Would you consider the Air Force to be a Profession of Arms or an Enterprise.

Starting out in the Army, then switching to AF, I have been bothered by this very thing for many years now. I think it starts at the top.... The AF needs to put on their big girl panties and call themselves what they are.... A Profession of Arms. We have a primary goal of putting bombs on targets OR putting satellites into space. Everything else is secondary. In my opinion, an ENTERPRISE is a FOR PROFIT organization that actually DOES something like making a product, distribution of a product, financial backing for companies that make/distribute products, etc..... This whole "business model" that the AF has been using is a crock of crap and while it is somewhat going away, still is present in some places. As a NURSE, I am STILL in the Profession of Arms....I deploy to combat zones, carry a weapon, prefer to save a life, but am trained to take one in defense of myself or my patients....NONE of my civilian counterparts do any of that. THEY are part of an Enterprise, business, cooperation, etc. That is all.

As I was USAF Security Forces (HOOAH!), most colleagues in my AFSC indeed saw it as a Profession of Arms. However, all too many (though certainly not all) troops in other AFSCs seemed to have this "civilian-in-uniform" non-warrior attitude, even after the realities of 9/11 and GWOT. Pretty damn frustrating it was.

I've been in the AF now for 11 years, and over that short amount of time, I've noticed the politics become ridiculous. My job is ground transportation, moving people and cargo to and from different locations. My job (like others) has adopted the customer service mindset. The customer is always right and along with that we can't say 'no,' even if it's against the AFI...to a certain degree.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't mind helping people get the mission done, I enjoy getting a 'thank you' to get the MISSION done, but when it goes against the AFI or hits that gray area where it screws over my guys or comes back and bites us in the butt later on, I have issues. And then I always run into the phrase, 'well, that's the way it's always been done.' I hate that phrase, just because that's how it's been done, that doesn't make it right. And many of these things go against regs anyway; for instance and for those that are pilots reading this, finny flights.

My leadership is always harping on customer service. But in my defense, good customer service isn't doing whatever the customer wants, but to give them the best options to get the result they want. However, if the customer doesn't get what they want, as in making us do the work when they are fully capable of doing it, they call commanders and we get chewed out about how bad we are doing.

Unfortunately, the AF has adopted the corporation or enterprise mindset and twisted it into calling it the mission. In my opinion, there's a reason why I wear a uniform and not a business suit.