• Military members should review Political Activities – Do’s and Don’ts

    As servicemembers have likely noticed, political advertisements are running on TV, radio and the occasional billboard along the interstate. "Vote for Me" and "Don't Vote for My Opponent" seem to be the standard messages. Oftentimes, advertisements try to recruit servicemembers to help candidates get

  • Leaders must bust EPR myths

    Three common enlisted performance report writer misperceptions are:- Master sergeants and higher automatically get "fire-walled" (5) EPRs.- Fudging facts in bullets is OK as long as it sounds good.- Formal feedback is not required and doesn't help writing EPRs.5 EPRs are where the bar starts for

  • Don't hide your pride

    How often do you feel proud to be in the military? How about in the Air Force or your unit? I would hope that every day you feel proud to be part of each one of these groups, but only for the one reason that makes that possible: pride in yourself.The military and the Air Force are viewed with

  • Shine a light on darkness

    This year has been a regretfully record-setting one in the Air Force for suicides.I feel stirred to expose the darkness and help end this unnecessary negative trend. War itself sinks morale because it's external as well as internal for people of any rank. Those of us who are in the military may feel

  • Never self-limit

    Unfortunately, I am not smart enough to read something, internalize it and act upon it correctly right off of the bat. I have to live it and test it. Most of the time this is unintentional, and I don't realize what I've done until I have an opportunity to go back and reflect on what just happened to

  • Education apparently never ends

    One reason I joined the military instead of heading to college after high school was to take a break from all of that learning.It's been 28 years and I'm still waiting.I just completed National Defense University's Senior Enlisted Joint Professional Military Education Course, which I had sidestepped

  • Adopt supervisor's good traits to improve workplace

    If one does an internet search on "leadership," it will return hundreds of quotes by well-known leaders each giving a brief glimpse of their concept of leadership. But how do we apply those quotes to our daily lives?All of us have encountered leaders who were not good at leading. We've known leaders

  • CCAF's pro manager certification a valuable tool

    In January 2011, the Community College of the Air Force created a Professional Manager Certification to recognize the leadership training and experience possessed by active-duty and reserve senior NCOs and qualified technical sergeants.The certification is an especially valuable tool for reserve

  • Late supervisor continues to teach Air Force, life lessons

    The best Air Force boss I've ever had was a Navy brat who never served a day in uniform.Tracey Schwarze was my civilian supervisor in a reserve airlift wing from 1989 to 1991 when she was in her late 20s. I was five years younger and respected her immediately because she was bright, hardworking and

  • A reserved perspective

    I thought I knew what it was like to be an honored member of the Air Force family with 13 years of active-duty service in the regular Air Force consisting of six years as an enlisted member and seven years as an officer. My family and I moved around a lot in that time, gaining numerous experiences.