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Commentary Search

  • I don't want a "yes man"

    I’ll always remember the time a technicalsergeant on our team disagreed with me during a meeting by telling me I was “overthinkingthe issue and there’s a better solution.” I was a little taken aback.  No one on our team ever contradicted my ideas in public and I certainly never heardthat I

  • Avionics get it running

    On September 8, the 379th Expeditionary MaintenanceSquadron’s avionics flight went 100 percent green across the board on repaircapabilities for the first time since the facility was established in 2003.  The Avionics Flight houses the only avionics repairfacility throughout the U.S. Air Forces

  • Ground Hog Day

    By the time many of you read this, most of you will bemidway through your deployment.  And formost, you are hitting your stride.  Youhave your processes down pat and you own the mission despite, day or night, thelong hot shifts.  You’re allprofessionals and by now, you’ve mastered your schedule: 

  • Getting to execution

    When the wingsupported the recent humanitarian airdrop operations in Iraq, we witnessed the executionstage of countless hours, months, and even years of preparatory work.  The delivered pallets, containing thousandsof meals and bottles of water, were the culminating point of complexcoordination

  • NATC-A volunteer org helps families of fallen Afghan officers

    On July 2nd, the Afghan Air Force lost eight officers to terrorist action as the men were traveling home after a long hard day of work learning English and doing their jobs on Kabul International Airport, Afghanistan. Immediately, this tragedy not only touched the families of the fallen officers,

  • R.O.C.K.S.

    I recently overhead a verbal exchange at the local grocery store which got me thinking about some daily interactions I have had with some Airmen.Cashier: Good afternoon sir, how are you?Customer: I'm fine...now.Cashier: Now? Why's that?Customer: I just got off work.Cashier: Oh! I just started my

  • In our Air Force, compassionate leadership is mandatory

    Turn on the news, or log into Facebook, and there's a myriad of stories dedicated to the late Robin Williams. While the news is shocking, what should shock us more is that this act is not relegated only to celebrities. Our Air Force is plagued by suicide. It is real. It is happening, and it must

  • Thanking Gavin: Boy's holiday card amuses, inspires deployed troops

    The card posted on the wall consisted of just four short words and the owner's name. It read, "Hope you make it - Gavin." This simple message from a grade school holiday card at the entry to the dining facility on our small Forward Operating Base in Kabul, Afghanistan, brought no small amount of joy

  • Never Forget Where you came from

    It's hard to believe it has been just over 20 years since I entered the Air Force. Looking back, it seems like just yesterday I had turned 21 years old and my mother, father, and brother were dropping me off at the bus station so I could start my journey into the Air Force. As it turns out, little

  • Leadership

    Webster's dictionary defines Leadership as the quality of character and personality giving a person the ability to gain the confidence of and lead others. On any given day you can Google "leadership" and find hundreds to millions of results that define the term leadership. But what does leadership