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  • Discovering Your Definition of Success

    My sons, Julian and Jaren (or “the boys” as I lovingly refer to them), often ask questions about what I do in the Air Force and if I enjoy going to work every day. Without hesitation, I begin my obligatory 10-minute lecture on how serving in the Air Force serves the greater good of our country and

  • That is how one learns we are a team

    When I started at the 349th Air Mobility Wing as a non-prior service Airman more than 15 years ago, I really had no idea what being in the Reserves was all about. When I showed up on my very first day at the hospital auditorium as a newly-minted major, a master sergeant pulled me aside and helped me

  • Trend Buckers

    With increasing regularity in society’s faster-paced work environments, many disciplines are publishing articles about employee burnout. More so in the private sector, industries are resourcing workplace wellness programs to counter stress. Organizations with these programs are realizing

  • My longest race

    American running guru and Olympian Jeff Galloway said, “The more you frame the marathon as a stressful experience, the more negative messages you’ll receive. But it’s just as easy to frame it as a positively challenging journey.”

  • Find someone to chase

    As we ushered in a new year, I reflected on almost 20 years of service in the world’s greatest Air Force. A look back showcased a copious amount of change that has occurred since the 1990s, or as my children would say “the 1900s.”

  • My struggle with sleep apnea

    I'm 36 years old, an Airman, a noncommissioned officer, an aviator, a husband and the father of a little girl. I also have Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Before my OSA was treated, it was a dangerous and merciless creature that endangered all other aspects of who I am.

  • Dare to fail

    I don’t recall my specific age, but I remember being out of college and getting ready to leave for Officer Training School when my father handed me a small package. Inside was a frame, not the expected picture of my family, but a poem that begins with, “You’ve failed many times, although you may

  • How do you define inspirational leadership?

    I’m a huge fan of Gen. David Goldfein’s bold vision to achieve joint warfighting excellence in an era of strategic competition. In the Air Force’s Chief of Staff’s seminal podcast titled “War on the Rocks,” he underscored the importance of the fundamental fighting formation of the Air Force: the

  • Challenging experiences develop character, strength and confidence

    Challenging experiences present an opportunity and an occasion for personal and professional growth. When faced with these, will we let them defeat us? Will we decline the challenge? Or, will we seek them out and accept them, defeat them, and become stronger, more experienced and skilled individuals

  • Unleashing the innovative spirit of Airmen

    We’re doing it again. We’re taking the momentum of a renewed focus on innovation and beginning to squander its potential, making it “just the next thing.” While senior leaders continue to emphasize innovation, our Airmen are becoming frustrated with the pace of real progress and the disproportionate