Article Display

Preparing today can change tomorrow

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Kaitlyn Brewer
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. --  Remaining calm throughout the stress response, having a plan in place for a crisis situation and practicing a course of action repeatedly can bolster one’s mental readiness, which can come in handy when planning for unfortunate events.

“We conduct training every other Wednesday to ensure our Airmen are prepared for emergencies,” said Staff Sgt. Michael Strickland, 20th Security Forces Squadron unit trainer. “We have noncommissioned officers teach our flight members on specific subjects, such as high risk response, utilizing our less than lethal weapons, range cards and land navigation.”

Strickland continued to say it is essential for SFS consistently sharpen their skills because they are the first to respond to emergencies.

“The skills acquired during training for our job are all perishable,” said Strickland. “If we do not stay persistent and constantly train for any kind of crisis situation, then when something does occur we will have fallen off the wagon.”

Building personal readiness can also help when personal crises strike, as Capt. James Moore, 20th Fighter Wing chaplain learned when his father was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia at 12-years-old.

“My father was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia at 12 years old so he lived every day preparing us for the inevitable,” said Moore. “He was a walking miracle who lived until he was 63-years-old and because he knew any visit to the hospital could be his last he preached with a passion. I told him I loved him every day, my way of spiritually and emotionally preparing myself,” said Moore.

Moore said personal readiness can also include having support systems in place to fall back on during hard times.

“Our whole family was mentally and spiritually preparing ourselves every day for my father’s death,” said Moore. “That experience has led me to have a built-in fortitude that tells me I can conquer anything, and no matter what I go through I know I have my family I can call when a crisis arises.”