Airman tackles life

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Charles V. Rivezzo
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  In today's Air Force, Airmen are asked to do more with less. The teams are smaller and tasks more complex. Taught to deal with daily stressors through resiliency, Airmen find relief in a myriad of passions they pursue.

For Senior Airman Cody Walters, that passion is high-speed, full contact football.

Since as early as he can remember, Walters has always been a "sports nut." Growing up in Columbus, Ohio, to a single mother, the sports world served almost as a babysitter.

"Every season I was in a sport," he said. "Baseball, football, wrestling, sports were year round for me. Once I got older, I carried that on to a small high school where we pretty much had the same 10 to 15 guys playing every sport."

After graduating high school, Walters went on to attend two separate universities where he played Division III football. Graduating from Muskingum University in 2009 with a degree in Health Education and Biology, he decided to pursue another passion - enlisting in the U.S. military.

He now serves as a medical logistics technician at David Grant USAF Medical Center; one of the Department of Defense's largest military hospitals.

"We are in the job of supplying the clinics and making sure that every clinic with patient care has the supplies they need to execute their job," he said. "We like to brag that we are the backbone of the hospital because jobs can't be completed without the supplies that are needed."

After settling in and getting comfortable with his Air Force duties, Walters decided to look into joining a local AAA minor league football team.

"I just did a simple Google search and found a team close by," he said. "I saw they hadn't been too successful in the past few years so I wanted to go play for them and see if we could win some games."

Currently in his first year playing for the Solano Chiefs, Walters anchors the team's defense, starring as the middle linebacker and defensive captain this season.

Unlike a traditional fall football season, the Pacific Coast Football League begins their season in mid-March and encompasses a full 10 game schedule against teams from across northern California.

"The camaraderie you build in sports is unlike anything you can find anywhere else," Walters said. "I'm a natural adrenaline junkie, so throwing on the pads and playing high speed, full contact football is really what makes me happy.

"This is my stress reliever and any time you can find something outside of the duty day that can relieve stress it is beneficial. It's almost therapeutic in a way."

For Walters, it's no secret that what is learned on the gridiron translates directly into making him a better Airman.

"Playing in any type of sport is just more practice for teamwork and I think teamwork is a primary concept for the military," he said. "We always seem like we are a man down or under staffed and we are trying to do more work with less ... so the better your teamwork concept is within your organization the more you can pick each other up.

"I think sports outside of the military are just another way to expand on your teamwork and leadership skills. Camaraderie, teamwork and leadership, sports build upon each one of those components which translate well into your life in the Air Force as well as working with other people."

Walters also added that playing in sports can fulfill each one of the four pillars of Comprehensive Airman Fitness.

"I can argue for each one of the four pillars," he said. "Daily stressors don't typically faze me, they don't build up because you have a release and you're doing what you want you love to do. It puts you in a better mood and a little bit more at peace on the inside."

Furthermore, community outreach and involvement serves as a staple of what the Solano Chiefs and Walters strive to achieve throughout the season.

"Any type of involvement where you can strengthen your relationship with the community by giving back is something we like to do," Walters said. "Whether that be through youth football camps, community service or fundraisers, being a part of your community is beneficial in so many ways."

Going into the last game of the regular season, the Chiefs sit on the bubble for a chance at continuing their season into the playoffs.