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  • Most impressed with the heart

    Monday we received our staff assistance visit out-brief from the U.S. Air Forces in Europe team. We did well and have a clear roadmap to use in our preparations for the inspection in September. We had 19 areas identified as "strengths" and 27 areas identified as "needing improvement." Our personnel

  • The Darwinian way

    We are on the right track to developing a culture of making responsible choices. For three weekends in a row we have managed to avoid any alcohol related incidents, in large part because of the combination of Wingman support and responsible choices. Accordingly, we have dialed back our DIGITCON

  • Safety, smafety

    As we walk into this four-day weekend we kick-off the 101 Critical Days of Summer Safety Campaign. The campaign begins at 4 p.m. today and ends at 7 a.m. Sept. 5. During last year's campaign the Air Force experienced 29 fatalities compared to 32 the previous year. Now before I write another word,

  • Four days, one year later

    At 4:10 p.m. May 25 I asked everyone at the Memorial Day ceremony to look at their watches and note the time. I then told everyone that they were alive and to keep it that way through the supersized weekend ... four days later, you did it. Well done ... no one got bent or broken and you all are

  • Your sole contribution to the sum of things is yourself

    I was running around the base perimeter this past weekend. I was running on the white stripe that defined the road's shoulder. As I looked out in front of me I noticed that I could see the white stripe stretch out before me for about 100 meters and then it blurred away. Have you ever noticed when

  • What did you do during the war?

    I am struck by the opening scene in the movie Patton where George C. Scott is giving a speech as General Patton and telling the troops that they should be proud because years from now they will not have to tell their grandchildren that they were shoveling &%@! in Louisiana during the great war.

  • Lawn chair Larry

    With the Fourth of July upon us, convention would have me write about America, independence and freedom. This article will not follow convention. Rather, I'd like to tell you why I have come to approach each weekend and holiday with a degree of trepidation. What a difference a year makes. Last year

  • COMUSAFE extends holiday wishes

    Another holiday season is upon us. As you spend well deserved time with your family and friends, I ask you to keep safety in the forefront of your thoughts. Reflecting on last year's holiday season, we had 20 reportable mishaps between thanksgiving and new year's. These incidents covered a wide

  • Time to get busy

    The only place that success comes before work is in the dictionary. Amazing results occur when people set a course, pursue it with relentless passion and keep their mind focused on the desired result. For Incirlik, the desired result is a win in our September inspection. Now is the time to

  • Six Airmen in a tub

    Early Sunday morning (some time between midnight and 3 a.m.) I got a call from the command post. I often have a hard time reconstructing the specifics of these late night and early morning calls, but in this particular case the image was indelibly printed in my cranium. Apparently we had six Airmen