GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching. I’ve been digging into philosophy and asking a lot of people some pretty deep questions to get their perspectives. Some of the most profound wisdom I’ve gotten so far has been when I asked a chaplain what he thinks it means to live a full life. He responded with something that he’d heard before: 1) You have to be happy to go to work, and 2) You have to be excited and happy to go home.
I love my wife and I love Charles the Dog, so I’m for sure happy going home every day, but happy going to work? I think that question is something a lot of people struggle with.
I’ve been lucky in my career so far. My job satisfaction has almost always come as a result of direct mission accomplishments. Whether it was providing over watch for special operations ground forces, advising joint task force commanders on dynamic threats, or discovering new capabilities of our nation’s most dangerous adversaries, I’ve always felt a deep sense of pride in my teams’ accomplishments.
I volunteered to come to Goodfellow because I felt that I’ve accumulated these war stories and experiences and was excited to give back. Still, one of my concerns was whether or not my vision of rewarding work would be fully realized. Would I be able to stay operationally relevant? Or would my knowledge of geopolitical and military conflict dull over the next three years.
More than halfway through my tour here, I can say that those fears were unfounded. With effort, I’ve grown substantially in my technical knowledge of threats, in my grasp of the geopolitical goals of our allies and adversaries, and in my understanding of the operational environments our students will face.
As an international intelligence instructor, I’ve been given direct insight into what our partner nations view as their greatest threats. Our classes have students from dozens of partner nations and many of those students already have substantial operational experience as intelligence analysts, surface to air missile operators, and fighter pilots. Each class is a collection of expertise from all over the world and gives a broad view of the entire international chess board. I’ve learned the breadth and ruthless efficiency of our adversaries’ efforts. I’ve learned the fragility of peace and economic prosperity. I’ve learned efforts to train the next generation of intelligence professionals isn’t just a matter of pride, but a foundation of national security.
I feel lucky. Recognizing the gravity of our work here, being able to touch so many lives directly, and giving back all the life-changing experiences the U.S. Air Force has afforded me are all amazing. I do agree with what Chaplain AJ told me almost a year ago, and I can say that right now, I’m living a full life.