Commentaries

A day in history
July 2, 2012 — This past week commemorates an important day in American history. Nearly 236 years ago, the colonies of this nation declared themselves independent of Britain. On July 4, 1776, America was born; along with democracy. That's why we celebrate Independence Day each year on the Fourth of July.As we celebrate Independence Day with family and friends,... MORE

Reframe: seek out the positive
June 29, 2012 — Life throws a lot of unexpected occurrences at us, especially in our line of work. How you approach them can and will have an impact on not just your career, but more importantly your happiness in life.My wife and I were married in the summer of 2001. Three months later, terrorists hijacked four aircraft and changed the world. About an hour after... MORE

Diamond Tip - Keeping our customs and courtesies alive
June 26, 2012 — When was the last time you saw someone quickly duck inside a building to avoid paying the proper respect to our flag during retreat? How many times have you seen a junior Airman call a senior Airman by their first name? Did you look the other way or did you seize the opportunity to correct the infraction and be a mentor? We've all been involved in... MORE

The Courageous 56
June 26, 2012 — When 56 courageous patriots put their signatures to a single piece of parchment 236 years ago, the course of world history changed in an instant. Although we celebrate the fourth day of July as Independence Day, it should not be lost on us that those signatures were the culmination of months of disagreements and passionate arguments. In fact, the... MORE

Vision, courage and influence: the qualities of great leaders
June 19, 2012 — Great leaders are often mythologized as superhuman, "gifted" at birth with rare and amazing capabilities and thrust by fate into circumstances that they alone were equipped to navigate. This is an appealing but false narrative. In romanticizing leadership as we do, we appeal to the human spirit, drawing others to the challenge. However, we also... MORE

Diamond Tip - Resilience: It is not just the latest buzzword
June 19, 2012 — Throughout a military member's career, they are likely to hear many buzzwords that indicate a certain process, program or requirement has special focus from their leadership. Sometimes, this focus is perceived as a sort of "flavor of the month" to be endured, then forgotten. Sometimes these buzzwords disappear as an idea floats into obsolescence or... MORE

What I believe: Part 1
June 19, 2012 — Whenever a new leader joins an organization, it seems almost natural for people to wonder what he or she is like. Hard as it is to believe, it's been nearly two months since I arrived at Joint Base Charleston and during that time, I've barely scratched the surface in meeting the many outstanding warriors and civilians who live and work here. So I'd... MORE

Military Values
June 13, 2012 — Last week I was in Jacksonville, Fla., and had the opportunity to visit the corporate headquarters for Landstar and CSX, two nationwide transportation and logistics companies. During each visit, I was struck by the promotional posters and advertisements hanging in the offices of each company and the pride they instilled, but I was more impressed by... MORE

Protect your future, discover spiritual standards
June 13, 2012 — Did you know if there was four percent more oxygen or six percent less oxygen in the atmosphere, life on earth would be impossible? If the gravitational force on earth was altered or if Jupiter wasn't in the orbit it is in, life on earth would be impossible. In fact, Dr. Hugh Ross, a scholar in the fields of astronomy, physics and astrophysics... MORE

Patience or Patient
June 13, 2012 — It was a beautiful, mid-spring Sunday afternoon in Kenai, Alaska, a few years ago when my wife and I witnessed what we thought for certain was going to be a motorcycle fatality After stopping on the side of the road to get a few photos of a young moose grazing in a pond, we pulled back onto the highway and fell in line behind a motorcycle which was... MORE