From the Top: America's Airman and the profession of arms Published July 12, 2007 By Chief Master Sgt. Dave Wong 36th Medical Group superintendent ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam -- Every Airman in the Air Force took the oath to "defend our nation against all enemies, foreign and domestic." These simple words are the foundation of our commitment to answer our nation's call to service and self sacrifice. During my high school graduation, I was questioned by my classmates: "Why did you decide to join the Air Force?" My answer was simple; I wanted to give back to this great nation of ours by serving in the U.S. Air Force. I have always enjoyed taking care of people so I decided to train into the medical career field. About 27 years later, I'm working with the world's most sophisticated piece of machinery, the "human weapons system." It's a distinct honor and privilege to lead and work with our medics in providing first-class health care to our warrior Airmen and their families. Our profession is to ensure we optimize our Airman human weapons systems by ensuring they can fly, fight and win in air, space and cyberspace. The Air Force is a service of specialties and each of our Airmen bring a unique talent to the fight: our aircraft maintainers, bomb loaders/maintainers, security forces, civil engineers, communicators, transporters, pilots, personnelists and medics, to name just a few of our vast talents. Every one of us took the oath; daily we practice the Air Force core values of integrity first, service before self and excellence in all we do. Every day, we practice the profession of arms as America's Airmen. To move to the next level, we must continue to take responsibility for our own safety and actions both on and off duty. We can take ownership to make smart decisions to prevent mishaps and accidents, which result in injuries, death or self destruction. Each of you is important to your unit for mission success, and above all, our great nation and family depend on you. Team Andersen's words to live by "I can save my own life," is a practice of personal responsibility. By making sound decisions and taking responsibility, we will not falter, but will be ready to engage the enemy in multiple platforms. The profession of arms is an honorable choice of commitment; it isn't an easy one, but it's certainly a noble calling. As we approach our Air Force's 60th year of air and space power, I'm proud to serve side by side with my fellow Airmen in the world's greatest and most powerful Air Force.