AEF 7/8 around the corner

Col. Jeff Harrell

As we begin the month of August, many of you will be preparing for the upcoming air and space expeditionary force -LESS-THAN-0054375-AEF-GREATER-THAN-0054375- 7/8 deployment. Some of you will be deploying for the first time. For others, it will be just the latest addition to many tours of service around the world.

Either way, I encourage both those deploying and those staying here to always focus on the mission at hand.

As professional Airmen, we are all responsible for being ready to go anywhere, at any time. This readiness requires us not only to partake in, and learn from, the training we go through as part of our duty day, but also to take time to make sure personal and family issues are in order as well.

There are a variety of resources to help each of us be as prepared as we possibly can for our time away from home. Make the most of the Combat Skills Training Course and Combat Symposium. Make a conscious effort to learn new things, or if you think you already know it all, relearn those concepts and ideas so that they will be fresh in your mind when you need them. Take advantage of the programs you’ll find at the Family Support Center, and make sure your dependents are aware of what is available to them.

While being deployed to a combat zone, away from family and friends, may not be exactly what you were hoping for this fall, take pride in the opportunity that you have to go out and do what you have been training to do every day. If you approach your deployment with a positive attitude, it will be a professionally refining experience that you will be able to look back on proudly.

Keep up the great work, stay focused on the mission, whether it is here or around the world, and you will be able to say that you have done your part to accomplish our Air Force’s mission