I believe any time that we participate in some act of selfless service we draw closer to God’s plan and experience his strength while working through adversity. This is most true for those at home. Our families were the true unsung heroes. They were not afforded the recognition but paid the same price. They often do not choose the sacrifice but bear the burden of both the loved one in harm’s way and the weight of keeping the family and home running in our absence. With the uncertainty of not knowing when or if their loved one would return, I believe they showed as much strength and courage as anyone deployed.
I emailed my wife a couple of times a week and called home usually once a week to speak to her and my daughter. I also usually called my parents a couple of times a month. People did reach out to help my wife doing various things around the house and helping out with our daughter. I was struck by the warm outreach of family and friends with whom we had not previously had much contact; their letters, gift packages and other kind gestures comforted me and left a lasting impression upon me. I recall thinking if we each reached out to an acquaintance with the same kind of kindness, what a better world we would live in.
Thank you, Lord, that Jesus was willing to give his life as a ransom for many. By shedding his blood, our sins were forgiven. By his wounds, we were healed. By his resurrection, we have the assurance of eternal life.
“Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:43–45)
December 1
SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
“Mark target.” The comment came over the internal communication system from the other crew chief. We were always scanning the environment for threats, and he found something. It was a large weapon with two barrels hidden beneath the palms. Though only a glimpse, it was enough for him to identify what appeared to be an antiaircraft gun. With those words the pilot pressed a key and recorded the GPS location of the gun emplacement. We continued on our mission, and the location was relayed to higher headquarters. An unmanned aerial vehicle was dispatched to the location to reconnoiter and verify. The call came back to the helicopter about twenty minutes later that indeed it was an AA gun emplacement and though unmanned appeared to be operational.
It was destroyed, but it highlighted how vulnerable you can be if you’re not aware of the situation or circumstance you are in. The helicopter had flown right over it. We were all scanning, yet only one in the helicopter saw it.
First Peter 5:8 calls us to be alert. However being alert in our society for most people means simply to be awake. That is not what is being communicated in the passage of this verse or the intent that God has for us as people of faith. Situational awareness captures that concept better for me. It is not complicated. Situational awareness is being aware of the situation that you’re in. It’s a simple concept. It involves knowing what risks are around you, your circumstances, your capabilities, and resources that you can bring to bear if that situation changes, and an unspoken intensity of focus on each of those factors. Situational awareness is to an extent, hypervigilance it’s not just being awake. What an indispensable concept for a soldier, especially one who is a Christian!
To have situational awareness in a convoy means you are visually and mentally engaged. Your eyes are constantly scanning for threats and resources. If something happens to change the situation, then your awareness of that situation will help you survive. I’m scanning, looking for threats both big and small. They can be intentional threats, such as people trying to hurt us, or they can be unintentional threats such as a pothole in the road, telephone wires that we might fly into, children nearby that we would have to avoid if they darted in front of us suddenly, or a brewing disturbance or distraction. Situational awareness allows me to focus my energy at preserving my role in the mission.
Father, help me to be aware of my circumstance. May my focus be on you instead of the situation. Help me not to be distracted from noticing what you are doing around me and when and where I should act.
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)
December 2
ARMY VALUES: PERSONAL COURAGE
On November 12, 2004, a Blackhawk helicopter from the 1/106th CAB was shot down in one of the first aerial ambushes in Iraq. The right side pilot was hit by an RPG and lost her legs and had a severely damaged arm. The two crew chiefs were both wounded. The left side crew chief was wounded when a round came up through the floor of the aircraft and penetrated his seat and hitting his buttock. The AK-47 round did not penetrate his pelvis but it did crack it. The right side crew chief lost a portion of the bone in his lower leg.
The only one not to be wounded in the initial flurry of explosions and small arms fire was the left seat pilot in command, Dan Milburn. In the disarray that followed the initial explosion, his mind switched over to the training and years of experience that instinctively told his muscles what to do. Blackhawks without hydraulics are very hard to control, and he was losing hydraulic pressure fast. In a miraculous feat the warrant officer guided the falling rock out of the kill zone and landed the aircraft upright. Without communications, he was unable to initiate a call for help, so he reflexively got out of the aircraft and began helping everyone else out. His crew wounded, his aircraft destroyed he did not lose composure in the midst of the emergency. His personal courage and the ability to act despite fear saved the lives of his crew.
Personal courage is displayed in many ways and in many circumstances. Stories of courage while facing extreme personal danger are motivating examples of the inner strength we all hope to have. The hope is solidified when we face the stress and do the right thing despite the fear.
“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not the absence of fear.”
“Courage is doing what you are afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you are scared.”
Lord, I want to throw off any entanglements, fix my eyes on Jesus, and run with perseverance. Please strengthen and perfect my faith in the weeks, months, and years to come.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1–2)
