Airman's Creed focuses on beliefs

  • Published
  • By Senior Master Sgt. Mark Stevenson
  • 436th AMS first sergeant
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  Almost two years ago, I wrote an article on how our Air Force members were having a difficult time establishing a unified identity. 'Airman' was a term that divided our force rather than unified it. It was insulting to refer to a non-commissioned officer as an Airman.

The Air Force has recently experienced a paradigm shift when our Chief of Staff, Gen. T. Michael Mosley, presented our force with a new creed. As Webster's Dictionary defines it, a creed is a "system of principals or opinions." According to Air Force Link, General Mosley's intent was to provide a creed that focuses on what an Airman believes.

Every installation has a host of formal organizations such as the Company Grade Officers Council, Chief's Group, Top 3, First Sergeants' Council, Junior NCO Council, Airmen's Council, etc. Each of these organizations had a set of accepted principals that guided their personal and professional conduct. Our new Airman's Creed must build upon these individual ethos and guide our Airman, as one larger fighting force, to embody our Air Force goals for success.

Included in each paragraph of our Airman's Creed is 'I am an American Airman.' This enables us not to lose sight of the importance each Airman plays in the success of our mission.

'I am an American Airman. I am a warrior. I have answered my nation's call.' The first three lines of our new Airman's creed should take every enlisted member and officer back to their very first day in our great service when we raised our right hand and swore to defend the Constitution of the United States. These sentences create a foundation by which all Airmen can relate as a small piece of one-team standing ready to fight as one force against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

The second paragraph of our creed reads, 'I am an American Airman. My mission is to fly, fight, and win. I am faithful to a proud heritage: a tradition of honor, and a legacy of valor.' This paragraph explains the very need for our existence as an institution. This statement embodies and connects every Airman with the Air Force's top three priorities: fighting and winning the war on terrorism, developing and caring for Airmen, and recapitalizing and modernizing our Air Force. If we are to succeed to a level expected by our nation's leaders, we must be physically, mentally and emotionally prepared to fight and win a war in a multitude of environments, not excluding one on our own soil. We do this by providing the necessary training to our Airmen, ensuring the proper understanding of why we are the greatest fighting force in the world and how the dedication of our predecessors enabled that distinction, correlating our continued success to future improvements of our force.

'I am an American Airman, guardian of freedom and justice, my nation's sword and shield, and its sentry and avenger.' This phrase explains our social responsibility, as Airmen, to American citizens. Our citizens trust that every step of the way we have their best interests at heart. Every Airman must present themselves as a capable, responsible and competent member of a dedicated force standing ready to defend our home from aggressors. To lose faith in any one Airman means to lose faith in the Air Force, which ultimately means a loss of faith in our ability to guard and protect our country.

'I defend my country with my life. I am an American Airman: wingman, leader, warrior. I will never leave an Airman behind, I will never falter, and I will not fail.' Everyone who entered the Air Force knew one day they may be asked to defend this country with their life. As Airmen and wingmen, we not only have a responsibility to ourselves and our civilian community, but also to our fellow Airmen. Along with the new Airman's Creed should come an understanding that we should also assume a portion of responsibility for the Airmen to our left and right. We have a duty to protect, guide and mentor each other in a manner that ensures we continue to be the world's most powerful force.

While accepting this new creed may have been difficult for those that dislike change, this creed will unify our Air Force into a team that is stronger than its individual components: enlisted, officer, civilian, National Guardsmen, reservist, etc. I ask everyone to understand, learn, teach and be proud of our new Airman's Creed.