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COMMENTARIES

  • Help for Haiti: A personal story

    I have been here for 11 days now, and it feels like months; but it has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life ... my soul drinks deeply of these experiences to provide assistance to this devastated country. The rest of the world has come together in lock step and brotherhood to the

  • Airman finds inspiration in strength of evacuees' children

    When I first heard the news of the earthquake in Haiti, I wanted to be able to do something. I wished I could go but knew the 621st Contingency Response Wing was the only unit deploying to Haiti for an extended period from this base. Besides, they can't send a pregnant woman for the obvious health

  • Stellar Performing Airmen!

    Every Air Force leader faces a similar challenge: how to motivate Airmen. Like Forrest Gump and his box of chocolates, an Air Force leader never knows what type of Airmen their unit is going to get. Everyone loves to be part of a high performing team, but unfortunately every once in a while you'll

  • Deployed Christmas wishes and a time for thanks

    It's 5:30 a.m. on a Christmas morning and I'm waiting for a flight that will take me through Afghanistan and then over to my deployed location in Southwest Asia. I can't help but think, "Is this a great way to spend Christmas?" My answer to myself is simple -- "It depends." I say it depends because

  • Thank those who 'generate' you this holiday

    Recently, I heard our Eighteenth Air Force Commander, Lt. Gen. Allardice verbalize an insight to our Airman culture in such a meaningful way that I'm compelled to share it with you. I do this with the hope it will inspire you in the same way it has inspired me. The metaphor is based on our

  • The final nail in the coffin, literally

    Irony abounds -- in the midst of celebrating the Year of the Air Force Family (here at our joint base its the Year of the Military Family), we started off the fiscal year with a sharp spike in vehicle-related fatalities. A sad note on so many levels ...This trend, which is being widely addressed,

  • Military family memories pressed together in a dining room table

    Its biggest job of the year is to hold the holiday meals that will be placed on it. The 2009 holiday season brings with it the first test of my craftsmanship in constructing something for our dining experience -- our family dining room table.I recently finished building this table from bits and

  • Where others have gone before

    I stared at the rain streaming down the outside of my dormitory window at the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center campus on Nov. 11. It was barely getting to be light outside as the early morning stirrings of all of us in the Combat Airman Skills Training Course were getting ready for another long

  • Inspecting our integrity, embracing higher standards

    During my last deployment, I watched as one of our chief master sergeants performed an inspection of the security forces morning guard mount. As I watched him move from Airman to Airman, I was reminded that the rite of inspecting the troops is a very old military ceremony. This ancient ceremony has