Fitness: it's your choice Published May 24, 2007 By Col. Jay G. Santee 21st Space Wing commander PETERSON AFB, Colo. -- We make a lot of choices in our lives; some of them are unconscious, requiring little or no thought, like having a drink when you're thirsty. Others, like joining the military, are something you think long and hard about. One decision I would like to become an unconscious choice involves your personal fitness level. There are a lot of reasons Airmen need to be physically fit and most of those are repeated so often they border on clichés: you feel better, you look better, you can do more, you are less likely to get sick, you'll be able to keep your job. The thing is, they're all true. The Air Force Fit-to-Fight program mandates Airmen work out at least three times a week. It also offers valuable information on eating right and maintaining an overall healthy lifestyle. This guidance plays a big part in helping Airmen reach and sustain their fitness goals. Although this program mandates workouts, what you get out of it is still a choice you make for yourself. You can either go to workouts to get and stay fit, or you can choose to coast through it and ultimately face the consequences that result from failed fitness tests. I have had to tell NCOs with 17 years time in service that they can no longer be part of our Air Force because they failed to make the choice to put effort into getting in shape and upholding the standard. However, there are others, walking the razor's edge, that I had the pleasure of seeing push harder and rise higher than they thought possible to not only "get by" but vastly improve their run times, sit-ups, and push-ups. It is all in the choices you make and the level of commitment you are willing to make. When you make the choice to join this Air Force you are also choosing to uphold the standards required of all its members. I much prefer the success stories to having Airmen in my office because they failed to make the choice that would keep them on the path to success and, as a result, their choices, your choices, make mine for me.