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  • Why I chose to stay blue

    One score and seven years ago (that's 27 years to you and me) I became a member of the greatest Air Force the world has ever known. Unlike some, I wasn't predestined to join the military; my father or my grandfather didn't leave me with that legacy. We all have our reasons for serving. Some serve because it's a family tradition, others feel it's

  • Choices not only affect you, but everyone around you

    One early, dew-covered morning, many years ago, my parents and I headed to town. This was not our normal shopping trip to town, for this was the day for college class registration. Little did I know that at that moment I was well on the path of my journey of "choices and consequences." During the drive, I made the one of biggest choices of my life

  • Stress: Don't let it control you

    Your air expeditionary force cycle is coming up. You just received permanent change-of-station orders. An exercise is around the corner and you still need to prep for the Unit Compliance Inspection. And that's just work. Add a home life, and your demands and stressors seem endless. It's impossible to eliminate everyday stress factors from our

  • Adapt or Die

    The three words stood emblazoned on the small plaque behind the Colonel's head. In his typical freight-train style he was explaining his philosophy to me - the new LT. We have those moments early in our careers when we hear something from a senior leader that sticks with us. I was having my moment. Heard well before the flat world described by

  • FOURTH of JULY

    The FOURTH of JULY...even saying it out loud makes me feel good and smile! The Middle of the Summer...baseball....hotdogs...ice cream...maybe a Parade or a round of Golf...BUT always ending with FIREWORKS! Yes, the Misawa Airmen will remind me of the sea fog and fireworks sometimes pushed off to Labor Day...but you'll be thinking of FIREWORKS!

  • Focus, discipline, caring key assets to success

    The demands of serving in today's Air Force are great. High operations tempo, limited resources, fewer people, and multiple AEF deployments challenge us to be at our very best. When I was asked to provide a leadership perspective, I reflected not only on a few great leadership books I've read, but more so on leadership lessons that have come from

  • SECAF Letter to Airmen: Force Reduction Update

    Probably the most difficult part of my job as your Secretary is releasing patriotic Americans from serving in our Air Force, but it is a step we nevertheless must take. One of the duties we have as Airmen is assuring future Airmen that they will be as capable and confident to accomplish the mission as we are today. We are faced with the need to

  • We are called Airmen

    What do we call a person who drives trucks in the Marines, regardless of rank or position? No, this isn't a joke. You call them a Marine. Every Marine is trained and ready to perform as a member or leader of a rifle platoon. What do we call a food service specialist in the Army? This isn't a joke or a trick question either. You call them a Soldier.

  • Are you fit to fight?

    Are you physically ready to meet the challenges of the Air Force? For some, this is a very easy question to answer. For others, it is not. We are now in the third year of the current fitness standards. When this program was introduced, I was not ready. Thankfully, we had a one-year grace period to get ready. The Air Force chief of staff directed

  • Air Force doctrine informs Airmen

    It is critically important that we as Airmen understand how we contribute to the Air Force Mission to "Deliver sovereign options for the defense of the United States and its Global interests-- To Fly and Fight in Air, Space and Cyberspace." Every Airman provides a capability that integrates with other capabilities to enable our mission. However,
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