Making military life into a tradition

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Jeff Clifton
  • 354th Operations Group deputy commander
EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  Wow! It's hard to believe Thanksgiving is here again already. What a great holiday; family, friends, food, football ... the perfect combination to help us all unwind and reflect on all the year's blessings and accomplishments. I was in a conversation about the Thanksgiving holiday with our first-sergeant and we were reflecting on some great Thanksgiving traditions we'd seen or been a part of throughout our lives and careers.

For my family growing up, we traditionally followed our early afternoon Thanksgiving feast with an afternoon of frailing and picking up pecans. It may not sound like much fun but it was a blast because we were outside with the entire family, doing something we didn't have to put much thought into and we all benefited from it.

It was truly quality time together with grandparents, siblings, spouses, and grandkids. For others, the tradition may have been a family football game in the yard, an outing to a favorite place with friends, or just a house full of people watching the Thanksgiving Day football game.

As fond as I am of Thanksgiving traditions and traditions in general, life in the military isn't always compatible with alot of them. Between moving every two to three years, deployments, and duty schedules, traditions are hard to keep up with. While that may sound negative on the surface, in reality, it gives us all the opportunity to experience new traditions from other Airmen we are stationed and deployed with and make new traditions of our own.

Life in the Air Force for my family has driven a completely new tradition in our household. If we are "home" for Thanksgiving, we've tried to make it a point to have someone from the squadron, flight, or from the dorms over to share the day. We've had some great times and learned a lot about what the holiday means to others; lessons that have really enriched our own views and enjoyment of Thanksgiving.

I truly believe our two children will look back at some of our holidays spent with others as their cherished holiday tradition.

Along the way, I like to think my family has enriched other's enjoyment of the day as well. Although, come to think of it, "enriched" may not be an accurate word to describe a particular Thanksgiving we had with some of the single Airmen from the flight. It's a wonder any of them went on to have kids of their own after our dinner was interrupted by a trip to the emergency room with a sick kid! But surprisingly sometimes when I talk to those Airmen, most of which have kids of their own now despite the events of that day, the subject comes up and they all say how they have great memories of that Thanksgiving.

Just because the military may not always allow us to actively practice old family traditions doesn't mean we can't start new ones. Make a new family tradition of inviting someone from the unit or office over for Thanksgiving and embrace the new perspective that they can bring on the holiday, as they and you share what it means to be truly thankful for the privilege to live in and serve this great country.