Above All

Above all -- an apt description for our Air Force. Thanks to the professionalism of our people and the dedicated planning for the future, air dominance will be maintained playing a key part not only in the security of our nation but also in that of the world. Since the invention of the air plane, no war has been won without air dominance.

Great video here

Project Officer and farewells

I've had the privilege of serving as project officer for several different events, some major ones and some small ones. Serving as a project officer is not an uncommon thing for a chaplain at my level. But the project I'm working on now though is a key one and special, one I will remember I think as a highlight of my career. I am organizing the annual Air Force Assistance Fund Campaign for the wing that I am assigned to and serving as the alternate and assistant to the lead project officer for the entire Air Force command in the area. As I shared with my commander this week, this is a project that I know makes a difference in the lives of our airmen. The AFAF raises funds that will be used in the next year to take care of emergency financial needs of our airmen when tragedy or the plain circumstances of life happen. And AFAF also provides funds and places to stay for widows of Air Force veterans who have no other place to turn to. Air Force Aid, one of the beneficiaries of the campaign, is known for quickly providing emergency funds to our airmen when emergencies and tragedies strike. Life happens and it can often be very difficult in the regimented lives of our airmen to have to adapt suddenly to taking time away from work, to coming up with money for plane tickets, car repairs, and unfortunately but at times even funerals. But military members get sick and their families get sick and the big events of life that we all face, happen to military families as well. My first funeral at Arlington, was even before I was assigned here, a young airman who lost the battle to cancer.

My main responsibility is publicity for the campaign, and organization and training of volunteers to go to our military members to share how important this event is in our taking care of one another, and finally accounting for the funds raised and passing them up the chain toward their final destination. To learn more about AFA you can click here.

I love this about the Air Force, what we call the wingman concept, but really is another word for family. The Air Force is certainly a professional and military organization with structure, core values, mission statements, expectations for behavior and so forth -- but it is also a bunch of folks who care deeply about one another and work hard to take care of each other. This was reinforced to me this week as certain fellow airmen stepped forward without my asking to offer assistance in a rather large task.

I was over at the Pentagon last week for my initial briefing and training on the program. This was my first time in the Pentagon, and it was not what I expected. I don't know how to describe it other than to say it seems like a whole bunch of tunnels and corridors and not too many windows. And lots of people.

This week we also had a farewell luncheon for one of our chaplain assistants who will be departing us to go to his new duty station. He is a most unique person who is just fun to serve with and has one of the kindest spirits of anyone I have ever known. He is going to be missed greatly. We teased him that we were really using his going away as an excuse to eat chicken. My wife was kind enough to BBQ enough chicken for about 40 folks to have a rather nice lunch.

Last Sunday I was blessed to be invited over to Bolling to preach for their liturgical service. I truly enjoyed this. I miss not preaching every Sunday. And these are a fine bunch of folks who attend the service. I received a special treat watching a young girl light the altar candles. Here face just shined with her smile as she did so. Truly a blessed morning that was.

On a side note, I would ask my friends and relatives who keep up with me here to keep my mother in your prayers as she is having some medical issues that are rather serious.

Early morning prayer

I was truly blessed today as I attended Bolling AFB's annual prayer breakfast. The guest speaker was Chaplain Cecil Richardson, the next Air Force chief of chaplains. This was the first time I have heard him speak. He certainly lives up to his reputation of being a great speaker who can connect with his audience. Many times one hears speakers who you realize that after time passes little to nothing may be recalled of the presentation. This one though offered several key ideas and anecdotes that I suspect I'll carry in memory for the rest of my career. I especially appreciated his description of how Francis Scott Key wrote the poem that became our Star Spangled Banner. If you have never done the research you should read up on it, and read the entire poem/hymn. I find the last verse to be especially encouraging. You can read about his message here.

The Air Force's Singing Sergeants were out in force. They were amazing. I loved the expression they put into their music. My music background is instrumental, but I have to say these folks needed no instrumental accompaniment.

Rain and ice are coming in tonight with rain tomorrow. Will make it interesting for my first service early in the morning. It can be challenging marching in our dress shoes in the snow and ice. But hopefully the roads inside the cemetery will be cleared by the time service start.

Hold your ground

Today, I walked through the cemetery at Arlington during a quite blustery afternoon after having gone into the office for a bit to work on our database. I was over near the 9-11 memorial, a site close to where I frequently do transfers for full honors ceremonies from the hearse to the horse drawn caisson. I pondered how long the struggle for freedom and peace has gone on among humanity. There are people buried in the cemetery from conflicts all the way back to the civil war. But of course conflict has gone on much longer than that, much longer even than the existence of our country. From the beginning of human history, there have been those who have sought to impose their tyranny over others - to take their wealth, resources, and freedom -- to enslave for ideological or pure selfish reasons. And there have been those willing to lay their lives on the line to defend liberty for themselves and others. I am proud and humbled to stand among some of today's warriors who stand for freedom. So often the struggle has been long and hard with cost and sacrifice. Freedom lives because people have served.

I hear a lot of truth in these words of fiction of Aragorn from the Lord of the Rings saga as he stood before the hords of evil:

Hold your ground - hold your ground! Sons of Gondor - of Rohan . . . my brothers!

           I see in your eyes the same fear that would
           take the heart of me. The day may come when
           the courage of Men fails; when we forsake
           our friends and break all bonds of
           fellowship; but it is not this day - an
           hour of wolves and shattered shields, when
           the Age of Man comes crashing down - but it
           is not this day!!! This day we fight! By
           all that you hold dear on this good earth -
           I bid you stand!  Men of the West!