A Look Back at 2012

I haven’t written much about TJ’s “comings and goings” this year, and it isn’t because he hasn’t done a lot of it. He has kept quite busy and has made me one proud Mama! I just didn’t keep up on the blog as well as I could have and should have. Therefore, as 2012 becomes history, I decided to provide a look back at his year. And I’d better warn you - TJ did a lot this year, so this review has become a lengthy blog!

TJ signs the papers for another four years.

TJ was assigned to Malmstrom AFB when he completed his tech training in 2007. Throughout his years on the base he has “applied” (the layman’s term) to other positions and jobs, all in an effort to allow him to “see the world”. In the spring he requested the opportunity to shadow other MTLs. “MTL” stands for “Military Training Leader.” TJ described the position as being a “dormitory manager”. He said the MTLs oversee the lodging for the Airmen attending tech school and, if needed, some Airmen may regard an MTL as a counselor. TJ was allowed to go for an entire week at the end of May. (Just a side note: To shadow someone, somewhere else in the Air Force, he pays for everything: his plane ticket, transportation to and from the airports, any lodging needed, etc.).  

He arrived for his week of “shadowing” just as a new group of Airmen were coming for their tech training, so the base had him work with this particular flight. TJ spent time drilling them with their PT (physical training) and seeing to other needs they may have.  He also found time to talk with three Sergeants he was shadowing. One Master Sgt that TJ worked with and spent time talking to was extremely impressed with TJ and the questions TJ had for him. As TJ’s week drew to an end the Master Sgt. told him, “When you put in your application you let me know. I want to tell them about you and how they can’t afford not to have you as an MTL.”

On his last day shadowing, TJ pulled together the flight group he had been working with to say good-bye to them. The Airmen had not realized that TJ was only there temporarily, so they were extremely upset and disappointed when he explained all of this to them. He gave them a final challenge to excel and to serve with pride. (It’s the only way TJ knows how to serve.)

Since being assigned to Malmstrom, TJ has been keenly aware of the Security Force Airmen from this base that have paid the ultimate price for our safety.  But to the best of his knowledge the base had never honored or recognized them. This does not sit well with TJ. He is not only very patriotic, but he is the best example I’ve ever met of someone who wants to show his gratitude for those who are serving or have served. This year TJ was finally inspired and felt God leading him to organize and conduct a Memorial Service for these Airmen. Because he would be gone on Memorial Day (his week of MTL shadowing), he scheduled the service for the Thursday prior. I wrote about this service in my blog on Memorial Day and encourage you to read it.

However, that service of remembrance was not all he did for Memorial Day. Prior to this service he recruited a few of his friends to join him at the local cemetery where they placed flags at all of the gravesites. I believe they placed about 800 flags that morning. (He paid for all of this - the things done for the Memorial Service and the flags for the cemetery - on his own).

During the summer, he completed his application for a position as an MTL. And then the infamous “waiting” began. Finally, he sent a text that said, “I’ve got new orders!” He was sure that it was the orders for his new MTL position. But alas, it was not. He had received orders to go to Turkey for eighteen months. (Whenever he is given orders, like this, he has approximately two weeks to accept or refuse them.) He was thrilled with the idea of heading to Turkey, but he wanted to know what had happened with the MTL request. Another Sgt began helping him look into the matter and could only figure out that someone, somewhere along the line, “dropped the ball” and the whole application was still in limbo. He had to make the choice of accepting the orders to Turkey, which he now knew would become eighteen months in Turkey and then three years in England, or decline them with the hope that his application as an MTL would still come through. He chose not to wait and accepted the orders for Turkey. He was scheduled to report on base in January, 2013.

Then in October he wrote, “Well, I’ve been thrown another curveball.” This prompted a phone call from Mom to find out what this all meant! His orders to Turkey and then England had been cancelled. He was now being ordered to report to duty at Vandenberg AFB on June 1, 2013, as an MTL. It is still unclear who or what happened to change the orders, but this is all just part of military life and it apparently happens quite often. TJ will actually leave Malmstrom in May, moving to California and getting himself settled there, and then travel to Lackland AFB in San Antonio, TX for two weeks of training before he actually begins at Vandenberg. We know he was disappointed with the change of plans – he has always been about “action!” But, we told him, “You are so good at leading and encouraging those under you.  The position of MTL is who you are.”

If all of this were not enough, TJ continues to organize/plan leadership seminars for younger Airmen. This is all done voluntarily on his part. It is just something that he believes needs to be done to assist and train the others. After his first seminar, word spread so quickly about what he had done and how well it was conducted, that when he posted information about his next one, the class was filled within the first day and still other officers came asking if he couldn’t please open up a place for one of their Airmen to attend.  He has developed quite the reputation of - well, of doing things according to the Air Force’s motto – with excellence.

