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  • Are you a squared away Airman?

    Remember the Unit Compliance Inspection? LCAP? HSI? NORI?The great attitudes of 452d Airmen were one of the key ingredients to the success we had during the compliance inspection cycle and Nuclear Operational Readiness Inspection in 2010. I credit much of that success to preparation, but attitude

  • Veteran's Affairs: exceeding expectations

    I didn't think much when I filled out a form at the Veteran's Affairs table during my attendance at a recent Army Reserve Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program. But now, after my third appointment at the Veteran's Affairs Medical Center in less than a month, I am highly impressed by the service I

  • Just a boyfriend

    A gust of frigid rain pummeled my face.  The hems of my Navy uniform pants wicked rainwater as I splashed across the sidewalk. Inside the dry safety of my car, I cranked the seat heaters to high. It was another stormy day in the long string of stormy days we'd had so far that winter. It was another

  • Reflections from Turkey

    Three weeks ago, I was in Turkey. Just after Christmas, I flew one of our C-17s to Incirlik Air Base to visit the Team March Airmen who deployed there in October. On the aircraft were the majority of the deployers who were rotating into Turkey for the next two months. Although Turkey is about 7,000

  • An exceptional care package

    One of my most vivid memories of my deployment to Iraq is the adrenaline rush of receiving care packages. The arrival of a care package could instantly turn a bad day into a euphoric one. Receiving care packages was so important to me that I often wrote about them in my diary.At the beginning of the

  • Resolve to be FITT

    New Year's resolutions have a habit of falling by the wayside, so I'm personally leery of setting resolutions that become problematic within a few weeks. A more useful approach for the new year might be to spend a little time in introspection. Just as April 15th is the deadline for filing federal

  • It's your turn to relax

    Every September, the 452nd Air Mobility Wing squadrons--normally split into two separate unit training assembly weekends--join together for a combined unit training assembly. The purpose of the combined UTA is not to fill every hotel room in Riverside and Moreno Valley and lengthen your morning

  • A few kind words

    With the UCI inspection behind us, we are all breathing a collective sigh of relief. It's nice to know that we are all focused as one team fighting the same fight for this strong, prevailing country we are blessed enough to call home.Whether it is stateside or overseas, in an inspection or our

  • Spreading holiday cheer

    Sitting down to a feast with family and friends is traditionally one of the highlights of the holiday season. However, the requirements of military duty both at home and abroad oftentimes mean service members are forced to celebrate the holidays while separated from their loved ones.Such was the

  • Sporting a 'tude

    Remember the old Minolta camera commercial? Andre Agassi is aggressively pounding the ball across the tennis court to his opponent. In the final segment of the commercial, he trades his racquet for a camera and as he snaps away he remarks, "Attitude is everything!"Attitude is a key ingredient to