Balance

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Joel Safranek
  • 573 Global Support Squadron commander
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Within the past few years, formalized Wingman Days and resiliency training have become a common part of our lives.

There are all sorts of terms and programs for helping Airmen cope. One simple term I will offer up is balance.

Some people mistakenly think having balance in your life means to be in perfect harmonic balance at all times. This is simply not true. When I look back over the past few decades, I find times when I put my family on the back burner, ignoring them in order to take care of the Air Force and our nation's needs. Although out of balance at the time, I would make the same decision if given the choice again today.

For example, I left my wife alone in Grand Forks, N.D. with an infant, who was experiencing severe medical problems. While I was deployed to a location, I could not share with my wife, she braved the winter weather, traveling seven hours to and from the Mayo Clinic with our 9-month-old. It was October 2001.

After the attacks of 9/11, leaving my wife without her knowing where I was going or when I would return was hard and put our lives very out of balance, but it was the right thing to do.

When I look back, I find times when I put the Air Force on the back burner, ignoring work in order to take care of my family. For example, while deployed to another location, our son became gravely ill with pneumonia. When he was admitted to the hospital, the Air Force pulled me back only after having been deployed for one week.

I spent the following six weeks sitting in a Florida hospital room with him. Again, our lives were out of balance, but it was my responsibilities to the Air Force I let slide. I would make the same decision again today, if given the choice.

Although both cases appear to show how life easily swings out of balance, that's only if looked at through a narrow window of time. If looked at during a wider period of time, there is balance. My family gave when the Air Force needed it and the Air Force gave when my family needed it.

As supervisors and leaders, we need to monitor this balance in our Airmen. Although you may have an Airman currently taking a lot from the Air Force in order to cover a personal issue, across a longer period of time, the Air Force will ask the Airman to return the favor.

If you have spent the past few weeks putting your personal life and family on the back burner to get this installation ready for one of the myriad of inspections it is experiencing, don't worry. There will be a time when you will need to have the Air Force give back, and it will, putting it all back into balance.