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Article published Jan 31, 2003
Sanford should rethink his commitment to military service

Gov. Mark Sanford should rethink his commitment to serve with his Air Force Reserve unit if it is called into active duty.
The governor joined the Air Force Reserves last year. Now he has started to serve as governor, and his reserve unit may be called into active duty.
Sanford announced this week that if he is called to active duty, he will go and turn state government over to Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer.
Sanford says he is keeping his commitment to the military and living out his values by agreeing to leave the state for active duty.
But it's not that simple.
Sanford has conflicting commitments. It isn't simply a matter of keeping one commitment. Keeping one means breaking another. The governor should prioritize his commitments and keep the most crucial.
Sanford is committed to the military, but he also made a commitment to the people of South Carolina when he ran for governor. He promised to govern in a specific way, and it wasn't in absentia.
The people chose him as their governor, and they need him to serve in that capacity.
Sanford's military occupation is as an untrained, entry-level health services administrator.
It's easy to see that he can be of greater use to the state as governor than to the Air Force as a lieutenant in health services administration.
South Carolina is in the midst of a budget crisis. Sanford has laid out an ambitious agenda to solve the state's current problems and restructure the government to make it more efficient in the future. He needs to stay in Columbia and follow through on that work. This is the commitment that counts most.
It makes no sense for a state in crisis to lose its chief executive so the Air Force can have another entry-level health services administrator.
Sanford campaigned on his leadership. The time to exercise that leadership is now. Sanford can explain to the state why he must break his military commitment in order to keep his commitment to the state. The people of South Carolina, who chose Sanford to be their governor, will recognize that he can be of more value in the Governor's Office than at an administrator's desk in the Air Force.