Commentaries

  • Enlisting during a Pandemic

    Why'd you decide to serve your country? It's a question you get a lot as a new enlistee. When I raised my right hand and swore-in, Dec. 23, 2019, I knew I wanted to do something better with my life, but I didn't realize I’d start serving during one of the most devastating health crises of our

  • Follow my lead

    “What type of parent do I want to be?” is the question many of us face when approaching the prospect of parenthood. I believe the answer to this question is found in the answer to another question: “What kind of child am I hoping to raise?”

  • Shouldering, shedding and sharing burdens

    The word burden often carries a negative connotation. The word burden often conjures up thoughts of hardship and despair. Years ago, my greatest source of inspiration for leadership, “The Book,” changed how I viewed the concept of burdens. My favorite chapter provides three major takeaways on the

  • Celebrating military children

    What is the origin of the Month of the Military Child? The Month of the Military Child is part of a legacy left by former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger. Since his establishment of the Month of the Military Child in 1986, there have been an increasing number of campaigns, recognizing the needs

  • Raised on resiliency: How military parents shape their child’s experiences

    As a military child, I didn’t realize what I was facing wasn’t what other children my age were experiencing. Now, I am a brand-new mother and a dual military spouse. My husband, Brendan, and I grew up as military children in two very different ways, but both of us came to understand what it meant to

  • Developing Resilient Leaders

    As a command team, one of our strategic priorities is to focus on how we develop resilient leaders. We recognize the importance of leaders who have a high degree of emotional intelligence at all levels, as technical competence alone will not guarantee our future success.

  • Techniques for Feedback up the Chain of Command

    If you’re in the Air Force, you have likely attended a commander's call where all attendees are encouraged to leverage open-door policies, speak truth to power, and provide feedback up the chain of command to help accelerate the changes needed in today's Air Force.

  • Volunteer Victim Advocates welcome

    April is Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month! As SAPR program members and victim advocates, we’d like to take this opportunity to explain a little more about sexual assault victim advocacy, the duties we perform and how to get involved if you’d like serve others in this capacity.

  • Military, civil service career is a team sport!

    Accomplishing the military mission takes tremendous effort from the people who pledge to serve yet those same people don't serve alone. 301st Fighter Wing Process Manager Stephanie Williams shares the value of the people in her life who allowed--and still allow--her to serve this nation.

  • The Importance of Leading Up

    When I arrived at Dover for my command tour, I was coming off a year as an instructor at Squadron Officer School, followed by a year as a student at Air Command and Staff College, where I was introduced to a concept called meta-leadership. The concept was originally developed at Harvard and is