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  • LOLLIPOPS AND RAINDROPS

    As I stood at the main gate the Friday before Memorial Day weekend passing out safety fliers and candy and reminding people to drive safely, I had to smile as I mulled over the irony. I'd always maintained you can't sugarcoat safety; yet, there I was handing out lollipops.Indeed, safety can't be

  • STOP THE BADNESS, MADNESS

    Babies born into the world have pretty clean records. Absent are predispositions to commit crimes, establish bad habits or take unnecessary risks such as driving a vehicle too fast. However, as these infants grow into men and women, temptations may lead to badness; and in some cases, the badness

  • OUT OF THE CAVE

    Consider the idea of being chained in a cave, immobile since childhood, and forced to stare at the back wall. Near the opening of the cave, behind you, is a heavily used path. As light beams into the cave, the shadows of the people and objects moving about are projected on the back wall.This

  • LET THE MASTER ANSWER

    The phrase "respondeat superior," which is Latin for "let the master answer," isn't one of those buzz-phrases you frequently hear around Air Force circles.
But employers and their lawyers are quite familiar with this key legal doctrine.Respondeat superior is complicated, but in a nutshell, it is a

  • THE POWER OF WORDS

    Words mean things.The power of language has always intrigued and energized me.From my first speech class at Lake View High School in San Angelo, Texas, and throughout my personal life and Air Force career, I've embraced the power of language. Indeed, the effective use of language, in the form of

  • MONEY IN THE BANK

    Do you like money? I do. And I like to put my money to work in ways that make more money. Conversely, and with two kids in college and a comfortable lifestyle, some of my money does not get put into growth areas. Instead, it is spent on things I want and need. But if I spend all my money, personal

  • FIRST BLOOD

    Multiple helicopters converged on the crash site to save the downed pilot. Suddenly, an apparent surface-to-air missile attack began as what appeared to be flaming red golf balls shot out toward the approaching aircraft. The helicopter pilots took evasive actions as screams of "Taking fire from the

  • HALFWAY THERE

    Is the glass half empty or half full?As we reached the halfway point of fiscal 2009 on April 1, there are certainly two ways to look at this question as far as mishap prevention is concerned.One who views the world via a glass-half-empty lens might emphasize the five fatalities before April 1 and

  • FROM DOT TO DIAMOND

    To many, the town of Eden, Texas, is a dot on a highway map. However, I remember as a 16-year-old novice driver, who had yet to learn Air Force flight and fuel planning techniques, anxiously nursing my old pickup toward this "dot" with my fuel gauge hovering around empty. As I gingerly cleared one

  • RISK MANAGEMENT ... IT DOES WORK!

    Historically, the time between Memorial Day and Labor Day has been spoiled by ground mishaps and fatalities. However, when the Air Force wrapped up its 101 Critical Days of Summer safety campaign this year, it became clear that we enjoyed the safest summer in the last 10 years!But we still need to