See the amazing around you Published March 4, 2009 By Col. Gary Goldstone 375th Airlift Wing commander SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- There's a comedian named Chad Rohlfsen who did a sketch on a late night talk show about how everything is amazing, but nobody is happy. He quips about how we used to use those primitive rotary phones that we stood by to dial ... and wait for the "0" to return to its place. Now we get impatient when our cell phones take a few minutes to engage, to which he says, "It's going to space people! Give it a minute!" We complain about boarding a plane that takes 20 minutes and sitting on the ramp for 40, and how we focus on that instead of how we're partaking in the miracle of human flight. "We're in a chair, and we're flying through the air!" he says. Those zings really do remind us that we are living in amazing times. I know we often complain about e-mail being slow ... or how our computers are acting up again. We've come to expect--and depend--upon instant results, not only for our daily life and work agendas, but to accomplish critical missions that are time sensitive. There's still a generation of us out there who remember when it took days, not hours, to accomplish our tasks. Paper forms, carbon copies, typewriters, message traffic -- just a few of the items we've traded for Web-based forms and computer programs. We find ourselves scheduling time away from the computer to touch base with our peers and customers. It truly is amazing what we are able to accomplish with technology today. We can send e-mails to our aircrews and redirect a mission in-flight instead of waiting until that crew is on the ground, which saves time and money. We have aircrews working out of Nevada to fly Unmanned Aerial Vehicles over Iraq, which reduces the manning footprint in the theater of operations. We have incredible amounts of dedicated communications equipment that allow for instant access to commanders who can see all areas of an operations which enables them to make timely, key decisions that affect lives and resources. Along with that technology, though, comes increased responsibility. I don't think more has ever been asked of our folks in today's Air Force. Customer service requires hours not days. Wait times should be minutes not hours and the amount of work that flows through our areas is ten-fold what it used to be just five years ago. It's true that we are expected to do more on our own--manage personnel records, work trip reports, perform online training--and sometimes we may long for the days when there were people who actually did that for us. It seems that more and more is always asked of us, so it's easy to get caught in the cycle of focusing on the things that hamper our ability to respond quickly instead of appreciating the amazing times that we live in. Just think about how your own skills have increased as you've embraced technology, and how the Air Force has done a good job of staying on par with our industry partners--and in many cases, coming up with solutions that benefit industry as well. Just think about how well you are able to stay in touch with family members while you are deployed to remote areas of world. Just think about the medicines and techniques that are saving more of our servicemembers each year and helping them to recover more rapidly than ever before. Just think about all those things that make our way of life incredible. As Chad points out: "We don't have to write a check to ourselves and have the president's approval to withdraw cash at the banks anymore" thanks to the amazing ATM system. So, next time you find yourself sitting on the ramp in an aircraft waiting for takeoff, try to see the amazing around you. After all, Internet on the aircraft wasn't there five years ago and sitting in a chair that flies through the air is truly one of the miracles of mankind.