Photo By Bradley Clark | Ever since the eighth grade when she watched her older sister graduate from Air Force...... read more read more
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Ever since the eighth grade when she watched her older sister graduate from Air Force basic military training, Senior Airman Tynthia Bedgood, 908th Aeromedical Staging Squadron administration specialist, knew she would join the military.
By her sophomore year of high school, she was already talking to a recruiter and had all her documents completed and ready to go by the time she graduated. On January 21, 2021, Bedgood enlisted in the United States Air Force Reserve.
“There wasn’t a doubt in my mind,” Bedgood said. “I didn’t even know what career field I was going into, and I didn’t care. I just wanted to join.”
Bedgood came in as an open enlistment, which means the Air Force Reserve matches an applicant up with a position the service branch needs to fill and based on the member’s qualification. She was selected as an Air Force Specialty Code 3F5x1, Administration, and was assigned to the 908th ASTS Commander’s Support Staff.
“I don’t regret joining, and I don’t want to be anywhere else,” she said. “I love my unit and that is why I work so hard when I get here. Because everything that they need is on me to get it done. So why would I give them just 50% when I can give them 100?”
Soon after she graduated from technical school, Bedgood received a full scholarship to Alabama A&M University. Though she hadn’t intended on going to college, the scholarship was impossible to pass up and she enrolled in a civil engineering track.
“I’m serving my country as a reservist, but I want to serve my community also,” she said. “I feel like civil engineering will allow me to build things that will last long after I’m gone from here.”
In addition to wanting to serve her community and leave a legacy, Bedgood aspires to be an inspiration to others like herself who grew up in an environment where, as she claimed, most people where she grew up don’t think about their future or retirement. According to her, the predominant values were material, such as the price of one’s shoes or the car a person owned.
Bedgood could have easily succumbed to that life but chose to pursue other options. The Air Force Reserve afforded her an opportunity, and she took it.
“Joining the military is like a cheat code for life,” she said. “It opens a lot of doors. By just putting on the uniform you earn respect. I tell anyone who will listen not to compare themselves to others. We all have different journeys, and we all have different obstacles. But wherever you are, whatever the circumstances of your life, you don’t have to stay there.”
Bedgood’s dedication, work ethic and Airman warrior ethos earned her recognition as the 908th Flying Training Wing Airman of the Quarter for the first quarter of 2024.
| Date Taken: | 10.30.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 10.30.2024 15:29 |
| Story ID: | 484257 |
| Location: | MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA, US |
| Web Views: | 31 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, I am The 908th: Senior Airman Tynthia Bedgood, by Maj. John Stamm, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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