CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. –
How many times throughout your Air Force career have you engaged in a conversation with a fellow Airman and suddenly realized that your level of commitment is different than the person you were speaking with?
Because of our unique differences, we continue to communicate with one another and build relationships. From these relationships, a professional trust and faith in one another develops. It's no secret the rest of the world places our enlisted corps on a plateau they strive to emulate. In order for our enlisted corps to remain effective and maintain that positive status around the world, we must continue to demonstrate our solemn commitment by joining the Air Force and not just enlisting.
What's the difference between joining and enlisting you ask? Enlisting is raising your right hand, repeating the oath of enlistment and signing on the dotted line with expectations of doing just enough to get by. Our enlisted evaluation system is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination; however, everyone should be well aware of their supervisor's expectations. We have too many Airmen doing everything in their power to fly beneath the radar and appear to be outstanding. Those are the Airmen who merely enlisted to get out of mom and dad's house, to get out of Small Town, USA, or just to get a job. I often tell them they are in the wrong profession for the wrong reasons.
Airmen who joined the Air Force have a totally different mentality which radiates pride, dedication to duty, honor, courage, commitment and loyalty. These are the Airmen working alongside us who raised their right hands and proudly stated the oath of enlistment. These are the Airmen in our Air Force who could not wait to seal the commitment with their signature on the dotted line because their signature is their bond. These are the Airmen in our Air Force who accept challenges daily and do everything in their power to leave our Air Force better than it was yesterday. These are the Airmen in our Air Force who remind their peers that mediocrity and complacency are detrimental to our mission.
It's easy for me to identify Airmen who merely enlisted and those outstanding Airmen who joined. Airmen who joined are easily motivated and excel in all endeavors. Those who only enlisted and didn't join, for whatever reasons, tend to bring down morale and have a negative attitude.
Joining is what you do when you really want to belong to something. Excitement rains when you learn you qualify for acceptance and your heart races like that of a thoroughbred horse. You can't wait to get off to a great start and maintain that positive attitude until your service commitment has been fulfilled.
I joined 22 years ago and take advantage of every opportunity to remind everyone that this is "my" Air Force. Something as simple as taking ownership in our Air Force makes it easy to determine who's in it for the enlistment and who joined.