Airmen, retirees: volunteerism tradition Published June 19, 2006 By Col. Steve Arquiette 60th AMW commander TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Each and every day our Airmen, civilian employees and families make sacrifices for their country. Since the Global War on Terrorism began in 2001, the sacrifices asked of our Airmen are much greater. Airmen are leaving their families for 365-day deployments, putting their lives on the line every day and working very long hours when they are home. Rising above the daily challenges of serving our nation during this time of war, many of our Airmen are volunteering their time at various organizations as well as furthering their education during their limited free time. These actions are strong reminders that our Airmen are responsible, driven and passionate about their current and future service. Taking time for self improvement is extremely important. Whether this is taking college classes, working toward an improved score on your Physical Fitness Test, spending time with your kids, spouse / significant other, or taking time to volunteer, balancing your personal and professional goals is essential. Involvement in groups like the Rising Six or Company Grade Officer Council provides a great opportunity to network and leverage leadership techniques, as well as offer great opportunities to volunteer throughout the community and at Travis. Several groups provide meals to residents of the Fisher House or volunteer at Mission Solano in Fairfield. Others put on fundraisers like the Viking Challenge or Relay for Life. Those of you who currently participate in these programs and other volunteer opportunities touch so many lives in a positive way, and I thank you all! In addition to those just mentioned above, we all owe many, many thanks to our retirees who volunteer. You’ll find retirees all over our base giving their time and sharing smiles as they volunteer for Team Travis. At the David Grant USAF Medical Center alone, more the 145 volunteers drove more than 850 miles to Travis, volunteering more than 3,630 hours during the month of May. In our Retiree Activities office, 10 people volunteer to help ensure our large retiree community is informed on the many happenings here. Another retiree and his son spent their time helping Airmen with their taxes. One of our retiree volunteers, Wanda Tenney, speaks for many when she says, “We do it because we love it!” Please join me in thanking all of our retiree volunteers at Travis, as they are extremely important members of Team Travis and our Air Force family. My hat’s-off to each and every retiree volunteer for your continued dedication to our mission and your continued selfless service…self improvement has no age limit! As always Team Travis is a shining star throughout the Air Force and it is the quality of people at this base that makes it that way. Please continue to do everything you can to work on improving yourself. Set your goals high and you will reach heights you never knew were possible. BE PROUD, BE SAFE!