I understand the Profession of Arms is not for everyone. The skills, knowledge and capabilities that I developed during my 16 year career are hard to quantify. Today's service member has an extra set of rules that we live by willingly. If I forgot to shave before I went to work, late for work, if I didn't wear my uniform correctly I could have ultimately ended up in Federal Prison; its very easy to get in trouble while on active duty.
The training we receive in the beginning of our careers sets the standards and the core values that we must embrace and live by. In the Air Force, Integrity was first, we put service before self, and excelled in everything that we did. These core values are easy to say; but I had to strive every single day to embrace them and live by them. It is difficult to hear your kids crying on the phone wondering when you are coming home; If the truth was going to get me in trouble, so be it. I had to be honest to myself and to those who worked with me.
These tenets live within me to this day. The code of conduct, my core values, and the way I present myself is a direct reflection of my military service. I have fond memories of my time in the service, quite a few aches and pains, seen 37 countries and 4 continents. I have made friends and enemies; I have enjoyed different cultures and have an unique understanding of the world and the opportunities presented to us by the sheer luck of being born in America and my time I spent in the Profession of Arms.