Commentary Search

  • Protect your family from fire!

    What's the best way to protect your family from fire? Be ahead of the game, of course.With more than 360,000 residential fires reported in the United States in 2009, according to the nonprofit National Fire Protection Association, your best defense is a good offense. That's why Eielson's Fire

  • Mentorship: Are We Doing It Right?

    "Mentoring is an inherent responsibility of leadership." So says Air Force Instruction 36-3401, Air Force Mentoring.The AFI defines mentors as trusted counselors or guides, and mentoring as a relationship where a person with greater experience and wisdom guides someone in order to develop

  • COMPACAF 9/11 message

    September 11, 2001.December 7, 1941.Although separated in time by 60 years, these two dates have a great deal in common. On both days, Americans going about their daily business were attacked on home soil without warning. And afterwards, in both cases, our nation overcame the attacks and came away

  • To be stereotyped as an Airman

    When we hear the word stereotype, we tend to attach negative connotations to it. After a conversation I had a few months ago, that word changed for me.In late March, my wife Kelly and I attended a course at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, as part of our preparation for squadron command. The course

  • Life jackets saved my family

    My brother and his family visited us here in the beautiful Florida Panhandle last summer. I looked forward to showing them all the exciting things to see and do.I was also eager to take them on a boat trip. I spoke extensively about the area wildlife and the beautiful waters. My niece was especially

  • Farewell message from Secretary Gates

    Farewell Message from Secretary GatesAs Delivered by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, The Pentagon, Wednesday, June 29, 2011----------------------------------------------------------------------------To the Men and Women of the United States Armed Forces: Tomorrow, 30 June 2011, I will retire

  • Commentary: Friends last forever

    The military has always been a tight-knit group of men and women. We travel the world and establish friendships that develop into lifelong associations. We use words like camaraderie and esprit de corps to describe the friendships and ties we have with each other. I want to describe how one of my

  • Improving fitness starts with improving recovery, nutrition

    "If you want to be more effective, improve your fitness." -Sir Richard Branson, knighted in 1999 and is currently worth more than $4 billion.While he is not a member of the military, I think his undeniable success justifies observing his methods. I will be clear and state that I am not advocating

  • Thank you for your service

    I recently returned from a deployment to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. While there, I was able to see the efforts of our sister services in that area of operations. I was incredibly impressed by the work being done by the Army, Marines and coalition ground

  • Third Time’s a Charm: Civilian Expeditionary Workforce Deployment

    In 1992 as an Air Force Civil Engineer Squadron active-duty member, I was fortunate to deploy to Saudi Arabia in support of Operation Desert Shield. After six years of being retired from active duty, and rejoining the military by way of the Air Force Retiree to Air Force Reserve Program, in 2005 I