I joined the Air Force in 1992 shortly after my older daughter was born.  My older brother John recommended the Air Force because it offered a better quality of life at the time.  Over my career, I’ve served in several overseas assignments and deployed numerous times missing Holidays, Birthdays, Anniversaries etc…  None of that would have been possible with the foundation provided by my parents and the support of not only siblings and cousins early on but also my wife Jamette.  Without her support and sometimes kick in the butt, I may not have reached the military retirement milestone.

My first assignment was to Whiteman AFB, Missouri where I was a Missile and Nuclear Weapon security police.  My final assignment where I retired was at McGuire AFB, NJ where I was the Senior Enlisted leader for the Security Police assigned to the Contingency Response Group.  My overseas assignments included two 1 year tours to Korea where I served as Criminal Investigator and NCOIC Town Patrol and a 3 year assignment to Japan.  Japan was by far my favorite assignment because their culture and life style intrigued me.

One of my most fond memories occurred on one of my deployments where I was assigned as the QRF.  Theses duties would have me patrolling outside the wire within the SAM footprint of the base to deter any would be attackers targeting incoming and outgoing aircraft.  This would often put me in direct contact with the local citizens.  One of those contacts was with a 12 or 13 year old boy who was responsible for herding his families sheep flock from the pen down to a small river near their home.  What I noticed immediately is he was up early like me and he was doing this job in a pair of sandals wrapped in a rag because the soles were worn out. None the less, this young kid pressed on day in and day out never complaining.  Speaking with him via an interpreter the young boy enjoyed what he was doing but was always had foot pain and we know why.  I asked for his shoe size and found someone who was rotating back home and asked what they planned on doing with their boots.  Instead of throwing away,  which is typical upon leaving a deployment, I took the boots to the young boy.  I understand the importance of taking care of your feet.  It could mean the difference in how well you perform.  I presented the boots to him and his face lit up as he tried them on. No more pain, no more slow walks across jagged rocks to the river 200 meters away and down an embankment another 40 or 50 feet.  Such a small gesture with larger than life results to someone who very well could have been there to do us harm.  Did I change that?  I don’t know.  We were always greeted in a different way from that point forward and I’m grateful to have helped just a little.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/wendellcarson

US Air Force

Master Sergeant / E7

22 Years

W.J. “Dell” Carson