Reason #6: Observe community and personal discipline

When I was growing up in a military family, one of the most noticeable difference between our military community and many other communities was the discipline that extended from base life into family life. I still remember vividly one time as a very young pre-school child when we were in the car on base at Vance Air Force Base in Enid, Oklahoma, where my dad was stationed, and I rolled down the window and threw a small piece of paper out of the window. My mom was driving and we were on our way to pick up my dad at work. She had a conniption fit when she saw the paper fly out of the window.

Once we were parked in the lot to wait for my dad, she explained to me that we could not throw any type of paper or trash on the ground on the base or else my dad would be out picking up trash for hours as a punishment.

Why would he have to pick up trash, if I was the one who threw it out? I wanted to know.

She explained that in the eyes of the military, my dad was responsible for what he and his family did, and it was his responsibility to ensure that his entire family knew the rules of conduct and obeyed them. Otherwise, she said, he would be the one who would be punished.

"Oh, okay," was my immediate response, and I hoped that nobody saw me throw the paper out of the window. I did not throw paper or trash out of the window again, and the lesson stayed with me forever.

Even moreso, as I grew older and was in late elementary school in Chateauroux, France, I learned more about how this military family discipline thing worked. The story was among us youngters was as follows, whether true or not: Since we attended American government schools, we believed that the chain of command for our discipline took a different route than in public schools in the states. The first call for discipline problems in the classroom went to the parent's commanding officer, who in turn, summoned the military parent to inquire as to why there might be a discipline problem in that family. None of us children wanted to go home to find out the our parent had been chewed out by the commanding officer because of something we had done at school.

I have no idea if that process was indeed official or not, but perception was paramount. We believed it to be true, and it worked. Discipline and respect for rules of conduct, standard operating procedures, and cooperation were instilled early in life.

It's good to learn that sort of discipline and how the box of community is established. That way, when we want to think or act outside the box, we know exactly what we are doing.

My thoughts for today.
Sheila Witherington