Aug. 20, 2009 Combat Power for Afghanistan Today, Aug. 20, is election day in Afghanistan where voters will decide on a new president, and where our American servicemembers are helping to provide security and defend against continued Taliban attacks. Our nation continues to ramp up its missions there in an effort, as President Obama said, to
Aug. 12, 2009 Air Force Ball celebrates service, heritage Sept. 12 Tickets go on sale Friday for one of the best events of the year for Team Scott--the annual Air Force Ball! It's going to be one of the best events because there's been an incredible team working hard behind the scenes to ensure it's an entertaining evening with great food, music and dancing. The
Aug. 12, 2009 Active duty funeral: My experience Everyone is standing around the practice room, huddled into little groups. The tone is light right now, checking over uniforms, practicing routines we could perform with our eyes shut. Some of us have spoken to family members, some of us prefer not to. Then, "Let's go. It's time." The tone changes
Aug. 6, 2009 Scott works with community for air show safety Last week 40 members of the 375th Airlift Wing team met with 25 first responders--fire, police, rescue, medical--from the Greater Scott communities to review response plans for our upcoming air show set for Sept. 19-20. We spent two hours discussing various scenarios and our response procedures for
July 31, 2009 Congratulations RODEO Team Air Mobility Command just finished a week-long competition known as RODEO and two of our very own outstanding pilots earned first place honors as the Best OSA/VIPSAM Aircrew. What that means is that Capts. Tony Marshall and Mike Trodden of the 311th Airlift Squadron (one of our DV hubs at Peterson
July 30, 2009 Encryption keeps cyberspace secure The Department of Defense faces a cyberspace environment today more hostile than any other time in history. Our adversaries continuously attempt to infiltrate and barrage the network with malicious e-mail, scams and phishing attempts. Digitally signing and encrypting e-mail are two components to
July 22, 2009 Four golden rules of leadership Ask any leader and I'm sure they have a leadership book or philosophy that's impacted who they are as a leader. I've read a lot of different ones throughout my career, but while there are many principles or "rules" I think help make an effective leader, these four are some of the most common and
July 22, 2009 A successful visit to Capitol Hill Each year, commanders of installations have an opportunity to go to Capitol Hill to speak with our nation's leaders to provide updates about our priorities and inform them on what our men and women need to ensure mission success. It's a very special opportunity to see the place where our legislature
July 15, 2009 Summer message: Work hard and take leave There's a children's song that asks the question, "Oh, what do you do in the summertime, when all the leaves are green? Do you fish in a stream, or lazily dream on the banks as the clouds go by? Is that what you do?" My answer to that would be "so do I." Well ... at least I try to. That can be a
July 15, 2009 The art of objective decision making Making decisions is something we all do each and every day. Most decisions are made without much thought, almost unconsciously and, in many cases, automatically. Others; however, are decisions that involve time and thought, and can impact more than just ourselves. These are the decisions where the