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COMMENTARIES

  • Escape to New York

    Last week, if you were to ask me what I knew about the USO, a few things would have come to my mind: Bob Hope of course, but also their centers at major airports and military installations, their seemingly unlimited supply of Girl Scout cookies, Bob Hope, care packages for deployed troops, morale

  • Effectively Communicating

    Successful outcomes depend heavily on effective communication. History illustrates this perspective in individual and family life, the workplace, desperate situations, and on the strategic world stage. Military leaders understand the importance of effective communication in relation to successful

  • A Cyber Security Vignette: The Unwitting Victim

    You are concluding a busy day at work and you receive an auto-email reminder that your ancillary training is due.   After a few minutes of negotiating the training module, you are congratulated on the completion of your annual Information Assurance training.  What this means to most is that you are

  • See, say, do

    "Head's up!" "Keep your head on a swivel." "Have good situational awareness." "Be aware of your surroundings."Do any of these admonitions sound familiar? If you've played sports, been in the military or attended personal security classes, one or all of them probably do. So, why bring them up now?The

  • 62nd AW achieves notable milestone

    The 62nd Airlift Wing achieved a notable milestone with the closeout of fiscal year 2014, the 62nd Maintenance Group ended the year with an overall mission capable rate of 87.1 percent, which marks the highest yearly rate ever achieved for C-17 operations at McChord Field. The mission capability

  • Who's on my team?

    Fantasy football players do it before draft day.  They evaluate and appreciate the talents, skill sets, and winning attitudes of the players they hope to draft in forming their dream team.  Leaders do the same thing when they evaluate and hire people for their office "team."  Wing commanders look

  • Colonel Friend, General Abrams, and an M60A1

    The hot war in Vietnam was winding down in Southeast Asia and I really had not planned to go into the military.  Nevertheless, instead of being drafted, I enlisted.  After nearly three years in the Reserves, I volunteered to go to West Germany on active duty.  It was the height of the Cold War and

  • The beauty of unity

    What do cheeseburgers, musical groups, sports teams and the United States of America have in common?If you said "the letter 's,' you're right, but that's not the answer I'm looking for. The real answer is that one factor ties all of them together - unity.How many of you want to eat a plain hamburger

  • There I Was...Armed with a cell phone loaded with numbers

    So there I was, receiving the phone call confirming that I was selected for a short notice deployment tasking. I was going to serve as the first sergeant for the 780th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron in Mihail Kogalniceanu, Romania. It's a small city in south-east Romania near the Black Sea. My

  • Are you part of the solution?

    As our Air Force, military, and nation make the transition from continuous armed conflict to a time of reduced ops tempo, shrinking budgets, and reduced manpower it is clear that the environment we have become accustomed to is rapidly changing. Many of our senior leaders have challenged us to adapt