Commentary Search

  • Our Thoughts with Japan; Team MacDill standouts

    We ended last week with a devastating tragedy in Japan. I would like to offer our condolences to the family and friends that lost their loved ones in the earthquake and tsunami in Japan last week. We stand ready to assist when called upon. Please keep everyone in your thoughts.I would also like to

  • Courage to tackle any problem

    Throughout my career I've been fortunate to serve with a number of terrific leaders and witness their philosophies on what it took to be successful at all levels. Without a doubt, the one that resonates with me most is to "never walk by a problem." It's simple to understand the value of these five

  • 'There I was ... ' Answering a nation's call

    'There I was' Answering my Nations call, in-processing through PERSCO at Al Udeid, Air Base, starting the sixth deployment of my 15 year Air Force career. Even though I had done this many times before, I was excited about the opportunity to apply everything that I had been trained for, and to do my

  • "There I was ..." Afghanistan deployment an experience in job satisfaction

    There I was landing in Kandahar, Afghanistan on Nov. 20, 2010, bracing myself for the arrival onto the airfield. I was a little nervous but excited to start a new experience. Kandahar was surprisingly quiet in the late hours of the night. As I walked off the airplane, I started to get excited and my

  • It's Personal ...

    While there are a lot of common ideas about leadership, I believe that the "formula" for being a successful leader is a very personal thing. When I sat down to think about my personal leadership philosophy, I found myself reaching back to previous leaders whom I have worked for, both good and bad.

  • We're in the 'yes' business; week's top performers

    Recently, I hosted a series of Commander's Calls in which I met with the MacDill family and discussed a few timely and relevant mission topics.During the "All Call" discussions, I emphasized our overall philosophy of us being in the "yes" business. What I mean by that is that we should have an

  • Farewell to a great leader; thanks to this week’s standouts

    I want to thank you for the support I've seen you giving each other after the sudden passing of our Maintenance Group Commander, Col. David Haar. Thanks for the support you've given Colonel Haar's family-his wife Teri, and his daughters, Melissa and Elizabeth when they truly needed it. Dave was my

  • 'There I was ... ' Rising to the task in Afghanistan

    I had been waiting for a "green" deployment and I finally got one. I was nervous about the deployed environment and the prospective duty I would be performing, but I also wanted to see the broader mission mind set and goals to understand what we were doing in Afghanistan. I was happy to get not just

  • Virtual Finance Customer Service coming to MacDill

    For 20 years I have banked with a financial institution that I have never visited. Most of you can make a similar statement. Advances in IT systems allow us to connect to our financial institutions 24/7. Most of us pay bills, deposit checks, transfer funds and check account status from the comfort

  • Show time for Team MacDill; this week’s standouts

    "Here we go!" Ladies and gentlemen, it's show time for our Operational Readiness Inspection. I know we're going to knock it out of the ballpark! I hope you can make it to the ORI pep rally Friday at 11 a.m. You won't want to miss it!You are OUTSTANDING Airmen -- our 6th AMW and 927th ARW Team will