An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

COMMENTARIES

  • Professional Development - It's Everyone's Responsibility

    The U.S. Air Force requires much of us these days, and members of our profession of arms are busy meeting these demands. We must ensure we're not too busy to ignore our responsibility of continually developing each other. Mentoring, feedback sessions and counseling are all forms of professional

  • Hope, signs of it, abound all around us

    Rummaging through a pile of unread books in my office one day, years ago, I came across a little volume by the author Michael Downey titled, "Hope Begins Where Hope Begins." Intrigued by the title, I found myself drawn in a personal reflection of which I have had countless times over the years,

  • Dedication to others helps us shine as individuals

    I have been an avid reader of leadership and motivation authors for many years and themes spliced together from two of my favorite authors have become integral to my approach to leadership success in the Air Force as well as life. As described in "Habit Two" in Stephen R. Covey's top-selling book,

  • Finding light through darkness

    Keeping a secret that defines you, that has shaped your life for nearly three years now and is sure to shape the rest, a secret that you go to sleep with every night and wake to every morning is sometimes hard to keep trapped inside.I could probably go my entire life without revealing the sad truth

  • What is your nametag's reputation?

    I have learned "growing up" as an Airman that I have a responsibility to protect the reputation of the nametag I wear next to my heart each and every day--the United States Air Force. It means that we are part of the greatest military ever known and we have a duty to uphold the high standards and

  • Fairchild's April SAPR Focus: Dragons Can Be Killed

    This is my second April in command where we pause for a moment to emphasize our efforts to eradicate sexual assaults in our military. Certainly, this is not just a focus for April, but warrants 365 and 24/7 vigilance to battle back the scourge within our ranks that continues to corrode our trust. I

  • Live in the now

    The following is not a call for the masses to abandon career paths in order to join roaming bands of vagabonds along the coasts or to take up a hermit's quest for nirvana deep in the valleys of the Rocky Mountains. This is a request for each of us to take a second and live for today, live in the

  • Taking off the training wheels, experiencing the Warrior Ride

    It's early Friday morning, and bitter cold, the kind of unwelcoming cold seldom felt in the morning air in the usually warm LowCountry. A frigid breeze seeps into my mouth and chills my blood from the inside out. I would've stayed inside my car all day, avoiding this unpleasant air if only I could.

  • The difference a day makes

    Editor's note: Senior Airman Keli J. Morgan has two very different passions. One is for his devotion to his duty as a medic for the 349th Aeromedical Staging Squadron at Travis Air Force Base. The other is mountain climbing, and not in a small way. In the fall of 2013, I reached the summit of Mount

  • The forgotten eligibility requirement

    As a new Airman in 1989, most of my career focus was on my next stripe and what was required to become eligible for promotion. Given the first three stripes were dispensed on a time schedule, my preparations were sadly, little more than showing up on a daily basis and waiting for the magic day of