Real Air Force Narrative

Winston Churchill once said, “Not to have an adequate Air Force in the present state of the world is to compromise the foundations of national freedom and independence” (Quotes about Everything). In this sense, the military is important to America, especially the Air Force. The Air Force provides security and safety to the people. Military lifestyles are usually not everybody’s first choice in the beginning. Particularly, the U.S. Air Force is not always is not always the first branch that comes to mind when thinking of the future. Most of the time, people come to conclusion of enlisting in any branch of the military because of an uncertainty of their future. “…I had no career or education goals, no plans; it’s just where my path took me”

I turned and faced him, smiled, and told him there is nothing for him to be afraid of, this is a deployment, it is what we do in the U.S. Army and above all we are infantrymen, that’s the primary reason we chose this profession. Hearing the news of our impending deployment, in that moment I changed my mind and decided to stay in the U.S. Army and deploy with the unit. Little did I know that the decision was made for me by being placed on the stop-loss list. Upon the release of the battalion, I proceeded home to inform my family of what I considered to be great news. Unlike the Specialist, my wife was a bit apprehensive, not scared as he was, she supported my decision and stood by me which was a feeling of joy and boosted to my moral.

ENCAMPMENT! FALL OUT! Those words were what I and one hundred fifty other cadets were waiting to hear the minute we marched onto the parade grounds of Fort Pickett. We were standing under the merciless afternoon sun as the sweat trickled from my forehead onto the lapels of my freshly ironed uniform, and it felt as if that moment was never going to end. Going back exactly six days from that moment, I was feeling an unusual wave of excitement as I signed in at the Virginia Wing Civil Air Patrol Encampment as an Advanced Training Flight (ATF) cadet. After signing in I was introduced to my flight commander and my fellow flight members who were the people that I was going to be eating, bunking and associating with for the next six days. We were

My army career was right on track. I had been in the army 3 years at this point, coming up on 4, and already had completed air assault school, been awarded my expert infantry badge, and had one 15 month deployment under my belt. I was assigned to the scout platoon sniper section and was waiting for a sniper school packet to get final approval from the company commander. I had been studying for the sergeant promotion board for months. I knew that study guide like the back of my hand, I knew whatever question I was asked by the command sergeant major I would have an answer for. I went to the promotion board that morning and blew it out of the water. My dress uniform was perfect. No one was able to find a single deficiency. The soldiers creed

The day started just like any day at FOB (Forward Operating Base) Sharana, in Afghanistan. I woke up at 0630 grabbed my uniform, shower hygiene, and walked to the shower trailers, so I could go to duty at 0900. Walking back from the showers I began to think about my family. I wish they understood how much I love them. Mommy is not leaving them, but doing this for them. Tears began to form in my eyes. I can do this, I will just call them later to tell them how much I love them, and that mommy misses them. As I was walking back, I ran into Chief Warrant Officer 2 Tutt. CW2 Tutt was in the same company that I was in. He was a nice, strong, caring leader. He was a preacher back at our home station. As he approached me, I noticed he was crying. I’ve never seen him cry before. “What’s wrong?” I asked. “It’s Delgado” he said while beginning to cry harder. “He…he…shot himself!” I could barely make out his last words because he was so emotional. He shot himself? There’s no way, I just talked to him last night! “When did you find this out chief?” “It happened right now! I heard a gunshot and ran to see what was happening…and there he was…I

As we assembled in our platoon sized huddles to receive the information, the plane began to fill with groans from some areas and cheers of excitement from others. 1SG Maurin had put out that one platoon would be leaving immediately to man Combat Outpost (COP) Spera further up in the mountains in a remote valley near the Pakistan border. My gun squad was attached to the line platoon that would be going to the COP first. In my research that I had done in an attempt to educate myself on the conditions I would be living in, I had seen pictures and videos of firefights at these remote COPs. From what I had seen, it was the Wild West re-incarnated. The C-130’s intercom screeched for a moment before we heard a voice come

"Lieutenant Richards!" one of my men saluted, drawing me out of my daydream. "One of the scouts have reported sightings of an abandoned camp. The Vietcong should be nearby."

