Today I am Grateful
30 Sep 2020 is my last day in active service to the U.S. Air Force since entering the Academy in 1987. This note shares my personal thanks to those who took us on that journey.
Today I am grateful for the Airmen and joint forces who taught, helped, led, and debriefed.
To the Instructors, IRONmen
To Mobile, who taught “You can be either good or cool . . . but not both. You have to choose one.”
To KMart, who showed that some could do both.
To JRay, who led by example in Tactical Excellence as Squadron Commander, and who always killed every leaker . . . for the 8-ship . . . at RED FLAG . . . or gave radar vectors to the ones he couldn’t get.
To Pulse, who showed how to be a Flight Commander.
To Ripple, master instructor and tactical artist.
To Guns, the best fighter pilot, ever . . . and who never let on that he knew it.
To Trapper, Gus, Abu, Spyce, Tiny, Blend’r, JB, Crab, Cat, Deeq, Papa, Mountain, Oscar, Purp, Munster, Nomad, and Bean for making IRONmen a rage.
To the Mighty Eagle, 104–0, who never lets you down, covers your mistakes, and got me out of square corners I didn’t deserve to exit.
To the Helpers that lent a hand to Airmen who didn’t deserved it.
To Todd Post and Dave Donley, for patience and grace in dealing with a Lieutenant.
To JPat, Colin, Homey, Mike Mitchell, Todd Valentine, Dan Maruyama, and Dave Dricta, who understood that “Timing is Everything and There is No Justice” . . . but didn’t let it slow their pursuit of Instructional Excellence as First Assignment Instructor Pilots (FAIPs). And to the Tweet, unbreakable workhorse of trainers . . . not the prettiest bird but always proved “you never not make it.”
To Fangs, who gave everything to the Air Force. Fangs covered the shortfalls in others with his own skin, believed in every Airman more than they deserved, and never stopped loving. We miss you a lot Fangs.
To Shoeless, Tonka, Bigbee, Abu, Vac, Popeye, Gonzo, Ug, P*mp, Weeby, Banger, Brutus, Visa, Mako, Bean, Raz’n, Showtime, Nastee, Yeti, #, Shocker, Maddog, Sanchez, and Chaps, who created excellence through mutual support, and made the Crows Rule.
To Otto, Cons, Riddler, Bill Lee, Winder, Klaxon, Hobo, Heidi, Digger, Brick, Cinco, Claw, Koil, Juice Joseph, Chief Smith, Eddie Olan, and Kong eternal who took the Gorillas from zero to OUTSTANDING in 5 months, taught Night/OCA/4-Ship/AMRAAM to a region, defined readiness for the Combat Air Forces, and made the Mighty Gorillas rage.
To Magnum, Willard, Roman, Jodi, Mike, Wahoo, Bob W., Bob H., and the 12 FTW commanders and staff who raised the bar for Instruction, Airmanship, and Leadership in our Air Force.
To Tommy Calvert, Judge Wolf, and the leaders of Schertz, Converse, Universal City, Selma, Guadalupe County, Bexar County, Comal County, Live Oak, and Garden Ridge who saw the crisis at hand and led Texas to save Randolph AFB from encroachment. And thanks to Baba and OBD for the horsepower and top cover to make it happen.
To Command Chief Troy Palmer, who discovered and covered the gaps in leadership across Randolph, USAFA, and Pensacola. Troy was the perfect wingman and Command Chief.
To Sparky, Spam, Buster, and OBD who cared for an entire family when I was in Iraq . . . and who moved 18,000# of household across sunny Randolph.
To Touch, Ellie, Brian, Midge, Diane, Magic, Holk, Paul, Schwartz, Rumble, Stubby, and all the executive officers who taught me the importance of getting the admin done first, and covered the glass when I fell short. I hate admin.
To my Ironclad Wife and Family, who held together and built a path to joy over 17 moves, 2 remotes and 4 deployments . . . and to my parents who helped us in every transition.
To the Leaders, who inspired the best in every Airman, and taught me how to lead.
To Hawk, master-leader and gentleman, who modeled unceasing kindness and grace and developed a generation of Airman-focused leaders.
To Baba, who showed that leadership starts in the heart, who modeled how to use Air Force heritage to make us all reach higher, and who filled the hearts of every Airmen with inspiration and a desire to lead better.
To General Martin, master artist of mission command, who showed how to do the impossible by building a culture of trust, loyalty, and shared commitment across your command.
To Steve, Scott, Johnny, Bill, and Rico for for making the hard calls that needed to be made and eating the risk when nobody else would take it. Thank you for sharing your lessons and feedback that made us all better. Nobody will know the burdens you’ve borne for your nation.
To CQ, Cobra, Gus, Tonto, Abu, and Gooey who know that “joint warfare” means losing skin every day in contact sport, who gave me the rope I needed, and covered the broken glass afterward.
To my fellow Air Attaches, who brought our Air Forces together, showed the strength of allies and partners together during crisis, and who made D.C. fun.
To the Debriefers, who showed that excellence is about feedback, root cause, and commitment to get better in every mission.
To Tonto, Skosh, Bigbee, Basket, Elmo, Brutus, Sax, Sled, and Cujo who set the bar for the best instruction in the Air Force. To Scorch, Stuff, Hollywood, Fumez, Sparky, Pistol, Cobra, Fats, and all the Barnyard Instructors who built the foundation of excellence. To Slider, Pappy, Coma, Tonka, and Elmo for Sweet mutual support and Action in the air that got 01B through Weapons School and made us better instructors, officers, and spouses.
To Sparky and Bones, for inviting me back to learn and teach. I never worked so hard to be average.
To the USAF Weapons School, which makes our Air Force great when everything else tries to pull the Air Force to “average.”
Today, I am grateful. I am thankful to the United States Air Force for the opportunities it has given me and my family, to our nation for generously supporting our joint forces in their mission to defend our constitution, and thankful to the Airmen, families, and teams that cared for the Isler family on that journey.
