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Commentary Search

  • First things first: Get your degrees in order

    In 1972 the Community College of the Air Force was established by the Air Force Chief of Staff, General John D. Ryan.Four years later, President Gerald Ford authorized the Air Force, by law, to confer the associate degree. The CCAF was accredited in the start of 1977 and by the spring of that same

  • Mission first - people always

    Air Force Doctrine Document 1-1, Leadership and Force Development, informs us that a leader is considered proficient in "People/Team Competencies" if his or her approach is to place "people first--(attending) to the physical, mental, ethical, and spiritual well-being of fellow Airmen and their

  • Remember Your First Day of School?

    You don't get flowers everyday when you're deployed, in fact, you probably don't receive them at all. On Saturday, I did and it was pretty cool. No, it wasn't from my family and loved ones back home for a birthday or other event. They were from an 8-year-old girl whom I've never met before. Flowers,

  • Most important discipline...'Self'

    As I opened the door and proceeded down the hall, I looked forward to a "change of pace" meeting. This would be my first time attending the garrison command sergeant major meeting and I was curious about our sister service's concerns. After settling in, I was surprised to hear about soldiers losing

  • Volunteers: Extending a Helping Hand, Ear

    Volunteerism. All of the Services define this word slightly different; some incorporate this concept into their core values, but all have this belief intertwined into in their fundamental guiding principles. It's not uncommon to see service members exhibiting this trait in a myriad of ways, both at

  • Deliberately dedicating to development

    Fellow Expeditionary Airmen, I'd like to dedicate some time talking about you, and ask that you focus on a little self improvement. You're here, away from home and concentrating on the mission, but there's some downtime and you get to choose how you'll spend that time. At the beginning of this year

  • Total force Airmen's paths converge

    "Ready to lift it?" "Ready!" The two Airmen stood on either side of the remotely piloted aircraft, removing the radome - the panel that would be a canopy on a manned aircraft. They both moved efficiently, with a few quick words here and there to coordinate movement.An observer would see no

  • Raptor Pilots Still Have What It Takes

    "Only the spirit of attack born in a brave heart will bring success to any fighter aircraft no matter how highly developed it may be." -- German Ace Adolf Galland in WWIIMuch has been written lately about the challenges associated with the F-22 Raptor as we ¬continue investigating the root cause of

  • Resiliency

     "I don't measure a man's success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom."                                                                        ~ George S. Patton, Jr.General George Patton, the controversial but highly successful American field commander of World War II