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              Honoring Our Nation’s Veterans Through Service: Thoughts from an AmeriCorps Alumna
      Submitted by 
dsong
 on 
Thu, 11/09/2023 - 11:56Nov 09, 2023
        Rebecca Lange
  

                    In 2004, I was deployed to the Middle East and then forward deployed to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, in the early years of Operation Enduring Freedom. As I was waiting for my return flight in the plywood-framed passenger terminal, a beautiful mural stopped me in my tracks. A graybackdrop with shades ofwhitethat looked likecloudsandsmoke, with three prominent silhouettes of soldiers in head-to-toe battle gear facing the horizon. At the top were the words,“This is a tribute to all who have fallen during Operation Enduring Freedom. Live a life worthy of their sacrifice.” It was a solemn reminder of the danger we facedanda forecast of the unknowns ahead.

Those words were a challenge to up my game as a human, a leader, and a citizen. The words were a reminder that I had one shot to be the best Air Force officer I could be, to lead my airmen and take care of their families to the best of my ability, and to give back to my local community through service, wherever the Air Force sent me.

**The Beginnings of My Service Journey**
RLange-NCCCRebecca (left) with AmeriCorps NCCC team memberNearly a decade before Iwas“bootson the ground”in Afghanistan,I wore a different uniform.Iwas a recent high school graduate,donningthe AmeriCorps“A” on my sleeve, the black utility uniform, and the issuedsteel-toedboots in Denver, Colo. Itwasdifficult for a recent grad to figure out how topay forcollege.ButIknew AmeriCorpswould giveme the power to shape my future, to make a difference, andan opportunity to attend college.
RebeccaLangeRebecca after joining AmeriCorps NCCC in 1995I servedalongside fellowAmeriCorpsmembers fromall walks of life. Together,we built homes with Habitat for Humanityin Denver, widened trails to the standards of the American Disabilities Act, tutored children in a local charter school, and evensupportedthe Olympic Games and Paralympics in Atlanta, Ga. We became well-versed in shingling roofs,pouring cement,andoperatingconstructionequipment. We were well versed inworkingin diverse teams toset aside our differences andsolve problems.The opportunity to get to know, love, and workalongside theseAmericans with different looks, religions, ideologies, and perspectives was critical to me as a young adultbecause we quickly learned our one shared purpose:to serve our country through our community.

For nearly 30 years, allAmeriCorps membershave raisedtheir right hand to takethe samepledge: tomake our people safer, smarter, and healthier, to strengthen communities, and totake action. The pledge also promisesto carry the commitment beyond our year of service.And I did just that.
RLange-teamRebecca (fourth from left, second row) and her AmeriCorps NCCC teamI was buoyed bymy yearin AmeriCorps and knew I would fulfill the commitment to serve beyond AmeriCorps bytransitioning to the military. Service had given me a path, a roof over my head, enduring friendships, and purpose.I was ready for the next level. When I appliedformy education award to get my foot in the door at the University of Colorado, I had the opportunity to register forAir Force ROTCwithout a scholarship.The transition was natural, so fitting, that I barely remember it even being a decisionto join the cadet corps.Yet again, I was surrounded by people fromall acrossAmerica, workingin diverse teams to solve problems,belongingto an organization bigger than ourselves with a laser focus on serving our nation– just like my service with AmeriCorps.

**From a Member to Leader**
RLange-ObamaRebecca (fourth from left) serving during AmeriCorps’ 20th anniversary service project with President ObamaAfter two decades in uniform, includingmultiple overseasdeployments,there is no question that my year in national servicetransformed my life and built the foundation ofthe leader I am today.I’ve led corpsmembers andairmen andrealizedthatthe person who identifies the need and rises to the challenge is the true leader – not the loudest, the oldest, or the most credentialed. Iwitnessed howall an organization needs are peoplewhodesire to serve and make a differencebecauseskills can be taught. I learned that service is the most exceptional equalizer.Roofsin need of shinglingdon’t care where you’re from,andthe adversary is uninterested in your pedigree or lack thereof. Unmet needs just need the person willing to put in the work.

Today, Ireflect onmy journey from that young high school student to acolonel in the United States Air Forceand am steeped in gratitude for the opportunities to make a difference on the front lines of freedom and tackling domestic issues on thehome front.Even though it’s been decades,I still drive by the homemy AmeriCorps NCCCteambuilt inWestDenver in 1995.I still stopbyto see the tree I planted atMontbelloHigh School inEast Denver.I still drive by the dorms we lived in on Lowry Air Force Baseand think about those I call friends today. And every single day, I count my blessings to live in an incredible nation that offers many ways foritspeople to serve others.

**Choose to be Great. Choose to Serve.**

As the nation unites to honor our service members this Veterans Day,Ithink back to that mural. When Ireturned to Afghanistan in 2012to serve as a liaison officer, the passenger terminal hadtransformedintoa modern buildingandwasno longer a temporary plywood facility.But asI was walking to check in for my flight, there it was– the mural burned into my memoryfromeight years beforestopped me in my tracksyet again.Atthat moment,I renewed my pledge to live a life worthy ofour veterans’sacrifice andhumblyoffer the sameopportunitytoAmericans.

Finding your wayto serveisone of the many ways we can honor the service and sacrifice of our nation’s veterans.Our nation has no shortage of opportunities to pitch in.Howeversmallorbig, findways to make ourveterancommunities better.Build a house,clean the water, take care of their families, or visitalocalveteran’s service organizationand listen to their stories of service. Find your way to live your life in a way worthy of their sacrifice.
                  





RLange
        *Colonel Rebecca Lange is an active-duty intelligence officer in the US Air Force, currently commanding the 659th Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Group. She served in the second class of AmeriCorps in 1995 and was a 2014 recipient of the AmeriCorps Alums National Leadership Award. She is also the 2022 Air Force level recipient of the Brig Gen Wilma Vaught Visionary Leadership Award for her efforts to tackle readiness barriers for servicewomen and families.*
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