Serving through the season: Airman 1st Class Christopher Boitz

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Danny Monahan
  • Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs
MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  Each holiday season photos grace Air Force link highlighting Airmen working.

However, rarely shown working is the one behind the lens - the photographer.

Airman 1st Class Christopher Boitz, a still photographer with the 5th Communications Squadron, will be working Christmas Day.

"I'd like to be home with my family, but I know there is a job to do," he said. "It's tough not being with them, but it's not like I can't pick up the phone to wish them happy holidays."

After his photo shoots are done, he'll be able to sit down to have dinner with his extended family.

"I'll spend the evening with people from my shop," he said. "I can always count on them. They're like my other family."

Growing up in Willow, Alaska, and graduating from Houston High School, Airman Boitz knew exactly what it was he wanted to do after school.

"I met with my recruiter and I immediately had my mind set on being a photographer," he said. "I knew I wouldn't have a typical '9 to 5' job, but I knew it would afford me endless opportunities."

This Christmas is not the first holiday he has had to cover, nor, he understands, will it be the last.

"It's not like it goes unnoticed," said Airman Boitz. "Commanders see you covering the other Airmen and they come up to you to tell you how much it's appreciated."

That appreciation has had positive ramifications. Airman Boitz was informed he was selected for senior airman below the zone Dec. 7, allowing him to sew on his senior airman stripes six months before his peers.

Airman Boitz knows he has to keep up his hard work. Like Airmen in Iraq, Afghanistan, Ecuador, South Korea, other world hot spots and across the nation during the holiday season, Airman Boitz is a highly trained, skilled and valued member of the interdependent force fighting the war on terror. Airman Boitz knows about sacrifice and is always ready to do his job, no matter what day it is.

"I have to work Christmas, but so do security forces, chefs and several others," he said. "But if I don't, who else will capture that Airman's image and show the world how much he's sacrificing for our nation's freedom?"