JOINT BASE CHARELSTON, S.C. –
I recently had the honor of presiding over a retirement ceremony for a master sergeant with 25 years of service. When it came time for remarks, he made the usual comments and thanked his friends and family, but his message to the Airmen is what struck me the most.
He relayed that when he first joined, the in-vogue term was "not in my Air Force!" whenever an Airman was being corrected by a supervisor. Your shoes not shined? "Not in MY Air Force!"
These supervisors were using this catch-phrase not to be malicious, but to instill in their Airmen the idea of taking pride in the work they did and to take pride in ownership; pride in "your Air Force."
However, it's not "your Air Force." It's not my Air Force. It's more than that. It's stewardship; taking care of something that doesn't truly belong to you. We've been given the responsibility of taking care of something that doesn't really belong to us; something that is bigger than us and should encourage all of us more than the phrase "not in my Air Force." That's because one day you'll be held accountable and responsible for what you've done with the charge you've been given to protect.
That charge and that responsibility are about mentoring young Airmen just entering the Air Force and even those who've been in for awhile. It's our responsibility to empower all Airmen to do their job, to teach them what's right and what's wrong, and to give them the resources to complete their mission; the Air Force mission.
So remember, it's not your Air Force. It is however, your job to do the best with what you have and to make the best of what you've been assigned to do.
It's not your Air Force. It's our Air Force and we owe it to those who came before us and to those who will follow, to maintain the standards, dignity and pride that make it such a great Air Force.
It's not your Air Force. Take what has been given to you and make things better than when you got here. Always strive to make things better. That's why our core values are integrity, service before self and excellence in all we do. Because we owe it to those we serve with, and to those we protect.
Because it's not your Air Force.
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