You're worth more than $4.50

LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. (AFPN) -- I remember reading some time ago that you could buy all the organic substances that form the human body for $4.50. Less than five bucks. Hmmm ... never thought about it that way before, have you? Does this make you feel insignificant?

Way back when, back when I was only thinking about joining the Air Force, I believed the Air Force was some sort of omnipotent entity in itself. For some reason, I grew up accepting everything in life as a bureaucracy and the Air Force, in my mind, was no different. So when I entered, I viewed myself as nothing more than a cog molded to the outside of a slowly turning colossal wheel, grinding away day after day, with no one person having much influence on the speed or direction it turned.

Who was I to question the way the Air Force accomplished its business? I never came close to thinking of all of us as lemmings, but I did think of us as being nothing more than cogs on a wheel.

It certainly didn't take me long to figure out what a wonderful bureaucracy the Air Force really is. While growing as a young officer and trying to re-learn everything I slept through during officer training school, I soon figured out the Air Force wasn't a bureaucracy after all. The Air Force was not a slowly turning wheel with all of us as cogs. It was and is a very personable, highly tuned entity that responds quickly to change and performs flawlessly any mission our country asks of it.

So what's the greatest revelation of all? The "it" from above is you. It is me. The Air Force is all of us. The Air Force simply does not exist without you, the living, breathing, multi-talented and dedicated human being you are.

I still remember the first decision I made as an officer that touched the lives of all those around me and had an impact on the direction the Air Force would take. What a powerful feeling -- not an "I'm in charge" kind of power, but rather the feeling I, little ol' me, was entrusted with shaping the present and the future of such a "massive entity," or a "colossal wheel," or a "bureaucracy" as I originally and incorrectly categorized the Air Force back in my naive days.

I was a lieutenant then, with no prior service. If I could feel the power of realizing the impact I, as an individual, had on my unit and the Air Force, who's to say any one of you reading this commentary can't experience the same high?

You can.

It doesn't matter what your rank is. A lot of you continually demonstrate your professionalism and spirit every day. You are what makes this Air Force tick. You turn the wheel. The decisions you as airmen, junior noncommissioned officers and company grade officers make every day have a much more dramatic impact than you may realize.

The Air Force lives and breathes only through you. You have the power to make things happen. And it's not lip service when we tell you that you are needed. You truly are. We're not in the business of hiring people just for the hell of it. We hire people to perform every one of our missions because that's the only way the mission is going to get accomplished -- with you.

Don't kid yourself if you think you're just along for the ride. Trust me, the ride will stop if you decide to jump off.

The Air Force has invested thousands of dollars in your training and growth. Do you think just anybody is afforded this trust and responsibility? You are not insignificant. Your value to the Air Force is a hundred times more than the training you received. You are worth more than $4.50. All we ask is for your two cents. (Courtesy of Air Education and Training Command News Service)