Commentary Search

  • 'Up-size' your emergency funds for the 'down-sized' military

    Airmen must be "fit focused and ready" for any contingency and this includes financial fitness and preparedness. Recent political crises and turmoil on Capitol Hill have highlighted the need for all Americans, particularly military and government workers, to make sure they have sufficient emergency

  • Ask Mehmet: Do Turks celebrate Christmas and New Years

    You might have already noticed that shops throughout Turkey have decorated their windows with pine trees, snow balls, red stockings, and statues and pictures of St. Nicholas. Turks, who are Muslim, may seem like they're observing Christmas like the Christians. But, they aren't celebrating Christmas,

  • How Airmen can affect climate change

    In spite of a bout of jetlag and some post-traumatic stress issues due to winter driving in the D.C. area, I want to take a moment to share some things I learned and pondered as a result of attending a summit last week for Air Force wing commanders. The main purpose of the three-day meeting in the

  • Force management and you

    The Chief of Staff's announcement concerning force management programs should have caught your attention because it could affect your status in next year's Air Force.The Air Force will become smaller, and that means some of you reading this will have important decisions to make very soon. That is

  • Ask Mehmet: Whirling Dervishes

    "Come, come, whoever; whatever you are. Come again infidel, idolator or fire-worshiper. Come again. Our monastery is not a place of despair. Even if you have violated your oaths a hundred times, come again." Millions of people from every corner of the earth have accepted that invitation throughout

  • Imagine hope

    My name is not José.Steve asked me not to use our real names if I write down what I recently learned about the events of 2002. He's not 'Steve,' either. Steve agreed to share his part, and I will tell you mine - our two sides of one story.What follows is our recollections of then and now.José: Steve

  • Holiday colors: red, white, green and ... blue?

    With winter and the holiday season just around the corner, it's a good time to be reminded that not everyone finds this time of year as joyful as others. In fact, we find that people typically experience the largest increase in stress and depressive symptoms between the months of November and

  • Ask Mehmet: What is a wedding dollar?

    "Mehmet, I have seen pieces of paper that very closely resemble the U.S. $1 bill on base. Some of them have been passed off as real money at some vendors on base recently. I've heard they are called 'wedding dollars.' What are they and how are used?"Those pieces of paper you have seen look exactly

  • My AF story

    "Why did I choose to re-enlist in the U.S. Air force? Because I get chills every time I hear the sound of jets flying over me," said Senior Airman Briana Austin, 39th Medical Operations Squadron dental technician. "I love that sound!"When called upon to brief their personal Air Force narrative

  • Call it like it is

    Have you ever done something wrong, intentional or not, that other people might not find out about or at least know who was responsible? Those are defining moments in our lives. Those are moments that can either build character as we make the tough decision to fess up, or they can reveal weakness