I agree that as a warrant officer in the air traffic control community we have to remember

Did I make it? That was the question I was asking myself the night before what was going to be one of the most special days of my life. After being called to leave for Air Force Basic Training on a short 8-day notice, I was now finally at the end of my journey and tomorrow I would graduate and become an Airmen. The nerves and excitement were running through my body as I was unable to sleep in anticipation of the big day. Now the day is here and I get to celebrate all my hard work by seeing my family and earning the title of an Air Force Airmen.

The day started as another usual on Forward Operating Base (FOB) Zangabad. I had woken up to ensure that my men had all of their sensitive items on them and report to my Squad Leader that they did. On that day we were heading out to T.I. 2, a desolate array of Hesco barriers set up as an Afghan Uniformed Police (AUP) Checkpoint. It was our Company’s responsibility to partner with the AUP down there to help protect T.I. 2 so that they can conduct their own patrols. It was located roughly a thousand meters south of Fob Zangabad, and about five hundred meters east of the town of Gerandi. Gerandi was the stronghold of the Taliban in that area, so T.I. 2 was key to disrupting their operations in the surrounding area. So it was vital that we helped secure it for the AUP and watch the any activity coming out of the town from our guard towers and RAID camera.

It’s June 5, 1944, the day before D-day. The 101st Airborne Division led by their vigorous lieutenant Alex Hodulik is deployed behind enemy lines and they are known as paratroopers. The soldiers mission was to anchor the corps southern flank and to destroy the 2nd defense of the German forces on the hazardous beach. The day before the mission was a go, I lieutenant Alex Hodulik, was informed by my commanding officer that we have a few replacements for those who have fallen in our division. Little did I know, my little brother had volunteered for the paratroopers. “The replacements just showed up,” yells sergeant Ryan, “there's my little brother.” I immediately ran to him and asked, “Why the hell did you join the paratroopers? You had

“To Protect and Serve” (Dorobek) is the official motto of the American Police Academy and to do that requires a balanced relationship of trust and support between police officers and the people they serve. In different ways, civilians and police officer’s both have a responsibility to uphold the law. It is a police officer’s responsibility to defend their community. A civilian’s civil duty is to support their police force to ensure they can carry out their job in the safest and most peaceful manner. However, a gap in communication has damaged the relationship between officer’s and the members of the communities they serve. In order to put an end to police brutality and repair the relationship between the American Police Force and the communities they serve, the enforcement of body cameras, new and better methods to train, and special prosecutors in police misconduct investigations are all essential.

On the early morning of April 19th, my husband left to gather with the militia. I being worried could not go back to sleep and awaited by the window from time to time. The children were still asleep and out of the corner of my eyes, I see at least a couple hundred of lobsterbacks. I was frightened and crouched making sure I wasn’t seen. Oh how my heart beated, and I am ashamed to remind myself that the militia fired. Perhaps out of fear, but they fired. Immediately there was movement until my eyes could see, running, shooting, bloodshed. As soon as I saw the Regulars marching, and the house being so near to all the commotion I ran to the children and hoped they wouldn’t burn the house down. I was prepared, nervous for the life of my husband

Coming from humble beginnings in Taylor, Michigan a medium sized town of 60,000 thirty minutes from the heart of Detroit and living just near Detroit Metropolitan International airport. I was came to be fascinated by anything related to the world of aviation hearing the powerful roar as the engines spooled up and seeing such a massive object like a jumbo jet tumbling down the runway it always amazed me to see such a thing take to the sky. Seeing the airplanes coming in and coming out made me think to myself where the people onboard have been the places they’re coming from, where they are going, all the interesting and far off places that I didn’t know if I’d ever see my lifetime. This inspired me when I was 18 years old to join the United States Air Force and get paid to fix and work on these massive machines.

The Army and the Air Force have many similarities and differences, some of the similarities are the troop’s dedication, diversity, and patriotism, and some of the differences are the way each branch trains, their respective customs, and quality life.