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  • During mornings, “Reveille” signals the beginning of the duty day and is played at 6:30 a.m., Monday through Friday, followed by “To the Colors.” “Retreat” signals the end of the duty day and is played at 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Motorists should come to a complete stop upon hearing music during these times. (U.S. Air Force photo graphic by Airman 1st Class Taylor Curry)

    It’s 1700 somewhere

    Its side effects can range from confusion to induced sprinting for cover, to feelings of pride. It has the power to stop people in their tracks and causes self-induced paralysis for nearly two minutes at a time.Reveille and Retreat ceremonies occur on most military installations across the U.S. at the beginning and the end of the duty day,
  • Airmen from the 22nd Training Squadron clear trail paths with family and friends as part of their resiliency and team-building activity on Tubbs Hill in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, August 11, 2014. A team of about 30 volunteers from the 22nd TRS and SERE Solutions Inc., along with family friends, participated in a two day team building and resiliency event that ended with an overnight stay at a local campground, followed by a 15 mile bike ride down the historic Hiawatha Trail in Wallace, Idaho, that crosses the Montana border. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Alexandre Montes/Released)

    A greater impact

    - If you've been in the Air Force for at least a month, you've probably heard someone say Airmen should get out and volunteer, and that's great advice. However, what usually follows that statement causes some concern for me and other Airmen.It's not something we want to admit because it doesn't sound good, but most supervisors have probably
  • (U.S. Air Force graphic/Staff Sgt. Benjamin W. Stratton)

    Let's stop talking about diversity, start talking about readiness

    The good news is that we're making great progress as we seek to make our Air Force a more diverse and capable force.  The bad news is that too many Airmen are tired of talking about it, and too many Airmen are coming to work every day feeling that their career prospects are limited by the color of their skin, sexual orientation, or gender.Our
  • (U.S. Air Force graphic)

    Do you 'really' know who you are talking to?

    When you're young, you don't think much about online safety. At 19, I didn't have a care in the world; I just wanted to meet new people. Little did I know my care-free attitude online would change my life forever.In January 2013, I made an account on a social media site my friends recommended. At first I just wanted to see what it was about, then
  • (U.S. Air Force graphic/Staff Sgt. Benjamin W. Stratton)

    See, say, do

    "Head's up!" "Keep your head on a swivel." "Have good situational awareness." "Be aware of your surroundings."Do any of these admonitions sound familiar? If you've played sports, been in the military or attended personal security classes, one or all of them probably do. So, why bring them up now?The reality is that there's not any specific reason
  • (U.S. Air Force graphic/Staff Sgt. Benjamin W. Stratton)

    The beauty of unity

    What do cheeseburgers, musical groups, sports teams and the United States of America have in common?If you said "the letter 's,' you're right, but that's not the answer I'm looking for. The real answer is that one factor ties all of them together - unity.How many of you want to eat a plain hamburger patty, listen to an hour-long bass guitar solo or
  • The goal of National Cyber Security Awareness Month, which takes place each year in October, is to spread awareness about hackers and their techniques in order to reduce the number of victims in future years. On average, there are one million victims of cyber-crime across the globe every day, and most of them could have prevented the attack if they were more educated on cyber security. (U.S. Air Force graphic by Naoko Shimoji)

    A cyber security vignette: The unwitting victim

    You are concluding a busy day at work and you receive an auto-email reminder that your ancillary training is due. After a few minutes of negotiating the training module, you are congratulated on the completion of your annual Information Assurance training. What this means to most is that you are able to log back on to your government computer and
  • Maintaining your physical, mental, social and spiritual fitness is vital to being the best Airman you can be. Ask you supervisor or contact the Community Support Coordinator at your base for more information on building and maintaining resilience. (U.S. Air Force graphic by Senior Airman Brandon Sabin/Released)

    I love inflation!

    I'm a ball. Yeah, you heard me right. I didn't say I'm having a ball. I'm a sports ball -- the "basket" kind to be more specific.We sports balls have it pretty rough. My cousins and I may have different functions, but we all, without exception, have to put up with an awful lot of abuse -- and I won't say from whom (cough, humans, cough, cough). How

  • AFOSI: Fraud, waste, abuse investigations a core responsibility

    The Air Force Office of Special Investigations needs your help identifying and reporting fraudulent activities at Fairchild AFB. Besides our general crimes and counterintelligence missions, a significant amount of resources are assigned to fraud investigations. In the past five years, AFOSI has recovered more than $230 million defrauded from the

  • ABCs of Mental Resilience

    As I sat there holding the letter, a whirlwind of emotions flew through me. I felt angry, hurt, bewildered, confused, annoyed, and a myriad of other feelings I couldn't even describe.I could not wrap my thoughts around the idea that in 2014, we still have people who hold so strongly to their personal values and beliefs that they would be intolerant
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