Commentaries

Moving as a military child: Looking on the bright side
April 17, 2018 — One of the aspects of life that a military child like me faces is the inevitable moving from place to place. Imagine moving across the state, the country or even the world. Relocation may seem quite overwhelming, but the exposure gained from a move can be incredible... MORE

Readiness at home
March 28, 2018 — The Department of Defense and the United States Air Force properly focus on expeditionary readiness. We have rightfully recited the importance of ensuring “full spectrum readiness to deter combat operations” through our words and our deeds... MORE

Mission, customer service, and pride
March 19, 2018 — Being a part of the 11th Wing is both incredible and very challenging, because for many of you, your mission is both right here and expeditionary. When I flew the HH-60G Pave Hawk for combat search and rescue, deployments were frequent. At the same time, I did not have a home-station mission other than training and being in charge of mobility and deployment requirements. For the most part, when aircrew and aviation support personnel were at home, they were training, spinning up to deploy, or reconstituting... MORE

Be heart smart…celebrating February Heart Health Month
February 27, 2018 — JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. -- The month of February has long been symbolized by the heart. The name February came from the Roman goddess “Februa,” the mother of Mars and was recognized as the patroness of passion. As health providers, health coaches, and health educators, it is our passion to improve and empower those around us to make the right... MORE

Readying ourselves today
February 20, 2018 — We don’t know when and we don’t know where we will be employed, but our nation needs us to be ready for all contingencies. Though we may face hardships in our preparation, let us learn from the patience and fortitude of our forefathers to ready ourselves today... MORE

Tobacco free living…You can quit too
February 7, 2018 — JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. -- Sixteen million Americans have diseases caused by tobacco. Millions more have tobacco related diseases but may not be aware of this. The Air Force promotes a tobacco free military to minimize the adverse impact of tobacco use on health, mission readiness, and unit performance. Tobacco use is the leading cause of... MORE

Children's dental health
January 23, 2018 — JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. -- To raise awareness on the importance of good oral health, members from the 11th Dental Squadron will be participating in National Children’s Dental Health Month. The month’s activities will kick off with a “Toothbrush Exchange” Jan. 27 from 10 a.m. to noon at the AAFES Exchange on Joint Base Andrews. Children may bring... MORE

Retirement choices
January 17, 2018 — JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. -- For many, the beginning of the new year brings in a variety of questions. What kind of personal goals do I want to set? How much weight do I want to lose? How much time can I set aside for volunteering? For me and other service members with less than 12 years of service, or fewer than 4,320 retirement points, we’ll have... MORE

Customer service is all about family
January 3, 2018 — When you take the time to ask people what’s the most important thing to them, many will say it’s their family. However, we don’t always understand what it is to be a family or what it should be. We don’t understand how to maximize the importance of family in our day to day interactions... MORE

Medical Operations Squadron joins the 11th Wing!
December 20, 2017 — Medical Operations Squadron joins the 11th Wing! by Col. Joseph D. Villacis On June 16, 2017, the 79th Medical Wing and all subordinate units were deactivated, to include the 779th Medical Group. The group reactivated as the 11th Medical Group, and all of the subordinate squadrons followed suit. During that official ceremony, the 779th Medical Operations Squadron I took command of in July 2016 became the 11th Medical Operations Squadron (11 MDOS). In that moment, the 11 MDOS inherited the unit emblem that had been officially approved and cataloged when the squadron was last active. However, the emblem was in need of an update. ... MORE