Commentaries

  • Sexual Assault: The human cost

    The Air Force's Academy is committed to preventing, deterring and prosecuting sexual assault in its ranks. Sexual assault is a crime and is categorically unacceptable. It is incompatible with our core values, it is harmful to our people and it makes us less effective in our core mission: Producing

  • Energy Action Month: Academy works to conserve

    Energy Action Month: Academy works to conserveBy 10th Civil Engineer SquadronAs we enter the third week of Energy Action Month, it's important we continue doing all we're able to conserve energy not only in October, but every day of the year. Each of us has a part to play in meeting the Academy's

  • Turn excuses into opportunities

    In Basic Cadet Training, one of the seven basic responses to any question was, "No excuse, sir or ma'am." No matter the circumstance, a basic cadet is always late, wearing the wrong uniform or giving the wrong answer. When asked to explain my deficiencies as a cadet, my instinct was to defend

  • Energy-saving advances by cadets save tax dollars

    Energy awareness is a national focus during October but for Academy cadets here, it's a topic of interest year-round."Energy is the lifeblood of our society," said Lt. Col. Mark. Reimann, Chemistry Department assistant professor. "Everything we value requires energy and generally the more valuable

  • October is Energy Action Month

    It's that time again! Every October is Energy Action Month and we take time to reflect on energy; and while October is Energy Action Month, we must make energy a consideration in all we do each and every day.Energy is a polarizing topic. It is often associated with someone telling you to turn off

  • 'Bear' essentials: lock up food before winter -- natural resources mgr.

    It's that time of year when black bears near the Academy prepare to hibernate by foraging around the clock, consuming up to 20,000 calories a day. Using their keen sense of smell and memory, bears easily find food before they hibernate and will regularly return to the same area in the spring unless

  • Integrity's healing power

    Integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is watching. This I learned in 1989, as a U.S. Air Force Academy freshman. It was impossible for me to know at the time how much this truism would help me during the most difficult challenge of my life -- surviving and rehabilitating from two

  • It's too easy to find parking

    Most mornings, you're going to have an interesting time finding a parking spot near Harmon Hall unless you have a reserved space. That's not the case anymore. The first Friday after sequestration furloughs took effect, parking spaces were too easy to find. It's a symbolic reminder that offices

  • Train to fight, fight to win

    When most civilians think of the Air Force, I'd bet the first image that comes to their mind is a fighter jet hurtling through the sky at Mach 3, no doubt piloted by a chiseled officer with movie-star looks who goes by the call-sign "Caveman", "Razor", or "Swamp Thing."This is to be expected -- we

  • Lorenz on Leadership: Starting a wonderful journey

    I recently had the honor of attending the swearing-in ceremony for the Class of 2017 here at the Academy. Looking east across the Cadet Area past Vandenberg Hall, I was struck by the large size and beauty of the garrison flag blowing in the slight breeze. Behind me, standing at the top of the class