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Commentary Search

  • Chain of survival

    On my last deployment, I had the privilege of talking to a lot of Americans coming out of Afghanistan. Many had been there several times and saw combat with significant casualties. It is always humbling for medics to hear a big reason our guys were willing to go and do the mission in harm's way was

  • Team Fairchild: Out of Many, One

    On the eve of our country's independence, I am reminded of the importance of unity in our military and nation. If you reach in your pocket and pull out any common coin, you will find the words "E. Pluribus Unum," Latin for "Out of many, one." Our nation was founded on the idea that free citizens

  • Chief's Corner: DUI...What would your mother say?

    TEAM Fairchild... I recently had to go through the painful process of looking at some of our Airmen who made bad choices with alcohol and had to come to the wing headquarters to see the commander and myself to explain why they chose to : 1) Put the community and our base families in jeopardy by

  • Service Before Self: A Leadership Model

    We are all familiar with the Air Force's second core value of Service Before Self and experience it daily, especially with its deep implications to long duty hours, extended deployments, separation from family, and maybe less than desirable assignment locations. Every day, these sacrifices are part

  • Community Involvement

    After months of preparation and a couple of weeks of stress, the IG team has left and we've survived another inspection. Way to go Team Fairchild! Now what do you do? Well, how about refocusing all of that energy and enthusiasm towards our local community? Did you ever notice that every professional

  • A day or two (or three)…in the life of the Command Chief…

    Well, I am finally back from a long, hard road trip. Well, maybe not so hard, just long. As I return after a few weeks away, it is always amazing to see how each and every one of you just keeps the machine we know as Fairchild going. With that said, I want to take a minute to tell you about what I

  • It’s my pleasure!

    Several years ago, I was browsing in a popular electronics store in uniform on my way home from work when a strange man passing by mumbled something my direction and gave me an unusual glance. At the time, my husband and daughter were in different departments of the store and I felt the urge to

  • Live a healthy life, despite the stress

    "True greatness comes when you're tested," President Franklin Roosevelt said during the Second World War, and it still holds true today. Our Airmen are being tested on a daily basis, and greatness is an adjective they have earned. As we continue the eighth year fighting the Global War on Terrorism,

  • Defending America: Ordinary men and women doing the extraordinary

    Harry S. Truman was President from 1945 to 1953 and, in my view, was as great a President as Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, FDR and Regan. Known as "Harry" to a great many Americans, he was an 'ordinary' man from Missouri who did a great many things for our country -- ordinary just like the men and

  • Ethics of March Madness

    Who is going drain the three at the buzzer? Which team will be Cinderella this year? How many times will Dick Vitale shout "Baby" during any given telecast? Like many of you, I love March - not so much for the continued snow storms but for the NCAA Basketball Championships. Like many of you I will