 |
| News > From the Commander |
|
|
| |
| Photos | |
 |
Alan C. Sierichs, USAF Band Commander and Music Director, 2009-May 2010
|
Download HiRes
|
|
|
|
From the Commander
Posted 4/30/2010 Updated 5/1/2010
Email story
Print story
by Lieutenant Colonel Alan C. Sierichs
The USAF Band
4/30/2010 - BOLLING AFB, D.C. - ...to everyday inspiration --
Not long ago, my wife and I made a trip to San Antonio, Texas. We were on our way to the "Gateway of the Air Force"--Lackland Air Force Base, home of the Air Force's Basic Military Training. Our daughter was scheduled to graduate after the arduous and rigorous experience that makes up today's Air Force Basic Training. So different from the basic training my wife and I went through in the early 1980's!
Even though we've been around the Air Force for close to 30 years and have been just about everywhere and done just about everything, we weren't really prepared for what we were about to experience. Graduation from basic training is now a two day event and while the trainees just want to get out from under the watchful eyes of the training instructors, the parents, siblings, spouses, children and friends are about to undergo a change they probably weren't expecting.
The first event you get to be a part of is the Airman's Run--the training squadrons were arrayed in formation and they embarked on a several mile run. Along the way, they pass by the Reception Center, where their families and friends are crowding the street to catch the first glimpse of "their" Airman. It'd be easy to think, "so what's the big deal"; but I tell you the excitement was contagious and the sight of all those Airmen running in formation, in step, heads high, made everyone in that crowd also stand a little taller and walk a little straighter.
A short while later, after the trainees had changed from their running gear and put on their blue Air Force uniform, a Coin Ceremony and a Flag Ceremony was held. The Air Force's newest Airmen marched sharply into an area surrounded by bleachers where the families and friends were gathered. This was also the first appearance of the Drum and Bugle Corps--made up of trainees who had volunteered to participate in that group in addition to all their other training responsibilities. The Airmen received special coins from their training instructors signifying their completion of training and transition from civilians to Airmen--they were now part of The United States Air Force!
The next day brought the event the trainees had been waiting weeks for--the graduation parade! It couldn't have been a better south Texas day--balmy temperature, low humidity and not a cloud in the sky. The Airmen, attired in their full dress uniform and accompanied by the Drum and Bugle Corps, marched triumphantly onto the Parade Ground. In a symbolic gesture, they were received by an officer who was retiring from the Air Force that day after serving close to four decades--so you had one of the service's oldest Airmen welcoming the Air Force's newest Airmen. Following the Pass in Review in front of the reviewing stand and taking the Oath of Enlistment, the trainees were done!
I think being stationed at Lackland AFB has to be a special thing. Oh sure, you could easily tire of waiting for the formations of marching troops to stop blocking the streets; you could get annoyed that the food court at the BX is packed with trainees on their day of base liberty; or simply become immune and ignore the weekly graduations; but I think taking a moment to reflect on these young people, starting out their service to the country, is nothing but inspirational. Because these people, these Airmen come to the Air Force from all over--every state, every territory, even some from other countries. Some have never been away from home, some have been homeless themselves, some have spouses and children, some have already been to college, some struggled with school--but they've come here, to the Gateway to the Air Force, for really one reason--to serve their country and its citizens. I can't think of anything more inspirational than that.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|