SOUTHWEST ASIA -- You may have heard the Air Force First Sergeants' motto, "People Are Our Business," and as first sergeants, we take this saying very seriously - some people might say too seriously. 

However, as Airmen in the United States Air Force, enforcing standards is EVERYBODY's business. 

To take that one step further, each and every day residents here receive the Daily Dispatch directly in their e-mail inbox. Most often we see commentaries from commanders, chief master sergeants and first sergeants asking the entire base populous to comply with mandatory policies, such as washing your hands prior to entering the dining facility, smoking in designated areas, disposing cigarette butts in proper containers and wearing seatbelts. Once again, this is EVERYBODY's business to not only comply with these standards, but to enforce them. 

This is where EVERYBODY comes into the picture. It starts with education. If you are not familiar with a particular policy, find out where you can locate that policy and educate yourself. 

One place where you can find local policies staring you in the face on a daily basis - your computer. You can visit the base Intranet, to find most of the local policies and publications specific to our location. If those local policies are not enough, you can visit the Air Force Web site at www.af.mil, or www.e-publishing.af.mil, where you will find almost every Air Force-related publication, from Air Force Instructions to Department of Defense regulations. 

Once you find a particular policy and have educated yourself, it is time to communicate. I believe that it is very important to share the knowledge that you have learned with your wingmen, both up and down the chain of command. 

You may communicate many different ways; however, I recommend that you use a daily Airman's roll call to discuss issues using the small team approach. This approach allows the lowest level of leadership to provide instantaneous feedback and at the same time allows leadership the opportunity to address standards - both positively and, when necessary, negatively. 

Lastly, now that you have educated yourself, communicated and shared that information with your wingmen, you need to ensure that you are not only complying with standards, but enforcing them as well. Once again, there are many ways to do this, but we first need to ensure that we are in compliance. 

We need to look ourselves in the mirror to ensure that we are within standards before enforcing standards. I am not saying that enforcing them will be easy. However, if you have done your homework and communicated that knowledge with your wingmen or chain of command, I'm sure that you will find a way to succeed. 

Desert Eagle Team, EVERYBODY needs your help. Take pride and ownership in being a valuable member. Educate yourself on standards, talk about the standards and enforce the standards. 

Please don't be the one who walks past a problem - if you do, you become part of the problem. Let's all take care of business.