CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. –
As the 14th Airlift Squadron's acting first sergeant, I get to see a lot of what goes on behind the scenes.
Some of the things I see are good and some are not so good. Being on the first sergeant e-mail list, I see e-mails everyday looking for volunteers for all sorts of wing projects and community initiatives. These range from local schools requesting test proctors and mentors, to other projects like Habitat for Humanity and Airmen Against Drunk Driving. Sometimes these projects need committee members just to get the project up and running.
While most of these projects have significant value to either our Airmen or local community partners, we can't help with all of them individually. If it comes down to choosing between volunteer opportunities, we should focus our efforts on the ones we feel we can have the biggest impact on.
If you're really good at building things, then a Habitat for Humanity project may suit you better. Helping out with something you are more skilled in may even be enjoyable, not to mention the sense of satisfaction you may feel after doing something nice for someone you don't know. If you are not comfortable being around children then being a test monitor may not be for you. If you are interested in helping with a base or community project, but are not sure where to go, you might ask your unit's first sergeant, First 6 or Top 3 representative. They are typically in the loop on most volunteer opportunities.
A friend of mine once told me "you don't volunteer for something just because you need a bullet for your performance report, you do it because you want to make a difference."
Until recently, he led the visits to the local Veteran's Affairs hospital. This gave him the opportunity to thank the men and women who served our country. An additional benefit for this particular volunteer opportunity was the veterans were very friendly and happy that people still cared about them, not to mention some of their stories were very inspirational. So if you want an afternoon of personal satisfaction you can't go wrong with a visit to the VA hospital.
A large portion of our volunteer opportunities have been filled by our enlisted force based on the ratio of enlisted over officers. With that said, officers are always welcome and even encouraged to get involved with our base and local community projects. A by-product of officers working along-side enlisted is they will get the chance to meet new people, strengthen their networks and get to know their people a little better. For our junior enlisted, it's always a morale booster to see senior NCOs and officers working alongside them.
Volunteering isn't just limited to your time in the military. The next time you go to the base clinic or the Navy hospital, take a look around and you will see plenty of volunteers helping out. These volunteers are not just made up of veterans; they include civilian members of the community as well as family members. They put in a lot of time and effort to help out not just the staff, but customers as well. So next time you're there, walk up to them and thank them for their hard work and efforts.
While the opportunities are endless, find the one you can have the greatest impact doing. Not only will it benefit the organization you are helping, but your co-workers may find the project is interesting enough that they will want to start getting involved. Remember this, government records date back to 1775 with soldiers serving in volunteer units. Our country was founded on volunteers. Let's all do our part and volunteer when the next opportunity presents itself.