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Hard at work

By Chap. (Lt. Col.) Mark Roberts, 341st Missile Wing chaplain / Published March 21, 2014

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MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. -- "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." -Edmund Burke

Seventy-six years ago, on March 12, Nazi Germany annexed Austria. This annexation was also called the Anschluss.

Good men stood by and just thought that eventually Hitler would be appeased. Just let him have Austria, so he'll be happy. Well, maybe Yugoslavia, too. Oh, and I guess France is OK. And so the dominos began to fall until there wasn't much left of Europe except Russia and the British Isles. Hindsight being 20/20, as they say, had all of Europe moved to stop Hitler 76 years ago, there may not have been a World War II, and Hitler would be a little footnote in history. But the good men of that day did not step forward, and Hitler had 18 months to create an enormous war machine.

History is a complicated and intricate matter, because while we are living it, it's just called life. It doesn't become history until a little bit later when someone has the luxury of looking back and saying, "what if." With that being said, I hope that Malmstrom, Minot and F.E. Warren Air Force Bases are all eventually footnotes in history. As that footnote in history, we can be counted among the good men and women who did step up and did do something.

We prevent the aggressive actions of our nation's enemies with the threat of nuclear response. Every person in this Wing does this every day even if they never set foot in the missile complex. Support of the mission takes place in every home and work center on this base. You are the good guys, and every day you do your job, and do it well, so that evil does not have the opportunity to triumph.

It is sometimes easy to get discouraged and think you aren't making a difference. If you or your Airmen ever think that what you and they do is not important, that it doesn't make a difference, then think again. To your right and to your left are good men and women who have stepped up to do something--to perform a mission that keeps the world from harm and keeps democracy safe. Because what if Malmstrom and the other nuclear wings were just cow pastures? That's not a very intimidating image in our enemies' minds. But we are here, and because of that, the would-be Hitlers of the world have reason to be very cautious.

Hitler nearly destroyed our world. I'd like to think we learned a little from history, and because of people like you - our great Airmen and their families and our local community - evil does not triumph because we are hard at work.
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