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Feature Search

  • Volunteering as a victim advocate

    When I joined the Air Force in 1996 at the age of 20, I shared the dream that most who enlist have; I wanted to get my education and see the world. I had planned on getting out at my four-year mark as many of us do, but as the years flew by I realized that I was yet to accomplish any of my short

  • Geo-tagging: Your social media update could put everyone at risk

    It's only a Facebook status update -- I'm not saying where I am so what could be so wrong?What you may not know is you could be geo-tagging and inadvertently sharing sensitive information without ever knowing it. What is geo-tagging? It is a preloaded GPS service on smart phones and tablets that

  • Deployed Living - Part II, the laundry fairy

    I've officially adopted the pseudo name "laundry fairy." This official title of fluffy-folded goodness did not come from my own imagination; rather I heard it from one of my dorm-mates as she beamed while describing a miraculous laundry folding incident.I don't know why I like folding laundry. Maybe

  • Fighting the bad guys, taking great pictures

    Traditionally, women in our country bore children and stayed home to raise them while the men left home to defend our nation against her enemies. Times have definitely changed; today both men and women in the armed forces sacrifice greatly for just causes. We live in a world where life, love and the

  • The story that should lead

    There is a cold reality in journalism 'if it bleeds it leads.' It is a mindset that has frustrated me in my time as a media professional, but one I have come to accept.While serving as a military journalist in Afghanistan, I have seen the reality of this theory play out a few times in recent months.

  • Wax on...Wax off - building Air Force muscle memory

    No, this is not some obscure reference to upper lip hair practices in the wake of last month's Moustache March Madness, preparations for bikini season, or even a scene from The 40 Year Old Virgin. Many of you will recognize this as a reference to the 1984 movie, The Karate Kid. On the surface, it is

  • Air Force weathermen support the fight

    When people hear the term "weatherman" they typically think of a person dressed in business attire providing the latest hurricane update or winter storm warning on evening news. The Battlefield Airmen of the 19th Expeditionary Weather Squadron couldn't be further from that image. Dressed in

  • Open Ranks: Handling stress in the service

    Whether it's your first deployment or your tenth, stress is always an issue military members and their families have to overcome. After raising your right hand and taking the oath, you volunteered to accept a new way of life. No one promised it would be easy; in fact, there is a reason that only 1

  • Put your mask on first

    How often have you heard: "Secure your own mask first before helping others?" Probably every time you travel before taking off, you hear the speech from the flight attendant over the aircraft speaker. But have you really thought about why the airlines tell you to put your mask on first? At face

  • Deployed Living

    Living in a dormitory as a deployed service member can be compared to a bookshelf -- the people are like the bookends and their lives are the stories.Every morning when I wake up, I brush my teeth with the same people and I see them again at night. With smiling eyes, head nods or the occasional