15 Mar 2010

Writing Women into History: Col. Laura Koch

The theme of this year's Women's History Month, "Writing Women Back into History," affords us an opportunity to focus on individuals who are making history at Maxwell-Gunter. Col. Laura J. Koch, the Air Force Officer Training School commander, is an individual dedicated to molding new officers to meet the challenges of the future.Many of the new

15 Mar 2010

National Dental Assistants Appreciation Week

Despite being far removed from the setting of dental school, I have vivid memories of its difficulties. Few of those memories are more prominent than that of not having an assistant. Each dental student was responsible for being the secretary, assistant and dentist all in one. Every day that I've had an assistant to facilitate, I have been

15 Mar 2010

Eating an Elephant

Ok, I'll admit two of the things I love most in life are fitness and money. Not necessarily in that order, but they both are high on my list. Unfortunately it seems they are also the hardest to attain. They share many commonalities, but one thing is certain, you can't just wake up one morning and be fit, and unless you're a lottery winner, you

4 Mar 2010

Making a difference, one leader at a time: Brig. Gen. Teresa Djuric

"Writing Women Back into History," the theme of this year's Women's History Month, affords us an opportunity to focus on individuals who are currently making history at Maxwell-Gunter.The first of these, Brig. Gen. Teresa Djuric, commander of the Jeanne M. Holm Center for Officer Accessions and Citizen Development, exemplifies the difference a

3 Mar 2010

Lorenz on Leadership -- The solid foundation

Our Air Force has more than 175,000 civilian employees spread across the globe. In fact, they make up more than 25 percent of our authorized Total Force end strength. The civilian force fills an ever-increasing role in daily mission accomplishment, especially as we've experienced personnel reductions over the past 20 years and, many would argue, no

18 Feb 2010

Lorenz on Leadership -- A dynamic tradition

Our Air Force has many traditions. Some we inherited from other services; others are more recent and will take time to fully develop. Traditions are positive things, deeply rooted in our heritage and pride. Traditions are things we don't easily give up.One of our traditions, however, isn't often recognized as "positive" and doesn't get the applause

3 Feb 2010

Lorenz on Leadership -- A mentor's influence

Mentors touch our lives and help shape us into the people that we are today. We value mentorship in the Air Force and both develop it in our subordinates while seeking it from our supervisors. I like to think that one cannot have enough mentors, nor can one mentor enough. I've had many through the years, but one sticks out above the rest. This

25 Jan 2010

Is this the best you can do?

At work this week, did you give each and every task your best effort, or did you prioritize a heavy workload by cutting a few corners here and there? Would all of your work this week have passed the Kissinger test? In the field of U.S. foreign policy, arguably the most significant single person over the past four decades is Dr. Henry Kissinger.

19 Jan 2010

Following the dream ... Today and the day after

The time has come once again to celebrate the vision and dream of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. During the month of January, we gather to remember what then seemed "a voice crying in the wilderness." How could America of that time transition to the America of the dream? Was Dr. King a man born before his time? Was the dream really possible, or was it

5 Jan 2010

Maintaining the Human Weapons System

It all started during an Elmendorf staff meeting. Seeing a major I didn't know, I introduced myself. In reply she spoke a sentence that still echoes in my mind. "Hello Chief, I'm Major Jennifer Halter, I am a crew chief on the human weapons system." Puzzled, I asked for clarification and she replied, "I am a crew chief on the human weapons system;