Our Warrior Creed

  • Published
  • By Col. Mark Dillon
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing commander
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE. Calif. --  Sixteen months ago our Air Force introduced the Airman's Creed. The creed proudly declares Airmen's warrior ethos embodied in those brave souls who serve today or have served in the past. While our primary mission is to fly, fight and win, our Airmen are also heavily engaged with the enemy in a ground battle. And like every task we ask, our Airmen are superbly filling battlefield billets historically performed by Soldiers and Marines.

Our Air Force history is filled with Airmen - Mitchell, Yeager, LeMay, Levitow and Chapman to name a few - who have exemplified warrior courage in the air and on the ground. On Aug.5, 1950, a Fairfield-Suisun Air Force Base noncommissioned officer assigned to the bakery exemplified this warrior spirit. After witnessing the crash, Sgt. Paul Ramoneda ran from the bakery to the burning, bomb-laden B-29 Superfortress single-handedly rescuing eight crewmembers. His last words before losing his life during the rescue were, "save those men," and echoes the "never leave an Airman behind" line of our creed. Sergeant Ramoneda, a true warrior, gave his life so that others could live. And our Airmen from Team Travis are responding in exactly the same dutiful manner in Afghanistan and Iraq today.

During Thursday's Airman Leadership School 08-F graduation ceremony, I had the opportunity to spend the evening with the sister of Sergeant Ramoneda, Marie Bell. The ceremony, themed "Letter from a Hero," paid homage to our hero and her brother. The letters she received from her brother were filled with his patrotic pride and devotion to duty. That same mind-set was evident when he voluntarily went into harm's way to rescue a fallen comrade.

The lines of our Airman's Creed capture our warrior ethos, selfless sacrifice and devotion to duty. Take pride in your heritage and become familiar with our Airman's creed. It tells our story - past, present and future. Honorably, we fly, fight and win - in the air, on the ground or wherever our nation calls - better than any other Air Force the world has ever known.