People often ask me what it was like to be in the military. Why did I go in, why did I get out, did I see/do anything cool… yes it seems that the military is a source of curiosity for a lot of people. I suppose I went into the military for the same reasons that most people do, money for college, travel the world, and the discipline and honor of serving my country. My parents really supported and encouraged me in that decision and I am so thankful for that. Thanks to the guidance of my big brother, I chose the best branch to go into, the Air Force of course, no offense to my brothers and sisters in other branches!!
Training in the military is much like you see in the movies. It sucks, to put it bluntly. You don’t have any freedom, privacy or privileges, and you don’t know how to do anything right. Yes the instructors yell all the time and call you names and tell you how stupid you are. And you don’t know what PT is until you have ran 4 miles, in formation, at 4:45 in the morning, well before the first light of day. In boot camp, every minute detail matters, even the strings of thread around the buttons on your uniforms (BDU’s), those must be found and clipped off with fingernail clippers. Boot camp is all just a big mind game, and if you learn how to play, you’ll do just fine. It is still the most physically and mentally challenging experience that most people will ever go through. Once you make it through that, it’s on to the next phase of training, depending on your job, which for me was law enforcement, security and ground combat skills. Yay. That was even harder than boot!
I made it through those 3 months somehow.. but nothing could have prepared me for the day that my orders were announced: One year at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea. Imagine what that phone call to my mom was like. Scared doesn’t even begin to describe it. I cried the whole flight from DFW to the port of call in Seattle. As much as I didn’t want to leave home for a year and as scared as I was, I knew in my knower, that God had a purpose. The fact that my very best friend in the whole world was Korean and she had already taught me a lot of the language, etc., was a clue to that. We definitely had peace that the Lord had specifically chosen me to go to Korea, It was incredibly hard, and just as bad as I thought it would be at times. I missed home like crazy. Things like shopping malls, Chick-fil-a, driving down the highway and seeing signs in English!! You don’t realize all the things you love about this country until you’re kept out of it. Oh how my heart ached. Some of the Koreans would protest at the base every Friday demanding that we leave, and we had to dress up in full riot gear and be prepared for an attack. That hurt, considering that we were there for them, yet I don’t completely blame them. They’ve been hurt, too. That’s not to say all of them felt that way though, there were some that loved us and worked on base with us. Precious people! The best thing about my time in Korea though was definitely the wonderful people I met. Without the military family, none of us could make it. That and getting chicken fried rice and bottled Pepsi down at Mr. Young’s in A-town… yeah they don’t make it like that over here! Of course now I love the Korean people, I have a heart for that country and I know I will be going back. After Korea, I went to Moody AFB, in Valdosta, Georgia. Oh how glad I was to be back in the glorious US of A!
To answer your questions, I went into the Air Force for many reasons, such as money for college. I got out because I knew I couldn’t do 20 years, it just wasn’t for me. I knew the Lord had another plan. Yes I did a lot of cool things, like firing an M-16, an M-203 grenade launcher and throwing a live grenade. It was the toughest and loneliest time however. I gave up everything, my personal freedom, to serve. Yet I never regretted serving, and never will. And that’s why I wanted to write this, as a memorial to those who have served. We sacrificed our own desires to protect this awesome country, and no one can ever take away the honor, the dignity, and the pride we have in serving this country. I love you all.. and God will bless our sacrifice. I salute you~
Forever indebted to those who served and died,
A1C Patterson
31SFS (Moody AFB, GA)
8SFS (Kunsan AB, Korea, PACAF)
United States Air Force
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