Blog #4. Half way there

     

     Picture this, it was a freezing day somewhere out by the Nebraska/ Wyoming state line. My flight and I were all huddled together standing outside of our Humvees, waiting to get briefed to see where we'd be posted that day. Morale was low. The holidays were coming up, and everyone wanted to go home. We worked five days on, and five day off. Those five day, twelve hours shifts out in the Missile field were long and seemed never ending. Out there, there's a day shift and a night shift. We stayed in different housing locations, and you have to wake up, get dressed, pack your things and get to post. Being out there, with basically no cell phone service, eating out of a lunch box, in the freezing snow; sucked. Badly. 

    This one flight chief was always perky. A lot of the guys didn't like him for that reason but we all respected him because he was our boss. That morning was rough, we were a few days into our shift. As usual, he came walking out like normal and gave us our posts for the day. He noticed that we were not thrilled about spending another day out in the snow. Before he released us to get back work, he told my whole flight and I, that it was up to us to have a positive attitude that would lead us to have a good day. 

    This is a man who was a few years away from his retirement, and was on year eleven of being stationed at F.E Warren doing this same thing. Rarely was he upset and always tried to check on us Airmen. I admired him. That morning before we hopped back into our Humvees and drove away, someone asked him what was his secret to always having a positive attitude. He replied, "Once you get up and put your boots on, your day is halfway over with. All you have to do is get back home, take your boots off, and your day is done." He said it in a way that humbled all of us, and he taught me that it was your perception that changed the way you viewed things.