Air Force -- truly family or fictional epithet?

  • Published
  • By Chaplain (Capt.) Samuel Bridges
  • 71st Flying Training Wing Chapel
Vance Air Force Base, Okla. --  Have you noticed that we in the Air Force throw the words "team" and "family" around so loosely they seem to lose their meaning and become a cliché we immediately ignore?
Well, this month I entered my 17th year as an Airman, and I would like to test those words against my experiences from an E-1 straight out of high school to a chaplain finishing up his first assignment.
It took me just a short time to realize the Air Force was a different organization, when as an airman basic I had a captain who would eventually become a tremendous mentor to me, offer to try to help me get into the U.S. Air Force Academy as a prior enlisted student. I declined, as I thought I would never be able to suffer through the academic terrors of the Academy I had built up in my mind. Eventually, though, this doctor would have perhaps the largest effect on me as anyone in my adult life.
You see, because he was a deeply religious Catholic man, we spent many hours discussing theology and other topics. As I look back on the conversations I had with Dr. Chris Sartori, I realize being able to have an intelligent conversation with someone I perceived as highly intellectual gave me tremendous confidence in my own intellect.
After two years of active-duty service, I chose to leave working on B-52 avionics to go Palace Chase into the Air National Guard. It took me a few years to find a unit that survived the Base Realignment and Closures of the '90s, as several closed soon after I joined them. I did however, eventually join the 283rd Combat Communications Squadron at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga. The 283rd was a busy unit -- there were always taskings for us to support the overseas Area of Responsibility. There was also an endless supply of volunteers from the unit to deploy for months on end.
What is unique about my seven or eight years of experience in the 283rd is my chiefs and my commanders never pressured me to deploy even once. They supported my desire to study as an undergraduate and enter seminary, and eventually to become a chaplain. During my enlistment, I was honored by the first sergeant, who asked me to provide Sunday services for our unit, as we did not have a unit chaplain. I did the best I could. Because of the support of my commanders and supervisors of the 283rd, I was able to graduate a year and a half ahead of schedule. Thanks 283rd!
That brings me to Vance. In 2003, the Air Force found me competent and credentialed enough to become an active-duty chaplain. Even though I had never heard of it, I was extremely excited to come to Vance. My first experiences as a chaplain were mixed as I encountered personal heartbreak and professional success. However, I was so fortunate Father Raul Sanchez happened to be the wing chaplain at Vance. When I was personally challenged, he was the first to recognize that despite my own personal issues, I was still delivering quality pastoral care. Father Sanchez never gave up on me and never let me believe I was not called to the ministry.
I took all his words and wisdom with me on a deployment to the desert. Day after day and sometimes hour after hour young Airmen would come into my office hurting and confused. With some of them I could directly identify with their situation. With all of them I could identify with their pain. We worked through their struggles together.
As I flew medical-evacuation missions throughout Iraq, I prayed with Soldiers, Marines and Airmen who were casualties of this war. Some of them lost limbs, some were burned and some were wounded less drastically, but all were wounded emotionally. I never prayed for or with one person who expressed anything but the most gratitude. I could hardly tell them I felt humbled and unworthy to be the one they would thank; I felt someone far more holy should have the honor.
Here I have experienced the best and the worst as well. In my house I have hosted young men who needed a break from issues at home, and I have hosted the child of a mother who just needed a break while her husband was deployed. I have also baptized your children and buried our friends.
Many of you know I am a single dad and I need not tell you the challenges that come with that. I can say however, I have never had to neglect my job or my daughter, because of the friends and neighbors I have come to love here. Neither Annabelle nor I have ever had to feel alone because all of you have embraced us as family.
If you are new to Vance, I would like to tell you Vance is unique. Vance will take care of you better than another unit or base of your career, our clinic is the most caring, our people are the most helpful and even our security forces are the most professional. I would like to tell you that but I can't because although Vance is all of those things, it has also been typical of what I have experienced throughout my Air Force career. You see, for the last 17 years I have been part of a family. And yes, just like any other real family, we have our problems. However, in this family there are so many members there to help you, who are ready to help you in whatever situations you find yourself in from financial crises, emotional crises and legal issues to physical and yes, spiritual issues as well. If you are coming from another base, be comforted in knowing you are welcome to the Vance family.
Remember though, as all families, we also like to see you when you don't need us for an emergency. Visit your support system -- come see us at the life skills center, Airman and family readiness center, clinic, legal office and of course, the chapel. Maybe during your visit you will get to know the real meaning of family just as I have, and who knows, you may find that mentor who changes your life as well.
Thank you Vance Air Force Base. For three years you have been my family and Annabelle's family. I thank God for everything you all have meant to us. Family or fiction? Definitely family.
(Editor's note: Chaplain Bridges departs Vance July 14 for Brooks City Base in San Antonio, Texas.)