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COMMENTARIES

  • Making the PCS a success

    Ah, the permanent change of station season, that time of year when good friends leave and new ones show up. When it seems like the enlisted personnel reports and decorations never end and going away luncheons are a daily event. Turnover is in full swing and it's important to remember a few things to

  • A place for everything; everything in its place

    Just like some of you, my family and I are right in the middle of yet another move, our ninth in our Air Force career.There are boxes everywhere in our house. Life simply doesn't slow down enough to make it as smooth of a transition as we would like it to be.Each time, after the dust settles from a

  • Uncommon Airman

    I do not choose to be a common man.It is my right to be uncommon--if I can.I seek opportunity--not security. I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled and dulled by having the state look after me.I want to take the calculated risk; to dream and to build, to fail and to succeed.I refuse to

  • Leap to Your Limits

    One of the lessons I carry around with me every day is something I learned from the jumping events in high school track and field. I was intimidated by the high jump. Unlike the long jump, where every leap into the sand pit could be measured and faults were not embarrassing, the high jump presented

  • What are you paying attention to?

    Recently, General Paul Selva, Air Mobility Command commander, sent each one of us an e-mail titled "Responding to Tragedy." In that e-mail, the boss talked about aerial and ground accidents resulting in human and materiel tragedies associated with complex to routine tasks. He also wrote about making

  • PTSD a four letter word we shouldn't be afraid to use

    Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, is a four letter "word" that we should not be afraid to say in public. For many people, their knowledge of PTSD is limited to media or movie portrayals like the "The Hurt Locker."It is important that as a community we go beyond these accounts and become

  • Be a Wingman: Understand the signs and symptoms

    The intrinsic responsibilities bestowed upon us as Wingmen, supervisors and members of the military, revolve around a creed of looking out for one another. Why is it that we tend to ignore those who are spiraling downward?Often times, we as military members get fixated on our job and tasks-at-hand,

  • July 4th-A powerhouse and pinnacle celebration...for our posterity

    I often write the words "powerhouse" and "pinnacle" to describe my top commanders and officers on the bottom line of their performance reports. It is one of my strongest compliments. As I reflect on our nation's 237th birthday and all we as a wing have sacrificed this year, these two words also

  • 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