Dillow: Reasons for military service are distinct and meaningful

The U.S. Air Force reports that as of March 31, there are 321,103 active-duty personnel serving; around 1.5 million serve across the armed forces (less than 1% of the population). Fewer people today report having a family member serving in the military than in decades past, leading to a gap in exposure to military-connected people.

The Joint Advertising Marketing Research & Studies (JAMRS), a program run by the U.S. Department of Defense, reported in 2022 that 90% of young people surveyed replied they would “probably not” or “definitely not” consider the military as a career path.

So why do people join the military in the first place?

Three top reasons given are pay, future educational opportunities and travel. In my own house, add a sense of duty to serve, a connecting thread to history, and a genuine concern for peace and order in the world. Being a part of something greater than self is a common reason for military service. But reasons for service are as diverse as the people who choose to wear a uniform and swear an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

A few weeks ago, my husband and I attended the 80th anniversary celebration of 20th Air Force. Our host for the evening, Maj. Gen. Stacy Jo Huser, is the first female commander of 20th Air Force since its inception in 1944; her own decision to serve was spur-of-the-moment and superficial (A job! With pay!), but her decision to stay in service is as meaningful as they come: she is passionately committed to the people who serve alongside her, for all the varied reasons they choose to do so.

As part of the evening’s presentation, Maj. Gen. Huser’s guests were treated to five separate stories shared by airmen about why they joined the Air Force. Each different from the next, I wouldn’t have been surprised if I had actually heard a pin drop in the room — each was that compelling, that emotional, that inspiring.

From the airman who joined the Air Force at an “advanced” age to thank his adopted country for caring for him as a Brazilian immigrant whose only English was “I do not speak English” at roughly 11 years old to airmen who joined and then fought successfully to remain in service through personal and medical challenges, reasons for serving were distinct and meaningful.

I was especially moved by two of the stories. First, a security forces defender assigned to the 377th Security Forces Squadron at Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque, New Mexico; born in Pakistan, but living in the United States since she was 9 years old, A1C Hamna Zafar joined the Air Force to escape an arranged marriage her parents planned for her without her knowledge. The military offered a steady income, a support system and, most of all, freedom to pursue the life she chooses. She ran away from one life and honorably serves in another.

The second story I will not soon forget was shared by Senior Airman Peter Keny, a convoy team leader in the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom AFB, Montana. Keny is a Lost Boy of Sudan — or, one of the 20,000 young boys who were driven from everything they had ever known, most under 7 years old — by a civil war in Sudan in the 1980s. Keny and thousands of others walked thousands of miles in their attempt to reach Kenya or Ethiopia; roughly half did not survive.

Despite losing his entire family at 6 years old, fleeing with that grief for years and struggling to survive in refugee camps, Keny was part of a group of refugees who were resettled in the United States to build new lives for themselves. The Air Force was part of that life for him.

Can you even imagine?

Senior Airman Peter Keny’s reason to serve: all the reasons. Should we all be so fortunate to hear those stories, and to be supported and protected by military members who have lived them.