TJ's 2012 AFS Chapter 1156 NCO of the Year Award

Therefore it really wasn’t a surprise when he announced that he had received the 2012 AFSA Chapter 1156, NCO of the Year Award. When he told others he said, “I have to thank my Savior for giving me the strength to have accomplished all the events I did. I am also grateful for A1C Elizabeth Jacobson, who still inspires me to this day, and for Master Sgt Colin Crandall and Master Sgt Jane Pullo for all the encouragement and support throughout the year. I could not have done any of these things if it wasn't for their help and mentorship! Many thanks.”  

"Playing" War Games

TJ’s year has included many other highlights such as completing his associate’s degree (only to begin studying for his Tech Sgt test which he will take in February), spending a month in Wyoming to be part of a training program where he played the part of the terrorist, serving as an Honor Guard, and by no means the least of which was deciding to “re-up” for another four years of service! His Dad and I are extremely proud of his accomplishments and his continued dedication to all that he does.

As we bid good-bye to 2012 and welcome in 2013 I know that TJ will continue to excel in whatever endeavors lie ahead of him. He tells me that he has several very rough months ahead of him before heading to his new assignment. The cutbacks to our military are being felt as our troops are reduced in numbers. Within his own particular area of responsibility, duties and jobs that were handled by two sections of thirteen Airmen each, have just been reduced to one section of about ten to twelve. His desire to serve with excellence causes him to be concerned with how to meet the demands, deadlines, and responsibilities of this section. Yet, knowing TJ, he will continue to persevere, giving his very best and continuing to make me one very proud Mom.

TJ, may you continue to know God’s richest blessing upon you as you serve Him and your country in 2013.

Memorial Day, 2012

My husband found a picture of a woman lying face down on a blanket that had been laid on the ground in front of a white cross in a military cemetery. The caption on the picture said, “Remember, this is Memorial Day, not National Bar-B-Que Day”. Simple and to the point – today we are to be remembering the heroes who have given their lives for our freedom. I’ll be the first to admit that for many years I did not do a whole lot of remembering but a lot of focusing on the preparations for the bar-b-que.

TJ’s military service has changed my perspective on many of these national holidays. But even more than his military service, through his own actions I am finding myself being taught what it means to recognize, honor, and thank those who have or are serving.

Several weeks, maybe even a few months ago, TJ felt that something needed to be done on his base to honor and remember several of the Security Force members that have died while serving. TJ took it upon himself to plan, organize, and prepare a service for them during the Memorial Day weekend.

Now, when TJ takes it upon himself to do something like this, he is going to make sure that it is the very best service possible for these heroes. He secured the use of a large room on base. He had 8x10 pictures printed and framed of each Airman. Each picture was hung on a wooden cross and a vase with a single rose and a small American flag was in front. When possible, TJ had a second picture of the Airman just to the side of the cross. There was also another framed piece on the other side of the cross. This piece was some type of writing. I am not sure if this was a poem or the Airman’s story, but TJ had one at each man’s place. And finally, there was a notebook with a pen on it beside each Airman’s place. We assume this was for people to write their own remembrances.

It was obvious from the pictures that a few of these fallen heroes served with military dogs. On the floor, beside their place, was an empty kennel, a dog toy on the top, and the empty feeding bucket at the kennel’s opening – all symbols of the special member of this Security Force team.

At the front of the platform, TJ had the bayonets displayed in military memorial fashion; a bayonet stuck into a wooden platform, dogtags hanging over the end with the military helmet over that, and a pair of boots in front of the bayonet. I counted nine in all.

From the pictures, it appeared that as you entered the room TJ had a “head table” of sort. A flag folded in the customary triangle sat in a stand to one side with the Security Force’s dress-blue military hat on the other side. Between these two was a beautiful bouquet of roses, a written document, possibly the same one that was displayed at each Airman’s site and another book of some type.

TJ invited his fellow Security Force Airmen to join him for this service to honor those their base had lost. It is obvious from his pictures that there was time for those who came to simply walk through the room, stopping at each Airman’s site to pay tribute to them and reflect on the service each man gave to their base and more so, to their country. At some point, there was a service. I don’t know much about the service, but I do know that TJ stood and spoke at it. He was in full military dress blues and had written his speech out, yet he still had difficulty getting through it without choking up at the thought that they were paying tribute to his fellow Airmen, from his base, who gave the ultimate sacrifice for his freedom.

As this Memorial Day comes to a close and the bar-b-ques are cooled and cleaned, I am not only thankful to the countless men and women who have given their lives securing my freedom but I am deeply grateful for a son who voluntarily is serving to ensure we remain free and continues to remind me, through his own actions, how to recognize, honor, and pay tribute to our military armed forces.