Dickens' phrase embodies Air Force service

  • Published
  • By Col. Brad Johnson
  • 571st Contingency Response Group commander
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Charles Dickens begins his novel "A Tale of Two Cities" with the well-known phrase, "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times."

He follows with words juxtaposed to show conflict and set the stage for the story: "The age of wisdom and foolishness, the epoch of belief and incredulity, the season of light and darkness, the spring of hope and despair."

Although I am an optimist by nature, it would be foolish for me to believe we're not facing our own worst of times and best of times story in the Air Force. Unfortunately, ours is not a novel of fiction.

We've been engaged in war zones while pushing the mission at heroic operational tempos without let up for the past 20-plus years. To say this has been an extraordinary weight to carry by so few for so long is an epic understatement. But, to the vast majority of our Airmen and their families today, this is their "normal." This is all they know.

Yet, knowing this, young men and women continue answering our nation's call and voluntarily joining in droves, a selfless recognition that there is work to be done in defending the freedoms we enjoy and a conviction to ensure our children will enjoy the same. As I overheard one young Airman say, "That is why we're here. It's what we do." It's what we've done better than anyone else, ever, times 10.

During this same timeframe, we've had thousands of our military brothers and sisters who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our nation while pursuing our nation's military objectives and tens of thousands more wounded in action.

Our recent Memorial Day ceremonies all across our nation brought us back to center on this, not that any of us had forgotten. Yet, out of this tragic loss, we must recognize the tenacity and devotion of our fellow Airmen who created the most high-tech medical care infrastructure the world has ever known, spanning thousands of miles from the battlefields of Afghanistan to facilities like David Grant USAF Medical Center Travis. With this capability, our Airmen have been able to save the lives of countless wounded warriors who in times past would never have made it home. This is incredible and powerful.

Now, we have another war to wage: eliminating sexual assault within our own ranks. That's blue on blue, folks. A recent Pentagon report estimates the number of military sexual assaults at 26,000 a year.

Indeed, sexual assault unequivocally undermines the effectiveness of our Airmen to get the mission done. It now has some of our Congressional leaders calling for an end to our authority to regulate ourselves in this arena. But with this, there also have been some unprecedented initial steps taken and programs established, such as the Air Force's Special Victims Council, to help us get our arms around this crisis and care for our victims. We will get this right. Period.

These are times of challenge, most definitely. But we are armed with the smartest, most well-educated, innovative and tech-savvy Airmen our ranks have ever known. Throughout our young history as an Air Force, we've figured out ways to overcome the most daunting of threats to achieve our mission and fulfill our role as guardians of freedom and justice, swords and shields, sentries and avengers.

I am convinced we will do the same here. These are challenging times, but we will not falter and we will not fail as we strive for the best of times.