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The true meaning of ‘duty’

  • Published
  • By Col. Stuart K. Archer
  • 305th Air Mobility Wing vice commander
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST --  "Duty is the sublimest word in the English language." 

I passed this quote daily for nearly four years. The quote was engraved on a plaque in my barracks at the military college I attended. Like most other cadets, I never gave it much thought and it wasn't until later in my four years of college that I actually made the effort to learn what "sublimest" meant. I naturally assumed that it meant something along the lines of "greatest" or "hardest." I eventually discovered that the word means "supreme" or "awe inspiring." The quote was attributed to Robert E. Lee, but over time I've seen it attributed to others. The source of the quote is much less relevant than what the words mean, literally, that duty is the most important word in our language, and thus, that a sense of duty is of supreme value. 

If you look up duty in the dictionary, you may find that it is most commonly defined as "an occupation, a service, action, or task assigned to one, especially in the military." While this normally applies to something akin to guard duty or jury duty, one should think of duty in the context of its other definition as a "moral obligation" to a position, individual, or idea. A "moral obligation" carries great weight and consideration to those of us who wear the uniform of our armed services. As servicemembers, we are different from other professionals because that moral obligation is inherent in our existence as an organization. Duty in the armed services means much more than holding a job, it means much more than a 40-hour work week, or even feeling content with an above-average standard of work. Duty as an obligation means much more than just being professional, or being dedicated to one's profession, or simply serving your country in the armed forces. 

What duty really equates to is a moral force that binds you to accomplishing your assigned responsibilities without regard to your own preferences, your own desires, or your own well being. Duty in the armed forces means not balancing personal obligations, career aspirations, or monetary enhancements with duty, but putting the service duty first. Duty means forgoing career-enhancing opportunities to fill short-term needs of the service. It means sticking with the service through adversity, through career disappointment, through personally discouraging times, and through political dilemmas. In the Air Force, these traits are captured in our key core value of "service before self," which truly embodies duty as an "awe inspiring" obligation. 

Since 2001, most of us have served many days or months overseas. Many more have put in extra time in shift work or as augmentees outside our normal career field. We've missed time with our spouses, missed our kids' graduations, sports accomplishments, and numerous holidays. We've missed reunions and time with old friends. We're also tired from eight years of ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and we're tired from the ongoing turmoil of terrorist threats and force protection policies. We see our contemporaries outside of the service content and satisfied, and rewarded for less enthusiasm and lower standards of performance. We see all this, and yet as a service we continue to perform, we continue to deploy, and we continue to serve. The one overriding attribute that separates us from those professionals outside the service is our sense of duty, that obligation to perform and continue despite our doubts and discontent.
As we near the ninth year of conflict, it's now that we must dig deep in ourselves and find those traits of dedication and duty that separate us from the rest. It's time for all to consider duty and service before self as the prevailing obligation in our lives. It's during these times we prove our worthiness to our country, our families, and to all those who served before us. Duty truly is the sublimest word in the English language, and as long as you remain in the service, it should always be foremost in your mind.