JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- Editor’s Note: Be on the lookout in the new year for more 3rd Wing Why stories.
If you asked someone 20 years ago why they joined the military, the majority may have referred to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, or maybe because a family member served. But times have changed, and so have the reasons why.
That why has been on the 3rd Wing commander’s mind since he took command in July. In November he set out to ask the men and women in his wing three questions:
Why do you serve? Why do you continue to serve? And what is your why?
“We got to speak with Staff Sgt. Taylor Critchlow at the 962nd Airborne Air Control Squadron first,” said Col. Kevin Jamieson. “I applaud her in her courage as she was the first to get to share her why.”
Taylor, the NCOIC for the 962nd AACS current ops flight and E-3 Instructor Airborne Radar Tech (IART), was born in Canada and grew up in Rome, Georgia. She works in scheduling with the squadron and is an expert radar technician, a critical capability for the E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System.
“I went the college route first, then decided to enlist,” Taylor said in response to why she chose to serve. “I wanted to put my education to use, but I wasn’t comfortable enough becoming an officer yet, so I enlisted.”
At first, Taylor’s recruiter said she’d be working on radios, and it piqued her interest. Additionally, she wanted to travel and continue her education with Air Force benefits.
“I’ve been able to do so, and I have my master’s now,” Taylor said.
As her second assignment, Taylor has not only served more than six years in the Air Force, but she’s also deployed to various locations around the world.
But what made her stay in?
“You really can’t beat it!” Taylor answered. “I’ve been able to do a lot of traveling and meet a ton of new people. I never would have thought I’d be working on an aircraft and my leadership having faith in me, I don’t think I would have had that in the civilian world.”
Taylor recalled how, when she was in college, she worked part-time jobs and no one she worked with was ever interested in what she was doing, but that’s different with her military family.
“Here, everybody is super invested, and I don’t really feel the need to give that up,” Taylor added.
Jamieson agreed, adding that the common theme he’s found is that people stay because of the people.
Unlike Taylor, Tech. Sgt. Nicole Drury, the section chief for the 962nd AACS current ops office, had a completely different reason for joining.
“I needed to get out of my house,” Nicole said. “I was fighting with my parents, and I didn’t like it, so my brother came home, who is also in the Air Force, and says ‘Nicole, you need to get out of the house.’”
She responded that she didn’t have the money to move out, between going to community college and helping their dad with his business.
“[My brother] took me to his recruiter, and three months later I was gone,” Nicole added. “Fast forward nearly 16 years, here I am still serving. I needed something, and that something turned out to give me some kind of direction.”
The Air Force not only gave her direction, it gave her her family.
“Each time I reenlisted, the reason was different because I was in a different phase of my life,” Nicole said. “The second time, I had one child and I needed to do my part to provide for them.”
Though Taylor and Nicole bonded over experiences, they both expressed that their time in the Air Force hasn’t always been positive but remembering their why helped them get through dark times.
“I’ve gone through dark places, however, there’s always been a light,” Nicole said. “That overarching why, like, why get up? Why is it even worth it to wake up? I’ve never given up hope that there is something or someone that can make the light brighter, and that’s what’s gotten me through a lot of dark times in my career.”
Drury came to her current office off a developmental special duty as a professional military education instructor and added the people she works with now are her newfound family.
“They’re the best and they have accepted me with open arms, even though my work mentality and way of doing business is probably very different than most offices they’ve worked in,” Nicole said.
Taylor agreed, adding that Nicole’s leadership and presence in their office has made their office a fun place to work.
“In this office and squadron, even some of the people back at other bases, they genuinely care about me and my successes, and I genuinely care about everybody else. I want them to succeed,” Taylor said.