Commentary Search

  • A day of service

    In 2009, Congress designated September 11th as a National Day of Service and Remembrance. On this day, I think it is fitting that we remember and honor the innocent lives taken during that vicious attack by renewing our commitment of service to our Nation.As the son of an Air Force NCO, I grew up

  • Military kids’ impressive resiliency, perhaps our future

    Some of my earliest memories in life revolve around events at my father's Army Reserve unit. I remember the Christmas parties, cookouts, commissioning and promotion ceremonies, changes of commands and parades every Veterans Day. Whether I knew it or not, as a kid, and especially as a teenager, I was

  • T.H.I.N.K. before you speak

    There are some of us who were born with a foot in our mouths--kind of like the stock boy at the grocery store...A lady approached the young man asking, "Can I buy a half of lettuce?" Let me check said the boy. So the stock boy walked back to ask the manager, not realizing the lady was walking right

  • A letter to 18th Air Force Airmen

    To the Airmen of our great global mobility enterprise: thank you!Last week I had the honor of becoming your 18th Air Force Commander. I can honestly say there are few experiences more rewarding and humbling than command, and even more so when it is command of our Air Force's largest Numbered Air

  • Col Guemmer bids Fairchild adieu

    It's always bittersweet to be given a new assignment.On one hand, you're presented with a new challenge at (hopefully) somewhere you haven't been before.On the other hand, you have to say good-bye to the friends you've made over the last two years. But while you geographically leave the friends

  • The pebble in your shoe

    Muhammad Ali said, "Often it isn't the mountains ahead that wear you out, it's the pebble in your shoe."Sometimes the real problem in life is figuring out when to focus ones attention or when to develop a broader perspective. Success often depends on our ability to focus -- to ignore outside

  • Running like a ninja, not like a t-rex

    If dinosaurs were better runners, they might not be extinct today. Evidence suggests some dinosaurs ran by planting their heel first and springing off their toes. Many people run this way today. Those who run that way couldn't possibly get out of the way of a meteor fast enough. But you know who

  • Frog soup

    Disease starts secretly. It enters your body secretly and grows secretly. Then it begins to sap your strength, rob your appetite and weaken you. Unless something is done, unless you go to the doctor and treat your condition, it can do serious damage to you -- even kill you.All of us can make poor

  • A time for everything

    There have been songs, religious verses and educational books written about life and its many challenges through change -- currently we are in the season of those PCSing. As we PCS or receive new Airmen to our organizations, the status quo that we may have become accustom to is unhinged and we have

  • Leadership: Not an easy art to practice

    The often heard phrase "the path of least resistance" is a term that describes a metaphorical or physical path that, among a given set of alternatives, provides the least resistance for forward motion. In physics, this term is often used to describe why an object moves the way it does as in a ball