Air Force Policy Letter in November 2004, Gen. John Jumper, Air Force chief of staff, asked all Airmen, “Who’s your wingman?”

In the deployed environment, the importance of a wingman is critical, especially when it means helping take care of your fellow Airmen and others around you.

While I am deployed, I have my command chief, my commander, the chaplains and many more people here as my wingmen. But at home, there are many important wingmen we should never forget.

When I refer to wingmen at home, I am talking about the wingmen who help us get through our every day life. For me it is family, friends, co-workers, leaders and others that I am surrounded by in my life.

My top wingman is my wife. No one can imagine or measure the strength of this person to me in heart and soul. She has been my wingman for nearly 13 years now and it is during deployments like the one I am on right now where I truly realize her strength as a wingman.

She not only is in charge of the home front while I am gone, she also lifts my spirits every time I talk to her and think of her while I am on the other side of the world. A loved one always can do that for people like me. I also know many of the people I am deployed with have the same sentiment about their own wingmen at home.

The wingmen at home don’t just have to be our spouses. They also can be significant others, a parent, a child, a good friend, or a co-worker. There are people who are always there to listen or help us learn. That is the beauty of having wingmen in your life.

My life in the military has had its ups and downs -- no career is ever perfect. But having your wingmen around you really helps you through the tight spots.

I know, for instance, when I leave my home base and come on a deployment, I leave a vacancy people in my office must fill. My fellow Airmen who fill that void with the extra duty resulting from my absence never let me know that they may have had to work extra hours to fill that gap.

On top of that, my fellow Airmen take extra time to call my family, give them help if they need it, and even give help when they don’t ask for it. They just give it. That is good wingmanship!

I know how it works at home. Many a time, when my fellow Airmen were deployed and I was not, I knew I had to step up and do everything I could to support them. And, a shoveled driveway or a mowed lawn for someone whose servicemember is gone means a lot.

The wingmanship on the home front is something I have tried to teach to all of my children, and grandchildren for that matter. All my daughters and my son, my two granddaughters, and those in my close family circle know how important it is to take care of each other and of those who aren’t in our family.

If someone needs help you give it. You become a good wingman for your efforts. My children understand that and I am so proud of them for it.

I still have a bit of time left on this deployment and I know that my work here is important. Every day, whether they know it or not, my wingmen at home are thought of and appreciated. I know that where I am and what I do cannot be done as successfully without the support from home from those wingmen.

Those of you, who are not deployed, do not think you aren’t in the fight because you are. We cannot, and will not, forget our wingmen at home.