If you read my blog at all you know I'm terribly proud of my family and friends. I have bragged about my successful and lovely girlfriends, my loyal and loving family, and my bright kids. I've mentioned my military workmates but mostly in passing. This one goes out to all of them.

They are a breed that most civilians do not understand. Most civilians are born and bred into the 9 to 5 life. Military members do not have a job, per say. They have a duty, and that duty entails a certain task that they perform in support of their duty. To the outsider it is a foreign concept and really not comprehensible unless you have lived it, or lived with it as a loved one. The military community truly is one big family. Not a McDonald's Crew family, not a corporate family...nowhere in this country can you find a workforce where you are that connected to your coworker. He or she is not, in fact, simply your coworker. He or she could be your lifeline one day and thus is an extension of yourself. Military members are connected 24/7. Much as a family may have members who disagree or rub each other the wrong way, so do we...but just like a family, we still support each other - there are ties that bind.

I am treated as one of the family. I don't have to jog at oh-dark-thirty three times during the workweek and meet a certain weight (though I am more than welcome to) (har har). I'm not required to be available for deployment, on-duty 24 hours or wear a spiffy uniform. But I've lived my entire life in the tightly knit military community, with my father and mother setting the ultimate example of military families' bearing and loyalty, and now I serve my country in the civilian service for the U.S. Air Force.

I understand how military members think because of my long-standing relationship with the military as a dependent and in civil service. I understand reverence of command and custom. I speak the secular language of acronyms, military banquets, ranks, United States Code. I know what core values are and respect service before self. I am not bound by their military contracts, but I still hold the core values dear. It's the way I was raised. You belong to the military, you are not expected to think outside the box per say, but rather bring something important to the table and do it with respect for the chain of command and your United States of America.

Although I don't think the average civilian citizen comprehends the life, work, and way of thinking of a miltary member, I do believe Joe (and Jane) Citizen truly appreciates them. We all go together to lunch quite frequently, and it is a rare outing when we don't have a person approach us and thank my coworkers for their service. Sometimes it is an older gent who did a stint in the military and thus feels a natural bond. These guys (and occasional gals) are unmistakable - there's just something about their demeanor and posture that we know they are one of us. Sometimes it's a child who wants to talk about which branch we're in (with battle-dress-uniform and not blues the current uniform of the day, it's sometimes hard to tell us from our sister services). Sometimes it's an anonymous admirer who pays for our lunch on his or her way out the door, and we never even know who it was.

Every time I'm with someone I work with and they are approached with benevolent gratitude, stories to share, or curiousity I get a feeling of pride to be a part of this family. These people that I see day in and out are dedicated to more than the bottom line. They know that they are serving millions of people, some of whom appreciate them, some of whom despise them, some of whom have little yellow magnets or ribbons dedicated to them, some of whom have little yellow journalist minds working against them. It doesn't matter. They see these millions of people as a whole entity worth dying for. They may not love George W. but they will do as he says as they hold the office of president with the utmost of their respect and obedience. My coworkers will die for their country based on an oath they made that takes approximately 30 seconds to say and one single signature made when they were about 19 years old. That oath is ingrained into their very fiber from the day they get on the bus to Montgomery, Alabama. Can you beat that?

Working for the military means I, too, must change my taskings according to the needs of the Air Force. What I may love doing one year may change to a menial chore that taunts me. This has challenged me - a LOT - throughout my 20 year civilian service career. However, to quit my alliance with the military would be unthinkable. To abandon the people who are so devoted they would travel without question to fight in a country they could care less about on the order of their Commander-in-Chief - the people who would die for me while fighting to protect my careless freedoms - would be treason in my eyes. As long as they'll have me, I'll be here.

I may not always like my job, but I love the company I keep.

Many of my friends in high school were Air Force dependants and a few others were enlisted. I also worked a couple summers out at Pease. It's certainly a very different world.
My son has several friends who've joined and I can see the change. And it's for the better. I wish them well.

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