It is all about CHOICE

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Virginia Schreitmueller
  • Mathies Airman Leadership School
ROYAL AIR FORCE FELTWELL, England (AFPN) --  I have an idea for a combat program that could be adopted across the full Air Force spectrum. I call it, “Combat CHOICE,” because everything you or I do is about choices.

We choose to do the right things or the wrong things. We choose how to spend our time, what our attitude will be, and what level of effort we put forth on and off duty.

Of course, CHOICE not only is a verb, it is an acronym: community, home, operations, integrity, commitment and excellence.

I choose to be part of my community. I watch my neighbor’s infant while my neighbor goes to work, or I volunteer to round up the neighborhood children for an outing to the movies.

I do it because I live in a community, not a military housing area.

The local village is not just a place I drive through en route to work. It is where I buy fresh bread and vegetables, a place where I “hang out” at the pub with friends, and a place where I know the first name of the chap working at the railroad station crossing.

I choose to call wherever the Air Force sends me, “home.”

I choose to be part of the operations. I get tasked, and I get asked. I get told, and I volunteer.

The mission doesn’t happen based on my likes and dislikes. It happens because I choose to ensure whatever needs to be done gets done, and I do it without whining or making excuses.

I choose to make integrity the motivation behind all I do. I understand deception is just a lie with more syllables. When I say or do something, it reflects on me, my family, my job and my Air Force. I won’t compromise any of those things -- ever.

I choose to make a commitment to all those aspects in my community, my home, my mission.

I realize, even when I am tired, my responsibilities don’t go on hold. I do my best to balance my family, friends and work.

I choose to strive for excellence, on and off duty.

It really is all about choosing to do the right things all the time. It is about taking ownership of where I live, how I live, my actions and reactions, every time, everywhere, in all I do.

Everything in life comes with choices.

No one should have to tell you not to drink and drive, to get a haircut, to pick up a piece of trash in the parking lot, to help a neighbor, to get involved, to put in “overtime” to get the job done, or simply to do the right thing.

My parents raised me better.

My Air Force expects it to come naturally.