Commentaries

  • LET THEM LEAD AT ANY RANK, IN ANY AFSC

    I have always believed that if two military folks are standing on the street corner, someone is in charge. Our military organization is centered on this premise. Without clarity in this area, confusion sets in, mission success is degraded, and, in some cases, missions fail. In a squadron construct,

  • Insight - Then and now

    Visiting our nation's hallowed war memorials not only reminds us of our profession of arms, but strengthens our sense of duty. I recently had the opportunity to visit the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. What military members will notice immediately are the 15 Medal of Honor recipients and

  • Operational Readiness

    November concluded a challenging period, punctuated by two exhausting exercises. The first was our annual participation in USSTRATCOM's annual GLOBAL THUNDER exercise and the second was an Operational Readiness Exercise which is intended to prepare the wing for next year's Operational Readiness

  • Making the hard choice

    As a commander and leader in the Air Force, I have learned my primary role in accomplishing the mission and taking care of Airmen is to make decisions. The unit - whether it's a flight, squadron, group or wing - is comprised of professionals with various degrees of expertise. These Airmen,

  • Doing the hard things

    Do you do hard things? Would you choose to do something you don't like to do? I took a professional survey once that was designed to help me choose a career. It asked a lot of questions such as, "would you rather type a label or glue a label on a bottle?" or "would you rather work outside or

  • Getting to yes

    If there is one thing certain in today's military environment, it's that there are plenty of problems to solve, taskers continue, augmentees and volunteers are needed and resources ebb and flow. As we experience dwindling resources, leaders need to ensure our organizations have the proper starting

  • The good in confrontation

    Throughout my years in various personnel fields, classifier, manpower specialist and currently the equal opportunity director, I have heard one constant from supervisors and employees, "I hate confrontation." Confrontation is a form of communication that is essential when striving for effective

  • A motto to live by

    I would like to take a moment to talk with you about a motto I live by in my personal and professional life - a motto that I will never perfect, but one that continues to perfect me.As a military member or an individual associated with the military machine you are accustomed to a structured work

  • The Balancing Act

    Nine years ago, I thought it wise to tell my wife she needed a hobby. Stop laughing, it gets better. After two weeks of mulling it over, she let me know that she wanted to go back to school with the eventual goal of medical school. Did I mention we had a toddler and a preschooler at the time? Well,

  • My job is prosecuting sexual assault

    Here's a simple truth...sexual offenders reject our core values of integrity, service and excellence, in favor of following their own base, undisciplined, criminal desires. Most sexual assaults committed by Airmen are "blue on blue," or Airmen victimizing other Airmen. So in addition to rejecting