Balancing mission and family Published March 11, 2009 By Col. Gary Goldstone 375th Airlift Wing Commander SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- The Air Force recognizes the direct relationship between mission success and the fact that our families are vital to that success. We must accomplish the mission while fostering an environment that promotes quality family time. But, how can we really learn to balance the mission and family? That is a question that can have many answers, but it became abundantly clear to me what it means as I was recently reminded of how precious each day is with those we love and serve among. I spent Saturday painfully watching a wife and two boys mourn the sudden loss of their husband and father, who happened to be the vice wing commander from McConnell Air Force Base, Kan. Hundreds of friends and family gathered here for a memorial service at the Chapel since the family still resides here. When you witness that kind of heartache, it makes you take another look at your own situation and evaluate your priorities. It makes me review my actions to ensure that somewhere throughout the day I show appreciation for my wife and my children for how glad I am to be part of their lives, and for how much they mean to me. It's easy to get caught up in the daily grind and let work issues spill over into our home lives. Sometimes we may feel overwhelmed with the amount of work and responsibilities we have or wonder how we will manage to accomplish all that we do. Experience has taught me that balancing the mission and family takes effort and planning, and it can be done. Balancing the mission and family doesn't necessarily mean that one entity takes priority over the other, but rather it's knowing when and how to address the needs in each of these areas. Dedication to the mission means we take pride in meeting our nation's call. We will deploy when and where told. We will respond to emerging threats. We will show up for recalls and perform crisis response actions when needed. In each case it means we are separated from our families. I'm sure most of you could name at least one person you know who has spent at least a year apart from their spouse due to mission requirements. During these times of separation, the Air Force has many programs in place to assist families in staying connected, and those who take advantage of it find strength in doing so. Likewise, dedication to our families means that when we're together again, we ensure there's time to renew those relationships properly. We can do that by scheduling leave throughout the year and not letting that leave balance accrue too high. That can mean we are neglecting to renew our spirits as well as those family relationships. While there can be many demands on our time, seeing someone suffer the sudden loss of a spouse is a wake-up call. There is no secret formula for how to balance our time. There will always be ebbs and flows in our lives, but we must be in tune to both what our nation needs from us as well as our family. At the end of the day, if we can be satisfied that we did our best, that we made the most of our time and that we would be leaving with no regrets, then we are on the right path to balancing the mission and our family ... and truly Enabling Combat Power.