Commentary Search

  • Airlift Excellence, Wingman culture prevalent at McChord

    For the past two weeks, Stacey and I have been getting to know the amazing McChord Air Force Base community ... it's been an enjoyable, exciting experience.I would like to once again thank all McChord Airmen and family members, as well as our community neighbors and joint base partners, for the very

  • Challenge to Airmen - 'Do your best and do what's right'

    More than a decade ago, a mentor challenged me to "Do your best and do what's right." I was amazed at his ability to simplify many of life's lessons into one easy-to-recall statement. Fast forward a decade or so and I find myself as a husband, the father of a teenager, and a commander who repeatedly

  • If all are leading, then who will follow?

    Editor's note: This commentary was recommended by an Airlifter reader. It was written by (now retired) Colonel Hunolt for the base newspaper at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, in 1997.I can see it now -- an Air Force supervisor surrounded by monks in their Tibetan monastery, hundreds of candles

  • Continuity and progress - building on tradition to improve

    The Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset wrote in his important work, "Toward a Philosophy of History":Man's real treasure is the treasure of his mistakes, piled up stone by stone through thousands of years ... Breaking the continuity with the past, wanting to begin again, is a lowering of man

  • Persistent attention to detail yields continuous excellence

    Throughout Air Mobility Command and the Air Force, McChord Air Force Base has a well-deserved reputation of excellence.Our recent Nuclear Surety Inspection results further validate that reputation. A key to our success with the NSI and other inspections has been our attention to many minute details.

  • Take advantage of every opportunity

    Regardless of whether you have decided to make the Air Force a career or separate after your first enlistment, you should take advantage of every opportunity the Air Force offers to grow and improve yourself.The Air Force provides all sorts of training that will help you effectively accomplish your

  • Mentor our Airmen for a bright, focused future

    The United States Air Force, like many other large organizations, faces multiple organizational constraints and is striving to strengthen operational performance despite all our challenges and missions. Just as the family is generally seen as the cornerstone of a functional society, the relationship

  • Weighing the cost: financial benefits of military service

    As military members, we are often tasked with long hours and working under difficult or even dangerous circumstances. It is easy to believe that a career in the private sector would be easier, however the military's numerous financial benefits (education, tax savings, healthcare and retirement)

  • Keeping our mission performance edge sharp

    The mission is really why we're here. Our actions, resources and organizational structure are almost exclusively mission-driven. We're developed, deployed and employed to accomplish the mission. Rightfully, our mission must be the primary consideration behind our planning, decision-making and

  • You have the power to enhance energy security

    October is DoD Energy Awareness Month. What does energy look like? For many of us the image of a barrel of oil or a power line connected to a hydroelectric dam might come to mind, but in most cases energy exists as an abstraction that is difficult to physically observe. What we can easily see,