Seize opportunities, move forward

  • Published
  • By Col. John Kenney
  • 82nd Medical Operations Squadron commander
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) --  "Flight 254 from Salt Lake City to Dallas is now boarding."

Bidding my family farewell, I hurried through the terminal gate, made my way down the entry ramp and found my seat on the huge Boeing 767 that soon would be headed east towards Sheppard. Eventually the pilot declared "We are No. 1 for departure."

As the enormous engines moved the aircraft to the middle of the runway, I recalled my basic understandings of wing design and lift. I thought to myself the only way the pilots are going to get this enormous structure of metal, luggage and people off the ground is to seize this opportunity to move forward, and do so forcefully, without hesitation.

The engines roared, then screamed; the plane surged ahead, pulling 400 passengers deep into their seats; the markings on the tarmac quickened and then blurred as we gained speed. Within minutes the overhead sky turned to a bright blue and we climbed and then soared at 660 mph, 35,000 feet above the snow-covered mountains, fog and clouds.

As I reflected over this miraculous aerodynamic event, I thought, this is like our careers in the Air Force. When we seize opportunities and aggressively move forward we are positioned to climb and soar. When we sit and wait or just bide time, we never get off the ground.

Years ago, I attended an Airman leadership school graduation where the speaker acclaimed the importance of seizing opportunities. He related his early Air Force career in the security police career field where, as an Airman First Class, he was assigned to guard B-52 Stratofortress aircraft, often at night and in frigid weather. He recalled how he and his buddies developed poor attitudes and basically sat around and complained, sometimes getting into trouble.

One Saturday morning, the NCOIC came to the dorms looking for volunteers to serve as gate guards over the weekend. His friends, the speaker said, refused to volunteer while he thought "Why not, I'm not doing anything else."

That weekend while on gate duty, he made it a point to present a professional image, salute sharply and smile at each person entering the base. His demeanor drew the attention of a couple of chief master sergeants and the wing commander. He was selected to continue the gate duty and soon came to know many base personnel.

Within months he was selected to work in wing headquarters. After a few years, while his friends continued to guard B-52s, he completed his degree and obtained a commission. Thirty years later, he retired as a general officer.

This retired general credited his success, in part, at the opportunity he seized that Saturday morning years ago.

The take-home message: never pass up an opportunity, even if it means taking a risk; you never know where the experience might lead. Be first to volunteer for special projects, community activities, extra responsibilities or something you have not done before.

That singular opportunity may be your ticket to a great, perhaps wonderful life-changing event.

If we are to climb and soar in our careers, in addition to seizing opportunities, we must aggressively and continually move forward. We move forward by setting goals and priorities and persevering until we achieve each goal.

We know what we need to do: finish career development courses, finalize professional military education, complete one or two academic degrees, prepare for promotion testing, develop writing and speaking skills, obtain certifications and learn more about our job and the jobs of others in our organization.

As we begin this New Year, each of us would do well to ask ourselves, "Are we just biding time, waiting for the next phase of our life to begin, or are we seizing opportunities and aggressively moving forward, positioning ourselves to climb and soar?"