Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians

Commentaries

  • Values are hallmark of true professionals

    From entry-level training for new recruits to the every-day news coverage of events in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere around the world, we are constantly told that today's military is the most "professional" in America's history.Within the Air Force, we pride ourselves on being "professional"

  • AEF: Bending, but not broken

    The air and space expeditionary forces concept survives, but both it and our airmen are being stressed to the limit.Increased operations and the potential for more are placing demands on our armed forces like never before. In our Air Force, these demands exceed current steady-state requirements in

  • If all the world's a stage...

    Reality programming has taken over our televisions.On any given channel on any given day, there seems to be a set of strangers or celebrities competing for money, fame or each other. Millions of viewers are privy to whichever intimate details about these "players" the producers of the shows decide

  • Helping children cope with deployment

    Deployments are often very stressful for the people left behind. Those affected most may be the deployed member's children.Changes seen in children can be distressing for both the stateside and deployed parent, as well as the child struggling with the parent's departure.The most important

  • Develop, review wellness checklist

    Air Force pilots are trained that checklists are one of the most important tools in the aeronautical decision-making process.Pilots at all stages of flying from the student to the command pilot use checklists. Pilots use a very extensive checklist during preflight to determine airworthiness of the

  • Why I joined the military - why I became an airman

    I know you've been asked the question, "Why did you join the military?" I have, and just recently thought about my answer.To be quite frank, my initial reason for joining the military was selfish. I enlisted Aug. 15, 1985, because I was unsure what I wanted to do with my life. I believed the

  • Simple patriotic act reflects commitment to service

    Much is made in the press and popular culture about the generation that is currently coming of age to join the military -- the generation that will replace us as the future of the Air Force.The recurring theme is that they are not the service type, that their horizons are viewed through a lens of

  • Once an airman, forever an airman

    It's one of those things that sneaks up on you. You are ambling along, doing your job each day, enjoying life, when suddenly your life changes, never to be the same. You don't really like it, but you must accept it because you can't do anything about it. So you start making plans to deal with

  • Conquer evil mushrooms this year

    There is a video game I remember from my youth on which the unseen 'god of the game' slowly but surely pushes your character forward. If you don't do anything, your character is eventually killed by being pushed off a cliff or into an evil mushroom.I hated that level. I liked having the option of

  • Get your troops ready for deployment

    Deployments have become a bigger part of our lives these days. Many of us have deployed in the past, and some of us are more familiar about certain places than others.Lately, the places we are deploying to are new to us -- places we aren't even sure we can find on a map, let alone try to