HomeNewsCommentaries

Commentary Search

  • Differences in sorrow, memories: one year in Honor Guard

    “On behalf of the President of the United States, the United States Air Force and a grateful nation, please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation of your loved one’s honorable and faithful service.”
  • Graphic of the B-2 Spirit as a comic book strip.

    Superhero’s secret: Whiteman AFB ‘sidekicks’

    In the middle of Missouri lives a superhero only a few have ever seen, let alone met. A one-of-a-kind machine, created solely to defend and avenge, that soars high in the clouds in stealthy disguise.

  • Learning ICBM roots through airpower history

    A few years ago while attending a military education course at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, one of my classes was being led by a civilian instructor who was a previous attorney.   He was teaching us about the history of airpower and did so by guiding the class through a case-like explanation of airpower and how it shaped strategic bombing
  • A mural of red dragon that represents the 509th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., April 10, 2018. The 509th AMXS Airmen deliver maximum combat readiness while maintaining a deployable combat force capable of projecting B-2 Spirit global firepower at a moments notice, anytime and anywhere. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Jovan Banks)

    Dragons: 509th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron

    Dragons … death from above!! Is the over-powering cry you hear when a member of the 509th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron’s name is announced at any wing function. Why are we so loud and proud? I’m glad you asked.
  • (Courtesy photo)

    How bad do you want it?

    Like many kids, I loved fast jets and desperately wanted to fly them. Little did I know how hard I’d have to work for it. During high school wood shop, tragedy struck in less than a second. A grab, a jolt, then fluid; I just lost a fight with a table saw. I watched my dream of being a military pilot draining away as the blood poured down my arm. Lying in the surgery room that evening, the doctor told me I might lose three fingers. I woke up scared the next day to find my entire forearm wrapped up to the size of a boxer’s glove.
  • Airman 1st Class Joseph Serrano, a material management specialist assigned to the 28th Logistics Readiness Squadron, presents the first fold of a flag during an honor sequence at the Pride Hangar at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., Oct. 26, 2017. The flag folding sequence entails the march-up formation, the casket carry and the flag fold itself which takes place before or after the eulogy is given. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Nicolas Z. Erwin)

    Honors to showmanship: a weeklong crash course of how to look Honor Guard

    If given the opportunity to get a crash course in your favorite subject, but only in a week, would you take it?

  • What nuclear deterrence should mean to you

    “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” These are the words former President Theodore Roosevelt spoke about his style of foreign policy and it’s still relevant today. The United States has been a nuclear deterrent since the 1940s. Many have questioned whether it’s necessary to possess nuclear weapons, however, I believe it is necessary in order for
  • An unarmed U.S. Air Force Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile launches during an operational test May 3, 2017, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. A team of Air Force Global Strike Command Airmen assigned to the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont., launched the Minuteman III ICBM equipped with a single test reentry vehicle. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Daniel Brosam)

    Keep driving forward

    Bruce Lee said, “…Be formless, shapeless, like water. Now you put water into a cup it becomes the cup, you put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Water can flow, or it can crash. Be water my friend.” I can’t think of a better way to look at life. Ever since I heard him say these words they have
  • Airman 1st Class Zarquis Butler, 90th Security Forces Squadron installation entry controller, hands a firefighter back his ID card at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo., May 1, 2017. The gate guards are responsible for the safety of the installation and it’s personnel. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Breanna Carter)

    Silent Sentinels: Gate guards, our first line of defense

    I wake up every morning, get ready and drive to the base for work. This is my every day routine and once I arrive to the base, I patiently wait in line to hand my ID to the gate guard. I then drive through without a second thought about the daily challenges these men and women have to overcome. I recently had the opportunity to step back from my
  • (U.S. Air Force photo by 2nd Lt. Nikita Thorpe)

    The journey to what I thought was the finish line

    Being introduced to the military when I was 12 years old was one of the best things that could have happened to me and has had a lasting impact on my answer to this question, “What do I want to do in my life?” The lifestyle, comradery and security of being in the military was exactly what I wanted for myself. I had no doubt I would achieve this as
RSS