Commentaries - Page 6

Sweat, high-fives and rock-n-roll
February 24, 2015 — "How many calories do you think is in this?""Have you logged in your work out today?""Man, this one entrée equals 400 burpees!"These were not the quotes I thought I'd hear as I followed the U.S. Air Force premier rock band Max Impact during their trip in support of Super Bowl XLIX. Instead of stereotypical wreckless musicians yelling at the waiting...

"To the Colors"
November 17, 2014 — Beginning Monday, Nov. 17 at 7 a.m., after the sounding of Reveille, another bugle call will play. This may not be familiar to those who have been assigned to Joint Base Andrews for a while.That bugle call is named "To the Colors," and is sounded to pay honors to our nation, flag and service members who served before us in similar fashion to the...

An Emotional Machine; A Guardsman's Struggle
November 10, 2014 — Look sharp, but move fluidly. Be crisp in movement, yet smooth in motion. Appear motionless and do not show any emotion (if you can).This is the delicate balance a Joint Base Andrews Air Force base honor guardsman faces.I didn't know what it meant to be a guardsman for most of my life. I would watch movies and television shows growing up and...

"Why would I see the IG?"
September 26, 2014 — "Why would I see the Inspector General?" The simple answer is that you should see the IG to solve any problem that you cannot resolve through your chain of command. We are in the people business. We are here to eliminate problems or concerns that hinder our fellow Airmen from accomplishing their mission.As the 11th Wing IG, the number one question...

The day America lost its innocence
September 11, 2014 — I was nine years old. I looked up into the blue, September sky, and saw a plane flying overhead. I thought about the people inside, who they were, where they were going, and why they weren't about to go to school like me. I often looked at planes; this was not out of the ordinary for a child who had been deemed "easily distracted." In the hours to...

Finding light through darkness
May 1, 2014 — (This story is part of the "Commentaries" section on AF.mil. These stories capture the experiences of Airmen from a first-person perspective.)Keeping a secret that defines you, that has shaped your life for nearly three years now and is sure to shape the rest, a secret that you go to sleep with every night and wake to every morning is sometimes...

Flight for life
March 20, 2014 — Last November, I was offered a chance to support a mission to Afghanistan, which I jumped on before I even knew the full details. My mission, as I had chosen to accept it, would have me rendezvous with an imbedded Washington Post duo in Afghanistan and escort them back to the U.S. I was also document an aeromedical evacuation and the life-saving...

Think before you act: It only takes a second for your actions to go viral
March 18, 2014 — Have you ever done something you wish you could take back? Said something mean ... wrote something inappropriate ... behaved in a way that was disrespectful? I'm sure you have or you wouldn't be human.However, in today's society some of these behaviors never go away, even if you tried to delete them. They are documented in Facebook status updates,...

Finding balance in the deployed, home station environments
January 28, 2014 — Many talk about finding balance the professional and person, yet for so many of us, especially while deployed, our work blends into our life. Finding balance to me means ensuring my energy stays level and I'm able to easily manage all the roles in my life. In the deployed environment, life can be complicated in that while there are less roles for...

Becoming an "Airman"
January 15, 2014 — In my time spent serving my country, I've learned something very important. Being in the Air Force is not the same as being an Airman.I didn't really understand what that meant at first, but I have my own thoughts on this key difference.Being in the Air Force, to me at least, means that you wear the uniform, have a rank and follow orders. Being an...