Stand up and do your duty Published Aug. 20, 2009 By Lt Col Alice Chapman 375th Aerospace Medicine Squadron SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- This past week, I attended a retirement ceremony honoring Col. Paula Jameson's 25 years of dedicated service to the Air Force. Colonel Jameson devoted her career not just to being the best nurse she could be, but to leading, teaching, mentoring and inspiring others to discover their potential as well. Retirement ceremonies always make me feel admiration and awe at the accomplishments and sacrifices made by the member. They also inspire me to continue to serve my country with a renewed sense of patriotism and pride in the path I have chosen. I joined the Air Force because I was interested in doing something new and different. I wasn't particularly focused at the time on patriotism or service to my country. Those feelings deepened over the years and I discovered intangible rewards I did not imagine when I first talked with a recruiter about a commission. Things like feeling even more pride in the accomplishments of the young Airmen and NCOs in my unit than in my own successes, helping others to be recognized for their hard work, feeling like I am part of something much bigger than myself and feeling that what I do everyday makes a difference to someone somewhere across the globe. Whether you joined the military to get an education, to travel or to simply obtain stable employment, if you look deep down inside, you're likely to discover you remain in uniform for other reasons. Perhaps it's the sense of community and common bond that draws you in or the excitement of new challenges, but whatever it is, the fact that you're still here reflects a conscious decision on your part. We are a volunteer force--we are here because we have made a choice to be here, and we make a commitment to give our very best effort to whatever task we are given to do in order to support the Air Force mission to fly, fight and win. Every single job, whether it's maintaining electrical and water systems on base; ensuring members receive their pay and benefits; protecting our computer systems from cyber threats; repairing an aircraft engine; or providing medical care to our family members, is essential to that mission and must be done to the best of your ability--because the rest of the Air Force team is depending on you. Our wingman culture enables us to accomplish that mission much more effectively because we're supporting and looking out for each other and our families. My 10-year-old son once wrote an essay for Veterans' Day which contained a sentence that read, "They left what was important to them in order to do what was important to the country." While this statement was certainly true of the heroes of our nation's past wars, it is equally true of today's military members fighting the Global War on Terrorism. We each made a choice to enlist or be commissioned, and once the choice was made, we fully commit ourselves to seeing the mission through to completion with our very best effort. So as the retiring Col. Jameson urged us in her parting comments, "stand up and do your duty," with pride and distinction.