My experience starts as a sense of duty. General Robert E. Lee said, “Duty is the most sublime word in our language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more. You should never wish to do less.” Andrew Jackson stated, “The brave man inattentive to his duty is worth little more to his country than the coward who deserts her in the hour of danger.”
We have a duty to God our Creator to do what is right. If you believe in both the sovereignty and the providence of God, then he has you placed in positions and during times where you can see what that duty is. He opens your eyes so you can see what you need to do. It is one reason that I volunteered in the first place. It was very obvious to me that he had a very specific path for me to follow. My original reason for joining the guard was so that if I deploy I would be going with my hometown unit. I just didn’t know my hometown unit would be in Mississippi.
I started on the ground floor, setting up the unit’s medical section incorporating my experiences from Desert Storm and Kosovo. I helped develop their Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). The commander, Colonel Brad McNealy, was outstanding. He was very supportive and simply told me to take care of his troops. The men and women of the 185th were professional citizen-soldiers. It was a great team to be a part of. The 185th Aviation Group was a great unit that shared my sense of duty.
Please strengthen my sense of duty to fear you, keep your commandments, and fulfill the duties you have called me to fulfill.
Brig. General (ret) Paul Casinelli (MD) served as the command surgeon for Task Force 185 Aviation (a Mississippi National Guard Unit) in 2004 during Operation Iraqi Freedom. At that time he was a colonel and the state surgeon for the Connecticut Army National Guard.
“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13)