Coffee with the coach and a Veteran

Wednesday, November 11, 2015 · Mike Davis

Good morning! With today being Veterans Day I have the day off and am also blessed to have my wife and fellow veteran staying with me for a few days. Today will be my last Veterans Day as an active member as I will be retiring April 29th of next year. While it is easy to say life tends to be blur and 33 in the military has blown by, I actually can remember just about every year or at least most of my career to this point. Joining the Air Force in October of 1982 was not a decision made by patriotism or even with a desire serve but, more a need to get out of a small town that offered no future to me. While even that was not fully the reason I enlisted as truthfully after failing at college, I honestly had no skills that me much of a future. With my tail between my legs I actually went to the recruiter station in Manchester New Hampshire and had to talk with the recruiter that I had blown off the previous year because of my plans to go to college on scholarship. Unlike those old movies (and new) where the guy joins the military to serve their country. Just a kid that lacked confidence, life skills and a future. As I said, my career was not a blur in the sense that I can’t recall Basic Training, or getting my first set of orders to Little Rock AR. and then asking what AR stood for. Kind of funny, we all put in our request (dream sheet) for where we would like to be stationed and I put down 2 states; New Hampshire and Florida where my parents had relocated. Somehow the system determined that Arkansas would suit Airman Davis! Off to Little Rock AFB in Jacksonville Arkansas and spend my first 3 years in the military. As it turned out Little Rock was a great as I made many great friends, played lots of softball and basketball but, more importantly started to grow up. From Little Rock I moved to Mac Dill AFB in Tampa Florida where I was assigned to a much more militant base and suddenly my career became quite a bit more serious. Time spend oversees and embedded with the other services in some not so great locations was a considerable contrast to Little Rock where it was totally a 7 to 4 job. When my enlistment was nearing the end I decided that living in tents was not for me and left the Air Force. The plan was to join the New Hampshire Air National Guard and take advantage of the temporary fulltime employment they offered me and then seek a great paying job with the skills I gained in Inventory Management in the Air Force. Well, the temporary employment with the Air National Guard turned to a permanent fulltime position and my life would once again be wearing the Air Force uniform day in and day out. Eight years in the Air Force and now 25 fulltime years in the Air National Guard I cannot remember one important fact. When did serving my country become the actual motivation for wearing the uniform? As I said, I joined because I needed a job but, somewhere along the way serving my country was at the heart of my existence. Like many I have served that I had great respect for and even the woman I am blessed to be married to, serving was (and is) at the core of their lives’. As I wind down my final months (little less than 6), I am most definitely ready to move to the next stage of my life but, the desire to serve is as strong as ever. Being a running coach is totally different than wearing the uniform however, helping and serving others is very much at the foundation of No Finish Line Running. Does it compare to wearing the uniform? No but, life isn’t about what service has greater value instead, it is about serving people. Being a veteran means a lot to me and serving has been even more amazing. Even more amazing has been the opportunity to serve with so many great veterans that are now great friends and one that I am grateful to God that I am married to! Happy Veterans Day to all you vets and thank you for your service to your country. NFLR note: Saturday will the beginning of our “Winter Training” group. All levels of runners are welcome and this particular group will offer an online training log that will help keep you motivated through the winter. For more information contact us at info@nofinishlinerunning.com or go to www.nofinishlinerunning.com. Will be lots of fun! God Bless! Mike