The Other Airman

The Other Airman. A true story, one of grandeur and sometimes just mediocre life passing by. This is mostly a chronological retelling of my life in the Air Force and the many lessons I have learned throughout. I am an American Airman, a warrior; some might say, with a mission to fly, fight, and win! We are stout with our core values of integrity, excellence, and service before self, and at our core is a strong doctrine based fundamentally on our ability to project airpower in the name of Freedom! This is, at least, what we are told as truth...eventually, reality settles in. We realize the mission, while important in a grand sense, is not as concrete and established within the careers of most Airmen. In fact, some might even argue that only pilots are truly at the tip of the spear of Air Force doctrine. If so, what does that mean for the rest of us? This is a story about my 20+ years in the greatest Air Force the world has ever seen. From the very beginning, at the roots of why I decided to join to where I am today. I'm not a pilot, I'm not a combat systems officer, nor am I an Air Battle Manager; I'm not even special warfare. This is my story, the common Joe, the one working in the background, the support, the one they always encourage as a "warrior" who is "in the fight." We don't drop bombs on target; we aren't at the front lines. We are the ones who push the papers, turn the wrenches, load cargo, maintain the servers, and defend the gates; This is a story about The Other Airman.