Commentary Search

  • Air Force culture: our legacy to those who follow

    Have you ever compared joining the Air Force to visiting a foreign country? It is a completely different culture. To be successful, you must accept and adapt to a new way of life. Edward B. Tylor describes culture as, "a complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, arts, morals, law, custom and

  • Make AADD your last call

    "Who wants a cold one?" For those that drink, these can be welcome words, indeed! However, the act of drinking alcohol comes with certain responsibilities. One, is having a game plan already in place so you can get home legally and safely. Individuals that drink and then decide to climb behind the

  • True cost of sexual assault is staggering

    As the Air Force talks of efficiencies, cost cutting and budget constraints, the question of how that relates to sexual assault reverberates within my brain. So, in typical fact-findingmode, I began combing the literature. Several scholarly articles have been written on the method of deriving the

  • Victim blaming hinders sexual assault prevention

    A little more than a year ago, I became a volunteer victim advocate. This was a way for me to help people, do my part in raising awareness of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response program and help in the fight against sexual assault--an issue that I feel very strongly about.During my time as a

  • Who deserves to serve?

    Recently, Chief Master Sgt. Robert Winters, 338th Training Squadron, and I had a conversation with an Airman who expressed that he didn't feel he deserved to serve in the Air Force. He confessed to making a lot of mistakes during his time in technical training and although committed to improvement,

  • Leadership begins with setting good example

    "Don't ask your people to do anything that you're not willing to do yourself" is an often quoted leadership principles. I've lived my career as an officer by this tenet and worked alongside junior defenders for 15 years, whether it was manning a perimeter tower in Afghanistan, flying airborne

  • Sexual assault stops here!

    As a young Airman in the Air Force I never thought I would have to say, "Sexual assault stops here, with me." As I reflect back over my career and all of my experiences, I do have some regrets. Don't get me wrong, the Air Force has been a wonderful career and life for the past 28 years. But looking

  • FTAC surprises new Airman

    The First Term Airmen Center hosts a slew of briefings to acquaint new Airmen to their base and to what it means to be permanent party. Keesler's FTAC class lasts eight hours a day, for four days.Obviously, this description lacks reasons for excitement, and the people joining me in room 120 at the

  • Keesler Medical Center wins 'Energy Star' award

    Keesler Medical Center has been awarded the Energy Star award by the Environmental Protection Agency.In a message to 81st Medical Group commander Brig. Gen. (Dr.) Kory Cornum, Col. Rex Langston, chief of the health facilities division in the office of the surgeon general, said, "The receipt of an

  • Running a marathon -- it only sounds crazy

    While running a couple laps around the Crotwell Track, a coworker of mine mentioned he ran a marathon in Germany several years prior. "Why would you run that far unless you absolutely had to?" was my response. Although the idea of running 26.2 miles seemed impossible, ridiculous and pointless, for