ANDREWS AFB, Md. –
It's no secret that being deployed can make a person appreciate home more than ever. For Senior Airman LaQuanna Pittman, 316th Force Support Squadron force management representative, deployed to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, appreciation and respect are precisely the lessons she learned on her first deployment.
Airman Pittman's assignment with the 455th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron force protection flight is to escort third country nationals as well as local Afghan workers at Bagram.
"I basically escort third country and local nationals to and on construction sites," Airman Pittman said. "It's my job to make sure they don't do anything they aren't supposed to do." Airman Pittman currently oversees the work of TCN and local workers who are building an extension for the 455th Expeditionary Maintenance Group, allowing for more office and work space. Airman Pittman is one of approximately 70 Airmen at Bagram that escort anywhere from 75 to 100 TCN's on any given day.
Deployed since late December 2008, Airman Pittman has had time to reflect on herself and her life. She has realized just how much home and her country mean to her.
"I just have a bigger respect for where I come from," she said. "This deployment gave me more admiration for what I do for a living and my past. I'm seeing the difference in the way I was raised, in the way I've grown up and how different the Afghan and Turkish people view their life. Just seeing how the local people live made me respect my job, my life and where I've come from."
Born to a military family in Gulfport, Miss., Airman Pittman joined the Air Force Oct. 3, 2006.
"I joined the Air Force because I wanted to finish school. I have always been a part of the military and it is part of my background," Airman Pittman said. "The military is just a way of life for me."
Airman Pittman credits her father, Capt. Eric Pittman, U.S. Army company commander stationed at Fort Carson, Colo., for her military career and her drive for success - both personal and professional.
"Even though he's still in the service, my goal since I joined the Air Force was to outrank him. I have a long way to go, but it's my goal and I'm going to achieve it. I've learned so much from him. Even though we are in different branches of the military, the core values play a big part. My dad has taught me the meaning of integrity, excellence in all I do, and service before self."
Captain Pittman is also currently deployed to Afghanistan. Airman Pittman's long-term career goal is to get her education and become an Air Force officer.