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COMMENTARIES

  • Joint exercise through a new Airman's eyes

    "The drop is in 12 minutes!" shouted a crew member, struggling to be heard over the roar of the mighty C-17 Globemaster III's four engines, each putting out approximately 40,000 pounds of thrust. Quickly I made my way down the ladder from the flight deck and started the perilous walk toward my seat

  • That narrow way

    How do you define a leader? Is a leader the individual who creates an atmosphere of teamwork and camaraderie in the workplace? Someone who quickly and easily gathers support to accomplish that short-notice tasker from your boss? Is a leader someone you place your trust in to get you through the

  • Volunteer Airman

    There's so much negative feedback out there in response to Air Force stories and on other military forums about volunteering, so I felt it necessary to present an alternative viewpoint for impressionable Airmen -- or even a jaded NCO or senior NCO -- who might have gotten some "bad gouge" from

  • Hurricane season is here

    With all the recent news about tornados, floods, hailstorms and snowstorms I bet most of you are not too focused on the granddaddy of them all - hurricanes. I know I'm not, and I should be, but we have other projects ongoing here at the National Hurricane Center, so I need to attend to those too. I

  • Just put it down; It's time to earn the title bestowed upon us

    For the past 26 years--my time, so far, in the Air Force--I have heard leaders describe our generation in flattering terms on numerous occasions. We have been called the "best and the brightest," "the new 'greatest' generation," and countless other names commenting on how wonderful we are.Until

  • Memorial Day: Remembering our fellow servicemembers

    This year, Memorial Day hits a little closer to home. While it's a day to reflect and remember the sacrifices borne by all those who've died while serving our nation in uniform, my thoughts are turned toward the recent losses we've suffered here and in the Air Mobility Command community.As

  • There I was...: A combat medic who saw a share of combat

    There I was, on an eye-opening deployment. I thought as an Air Force medic I'd be working at a theater hospital. I found out it would not be the case for this deployment. Before leaving the states, I attended three months of training to prepare myself for combat operations and convoys. I landed in

  • How do we balance it all?

    I was speaking to a group of company grade officers recently and one of them asked, "How do you balance it all?"He knew that I had a very busy job with a lot of demands on my time. He also knew that I had a family and, quite possibly, some personal interests as well. How do I balance it all? The

  • Never walk past a problem

    Sometimes the lessons we learn as children prove helpful to our careers. My dad worked for a Fortune 100 company for many years. One day he told me how dozens of the company's leadership had been fired because a low level employee sent a personal email using a company computer. His company had a

  • When did you learn your core values?

    Next month will mark my 24th year in the Air Force and this has given me reason to pause and reflect on my time in uniform. Many things have changed since I graduated college and took my oath to support and defend. Uniforms have gone through several iterations during that time. Airmen were still