Veterans Day 2015

It's Veterans Day. 

Southern Fried Pugs mom here. 

Some of you know that I was in the Air Force. I am not a combat veteran. I only went overseas for three weeks to support a training mission to Egypt. It was an awesome experience. 

I served for 10 years. The Air Force helped shape me. It helped change me from an idealistic, naive, somewhat entitled, privileged white girl to a more focused, more disciplined woman. 

I still have a spirit of idealism, but it is tempered with reality. I learned balance (ok, still learning). 

I learned leadership, what good leadership looks like and what an absence of leadership looks like. 

I learned how to work as part of a team. 

I learned how to follow. That wasn't easy. 

I learned when to follow and when to lead. 

I learned about how to be a good supervisor, how to motivate people, different kinds of people. 

I learned that if you take care of your people first, they take care of their job which lets you do your job. I learned that you have to be flexible and adaptable, yet prepared for anything.

I am proud to have served my country. 

There are serious problems and mistakes have been made, but this is my nation. I am not a blind patriot. I am not a mindless flag waver. I am a person who gave 10 years of my life in service to my country. 

I would do it again. I am one who still serves, just in a different capacity. 

I am not posting this to ask for thanks for me on Veterans Day. Most veterans will be a little embarrassed when you do thank them. 

 

In 2015, we've come a long way in appreciating veterans and their service. 

I ask that you look around you for other veterans who blend in. 

Don't just thank a vet on Veterans Day. 

Thank them all year long. 

Senior Airman Ramsey, circa 1997