{"id":219,"date":"2008-08-28T22:20:03","date_gmt":"2008-08-29T02:20:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/?p=219"},"modified":"2008-08-28T22:20:03","modified_gmt":"2008-08-29T02:20:03","slug":"the-value-of-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2008\/08\/28\/the-value-of-service\/","title":{"rendered":"The Value of Service…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Via Blackfive:<\/p>\n

The Value of Service<\/strong>
\nCommentary by Lt. Col. Mark Murphy
\n354th Maintenance Group deputy commander<\/p>\n

EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska<\/strong> — I learned a big lesson on service Aug. 4, 2008, when Eielson had the rare honor of hosting President Bush on a refueling stop as he traveled to Asia .<\/p>\n

It was an event Eielson will never forget — a hangar full of Airmen and Soldiers getting to see the Commander in Chief up close, and perhaps even shaking his hand. An incredible amount of effort goes into presidential travel because of all of the logistics, security, protocol, etc … so it was remarkable to see Air Force One land at Eielson on time at precisely 4:30 p.m.–however, when he left less than two hours later, the President was 15 minutes behind schedule.<\/p>\n

That’s a big slip for something so tightly choreographed, but very few people know why it happened. Here’s why.<\/p>\n

On Dec. 10, 2006, our son, Shawn, was a paratrooper deployed on the outskirts of Baghdad . He was supposed to spend the night in camp, but when a fellow soldier became ill Shawn volunteered to take his place on a nighttime patrol–in the convoy’s most exposed position as turret gunner in the lead Humvee. He was killed instantly with two other soldiers when an IED ripped through their vehicle.<\/p>\n

I was thinking about that as my family and I sat in the audience listening to the President’s speech, looking at the turret on the up-armored Humvee the explosive ordnance disposal flight had put at the edge of the stage as a static display.<\/p>\n

When the speech was over and the President was working the crowd line, I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see a White House staff member. She asked me and my wife to come with her, because the President wanted to meet us.<\/p>\n

Stunned, we grabbed our two sons that were with us and followed her back into a conference room. It was a shock to go from a crowded, noisy hangar, past all of those security people, to find ourselves suddenly alone in a quiet room. Read the rest…<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Via Blackfive: The Value of Service Commentary by Lt. Col. Mark Murphy 354th Maintenance Group deputy commander EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska — I learned a big lesson on service Aug. 4, 2008, when Eielson had the rare honor of hosting President Bush on a refueling stop as he traveled to Asia . It was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9],"tags":[81],"class_list":{"0":"post-219","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-life","7":"tag-president-bush","8":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfpI7-3x","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1182,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2008\/12\/23\/big-shoes-to-fill\/","url_meta":{"origin":219,"position":0},"title":"Big Shoes To Fill","author":"Jeff","date":"December 23, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"In a little less than a month Barack Obama will take the oath of office and become the 44th President of the United States. In some respects he's going to have some pretty big shoes to fill... From the Wall Street Journal: The President Comforts a Marine Mom By William\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life"","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3407,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2010\/06\/23\/mcchrystal-relieved-petraeus-to-replace\/","url_meta":{"origin":219,"position":1},"title":"McChrystal Relieved; Petraeus to Replace","author":"Jeff","date":"June 23, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"President Barack Obama has accepted the resignation of General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of the International Security and Assistance Force in Afghanistan, he will be replaced by General David Petraeus: President Barack Obama accepted the resignation of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander and strategist of the Afghan war,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Afghanistan"","block_context":{"text":"Afghanistan","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/afghanistan\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1690,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/03\/17\/obama-administration-considering-plan-to-charge-veterans-private-health-insurance-for-the-treatment-of-service-related-injuries\/","url_meta":{"origin":219,"position":2},"title":"Obama Administration Considering Plan to Charge Veterans Private Health Insurance for the Treatment of Service Related Injuries","author":"Jeff","date":"March 17, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"My Father, a World War II veteran, passed away in January... I hate to say this but I'm glad he's not here to see this: The Obama administration is considering a plan to charge the private health insurance of veterans for treatment of service-related ailments that currently\u00a0are paid for by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Military"","block_context":{"text":"Military","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/military\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3397,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2010\/06\/22\/thoughts-on-the-mcchrystal-controversy\/","url_meta":{"origin":219,"position":3},"title":"Thoughts on the McChrystal Controversy","author":"Jeff","date":"June 22, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The whole world is buzzing about the controversial Rolling Stone profile of International Security Assistance Force commander General Stanley McChrystal. To be honest I'm kind of torn here, the whole Rolling Stone piece is a bit of a hatchet job... Adrian Michaels does a good job of summarizing things in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Afghanistan"","block_context":{"text":"Afghanistan","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/afghanistan\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4676,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2012\/09\/27\/video-i-dont-want-a-politician-leading-this-nation-i-want-a-president\/","url_meta":{"origin":219,"position":4},"title":"Video: \u2018I Don\u2019t Want a Politician Leading This Nation, I Want a President\u2019","author":"Jeff","date":"September 27, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Commander Kirk Lippold, USN (Retired) the former commander of the USS Cole (DDG-67) joined Neil Cavuto on Your World earlier today and offered some sharp criticism of President Barack Obama's and his handling of the Iranian nuclear threat: Watch the latest video at video.insider.foxnews.com \u201cOne time a year, the president\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "International Affairs"","block_context":{"text":"International Affairs","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/international-affairs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1121,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2008\/12\/17\/george-w-bush-ive-abandoned-free-market-principles-to-save-the-free-market-system\/","url_meta":{"origin":219,"position":5},"title":"George W. Bush: “I’ve abandoned free-market principles to save the free market system”","author":"Jeff","date":"December 17, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Huh? What? With all due respect Mr. President what you're doing is akin to using hand grenade to kill and ant. 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