Your job or your profession: You choose

  • Published
  • By Senior Master Sgt. (Ret.) Tom Patton
  • NCO Association
F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. --  As I talk to young Airmen around the base, I hear numerous reasons why they enlisted in the military. Some enlisted for the medical benefits, some for the education, some because they felt a sense of duty to their country after the events of 9/11. One Airman even told me he had a choice of going to jail or joining the military.

When I enlisted in the military way back in 1977, it was because I didn't have enough money to continue my college education, and I didn't really know where life was going to take me. Basically, I just needed a job. What I didn't realize at the time was that when I enlisted in the Air Force, I wasn't only getting a job; I was entering into a profession.

So, how do you view your day-to-day responsibilities as a member of what is arguably the greatest military force on the planet? Is it just a job, where you go to work, earn a paycheck and go home at the end of the day?

Or, is it a profession where you are committed to a higher level of education than the average citizen; have a sense of duty to those you serve; maintain standards of excellence, and have a code of ethics that elevates your chosen profession to a position of dignity and social standing?

I think the real question that needs to be asked is "are you part of something that is
greater than yourself?"

Sociologists have shown that the cohesive, mutually supportive recognition of a profession is almost totally dependant on a strong, assertive professional organization; organizations such as the Top 3, Rising 6, Air Force Sergeants Association and the NCO Association.

When I look back at my Air Force career, I don't have a lot of regrets, but there is one thing I wish I would have done differently. I didn't really get involved in professional organizations for the greater part of my Air Force career. It wasn't until late in my career that I accepted an invitation to an NCOA meeting.

What really struck me at that first meeting was the lack of involvement from active duty military. There was one active duty member along with a bunch of retirees who were trying to do something good for Warren. They had nothing to gain; they weren't getting paid to do this, they weren't going to get any enlisted performance report bullets, they were just trying to make a difference.

From that moment, I decided if it was important enough for those retired guys to be involved, the least I could do was try to help them out.

Since then, I've been involved with AFSA, the Top 3 and the NCOA. But I realized I couldn't do everything, so I found one organization where I felt I could make the biggest difference, and I chose the NCOA.

Through the NCOA's many programs such as our Scholarship Fund, Medical Trust Fund, and Disaster Relief Fund, we have been able to help numerous Warren Airmen.

Each year, we donate roughly $12,000 back to various base and community programs in the hope that we can make a difference in the quality of life for our Airman serving our country.

So again, I ask you, is it just a job for you, or is it a profession? To quote Winston Churchill, "We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give."