Andre Hammond was born in London, England in 1984 to a British mother and an American Father. He currently serves as a Flight & Operational Medicine Technician (FOMT) in the United States Air Force for the past 14 years. He has deployed twice and has achieved multiple awards such as AFMC Airman of the Year, NCO of the Quarter, and NCO of the Year, interacting with many interesting people from all around the world. Serving in the military has allowed him to graduate with a bachelor's degree in Healthcare Administration and he is currently working on completing his master's degree. His hobbies are video games, time with friends, and running distances from the 1600 meters to ultra-marathons for the Air Force and his local running club.
It’s 0300 on 30 December 2023, and I am preparing for my first Ultramarathon in a
pitch-black parking lot. A distance I have never encountered. 36.8 miles, but I am choosing to run 40 miles to commemorate my 40th birthday. The temperature is 34 degrees Fahrenheit, and I can see each breath that comes out of my mouth. I am dressed in black shorts, a pink shirt, and a black reflective jacket. Surrounding my body are reflective LED lights and a headlight to light up the unknown terrain I am about to face. I lace up my shoes, place one headphone in my ear, and press the play button on my playlist. “The Last Dragon” by Dwight David. The race director says, “Andre, are you ready?” I say no, but are we ever? I toe the line, hit the start run button on my Garmin watch, and prepare to set forth into the darkness.
Throughout my life, I have had to navigate the unknown and face uncharted territory. I have interacted with many people, and I always strive to emulate the positive traits of each person I come across. I have encountered risk-takers, natural leaders, doubters, empaths, and, unfortunately, horrible individuals who we must choose not to emulate or emulate. With each passing experience creates growth, positive or negative. Problems and people are placed into our lives for us to solve or gain from interpersonal relationships.
Joining the military at the age of 25 gave me an edge. I was 18 years old when I moved
to America by myself with no support system. I was forced to grow up fast, so learning my job and understanding the roles of a servant leader during my tenure in the Airman tier was a breeze. I made SSgt at three years and was placed into the role of a noncommissioned officer in charge (NCOIC). I oversaw a team of 12 and was instructed to manage the daily operations of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). One task I had was to monitor the telemetry for the ICU and report any abnormal cardiac dysrhythmias to the charge nurse. I would have to provide daily reports to the inpatient units, and this helped me gain the skills to overcome my fear of public speaking. I was learning how to be a leader, but at this growing moment in my career, things were changing for me, and the culture of leadership was changing as well.
The Air Force implemented a stratification system where all members in all ranks were
forced to compete with others for promotion. Now, this is not out of the ordinary for military promotions, but it changed the way peers viewed each other and the way leaders viewed their troops. Gone were the days of comradery, and out birthed a new age of withholding information and true leadership. Every senior leader changed their focus on taskers and grew further and further away from their team. Office doors were closed, and leaders would not walk around and check on their members. When NCOs and Airmen were rated annually, senior leaders would not know anything about their team.
When I reached the rank of technical sergeant, I wanted to change the culture and
researched methods to help my team. I had too many new supervisors after the change who refused to mentor and lead their team. They were too focused on self-success and reaching the next rank. At one point, I was placed into the flight chief role and was working every day, weekends included, for an entire year. I pulled my team together during a period of no leadership and 40% manning due to deployments, separations, and retirements. I had a new leader come in during the end of my rating period and disregarded all my hard work and sacrifices, focusing only on numbers and data and not the team. I was the scapegoat for their problems, and even though I excelled in every way, this bad leader did not want me to reach the next rank because I was in competition with them in the future. I was marked down on my annual rating, but instead of sulking, I grinded even harder.
What I learned from this experience is that I would have to follow a different path, a path built on the three core values of the Air Force but a path where you put it all out there and lead by example. I led by doing the jobs nobody wanted to do and grinding in the trenches instead of sitting in a back office. The grind intensified, and on Jan 1st, 2019, I completed the Murph workout. This is a workout dedicated to LT. Michael Murphy, a Navy SEAL, risked his life to send out a transmission to gain aerial support to save his team. A Murph consists of a one-mile run, followed by 100 push-ups, 100 squats, and ending with another 1-mile run wearing a 25-pound vest. After completing this goal, I made the decision to run a mile every day.
Every day, no matter how hot, cold, rainy, or snowy, I would lace up my shoes and toe the line. I found myself running in airports during TDY’s and in circles in my backyard during the height of COVID. With each day, I found myself becoming more resilient and focused. With each day, I became more confident in my professional development and fitness and found myself running five miles a day. I had developed a mental toughness and the ability to endure. The mental strength to see obstacles in my military career and tackle them in phases, like training for a marathon. I told myself that if I can make it through a 5K, I can do it through a 10K. If I can make it through a 10K, I can run a half-marathon. And if I can run a half-marathon then every distance after this is all a battle of wits.
This mentality has impacted my ability to lead and has impacted my team. When a
Team members can look at their leader and see them working hard, and it becomes infectious. It removes the negative connotation that the new generation of leaders is becoming and reinforces the spirit of a team. There is a saying from David Goggins: “Don’t stop when you are tired, stop when you are done.” If a leader or, better yet, any person can lace up their shoes every day and strive to be 1% better than yesterday, then greatness can be achieved.
So, as I stand here at the start line, reflecting on the past 1903 days of my running streak I am currently on, I think back to that first day. The day when I knew all the challenges I would have to face as a leader and how I would have to train a hardened mind and stay strong. I toe the line, look into the darkness, and take a deep breath. I tell the race director I am ready, hit start on my watch, and run into the unknown
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