It's been awhile

Hey everyone,
Boy has it been awhile since I have last been on here. I'm not very good about this blogging thing. Anyways. I have a few excuses, I was deployed to Afghanistan for a little over 6 months and in training before that, I'm a part time Nursing Student pursing my degree and Commission in the Air Force and I'm getting ready to make the big move across the ocean back to America. I will be PCSing to Buckley AFB. I'm so excited about this move. I'm so ready to be living back in America.  I will also be finishing up the rest of the classes I need to apply to the Commissioning Programs. This is going to be a big chapter in my life and I'm very much looking forward to it.

Well just wanted to let people know that I'm still here and plan on being more active on this blog then I have been.

Cheers.

From a Retired Air Force CMSgt

Today I sat in a meeting with the rest of my office. We had the privilege to meet with our Chief of Operations Mr. Gentz a retired Air Force  CMSgt. He is the Boss of all my Boss's. He is a big deal around here. I have met with him on several occasions for work related things. Let me tell you he is one of the greatest speakers I have ever listened too.  But today really did it for me. He shared with us some inspiring and motivating information.  Now I would like to share it with my reader's out there and pass on the inspiration and motivation.

Own your name and take care of your name, Have pride in what you do, your name is on it.

3 Pea's in a Pod

1) Persistant
2) Perseverance
3) Passion

These 3 things are key to achieving your goals which achieve your dreams.

1) Make success a choice when you wake up.

2) Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.

5 Keys to Have

1) Staffing- Win this thing together

2) Training- Take advantage of OJT, and other training available to you, never pass it away

3) Planning- Dreams are where we end up, goals are how we got there.

4) Atitude- Stress is your enemy. Pressure is your alliance.

5) Teamwork- A team always beats an individual. As Mr. Gentz put it, you can have the best basketball player in the world but with out teamwork you will never win the title's.

These are just the few key things I picked up today. I hope you find this as useful as I have already. Today after this my brain was really cranking thinking about how I could use these key things to help me become a better Human and Team Player.

"Seize the Moment"

Operation Open Wings

Today I received final approval for ACE's Fundraiser Event to raise money for the American Red Cross Relief Fund for Haiti!

I was home on the friday night after the earthquake had happened, and experienced a 5.3 Earthquake for the first time here on Okinawa. Then I thought to myself after being a little frightened that this could be us. I put myself in the Haitian people's shoes, and being on a small island realized that we would be asking and praying for help from surrounding countries just like they have been. And would rely on outside help to get through such a devastation. So I then realized that we could do something amazing and help and support the Island Nation of Haiti from the other side of the World. So over the weekend I came up with a plan and mission and named it Operation Open Wings. I knew that it would be impossible for me to do this myself and that I was going to need to put a team together to achieve the mission.

So first thing Monday morning last week I brought it to my ACE (Airman Committed to Excellence) Executives to see if we could sponsor this Operation. Well they gave it go. Since then I have been teaming up with Private Organizations around Team Kadena including Operation Warm heart who is our co-sponor, Top 3, Chiefs Club, CGOC, 5/6 Club, Red Cross and a few others. As a TEAM we are working together to put on some fundraising events. Our big one is going to be a 5k Run, 5 Feb 2010. Meet in front of Risner Gym. Registration will begin at 0615 and the run will start at 0700. To run there will be a $5 minimum donation.

 We have set a goal of raising 10k. To do this we are going to need a minimum of 2000 runners! Some people have said that's a little high. And some people reading this will think the same but it's not. We have 20,000+ people on Kadena Air Base and we are asking for 2000 runners. So this can be done and we are going to work hard to see that it gets done.

 We are asking for support from Commanders to encourage their people to come out for Friday morning P.T and participate in a good cause and help raise money for the American Red Cross to give to the unfortunate victims of Haiti.

Feeling the Effects of the Surge

So today I found out that I'm deploying to Afghanistan in 10 months. I'm lost for words really. Most People Civilians wouldn't understand what I'm about to say but I'm a little excited. Not excited b/c I'm going to fight a war but excited because this will be a big learning experience for me. I serve my country everyday doing my everyday job in the military but now I will be able to serve my country by helping with the war effort and being part of a team to help accomplish an overall mission. 

I feel our Country has once again fallen apart. In my opinion I wonder if the big decision makers in D.C remember why we went over there in the first place. It seems like this is going to be a never ending war because their really isn't any end game plan yet. But I hold faith in the system that they are working on a plan.

If your out there reading this, I would like you to do one simple task. If you see somebody in uniform go up to them and shake their hand. It might sound like nothing but it means a lot. Also take the time to really think about what the Military is doing over there. It's not all bad. A lot of good stuff is going on as well. When watching the news pay attention to the positive details or go online to your local Military website and read some of the stories of the war effort. I truly believe it will surprise you.

I'm Back

I know it's been some time since I have blogged but life has kept me busy in these last few months.

In the last 4 months I have:

1. PCS to Kadena AB in Okinawa, Japan
2. Moved and set up a new home
3. Got settled into a new work environment with new people.
4. Enrolled and completed 2 College Courses one at UF (Go Gators) and one at UMUC here on the island.
5. Became a member of ACE and have volunteered for a few ACE events
6. Was a CFC key personnel
7. Volunteered for numerous squadron activities
8. Working on getting my husband transferred from the National Guard to AF Active Duty (which we are still working on, see post below)
9. Last but not least I'm up for BTZ this month, So for almost the last 2 years I have been making sure I'm being the best Airman I can be and utilizing the core values so I can win BTZ (for all you civilians, BTZ- Below the Zone, pretty much means you put on E-4 on 6 months early)

So yes I have been slacking on blogging and those were my 9 excuses.

I'm still getting adjusted to living in another country. It's hard being here without my husband by my side. There is so much I want to do but I don't want to do it without him. On the brighter side when he does finally get here their will be lots to do. This island in filled with adventures upon adventures. If anyone ever comes up to me and tells me they are bored I will laugh at them. It is impossible to get bored here.

The Okinawans are wonderful people. Anywhere you go you always receive the warmest welcomes. They will go out of their way to help you find anything and they absolutely love it when you try to speak the language. (btw: the language is only as hard as you make it) I have picked up a few phrase and I'm planning on taking a class to further my Japanese communication skills.

Here are a few pictures from the last 4 months which include the 18 CE Combat Dining and a few others.

Afghanistan

This is a very true article and everyone should read this. In my personal opinion I believe we should support our troops and support the original intention for going into Afghanistan. I believe in sending more troops to help execute the strategy will have a faster result on getting the job done. So we can get the hell out of dodge.

Busy Times

So it's been awhile since I have posted anything new. I received orders to Kadena AB a few months ago and will be heading there in a few weeks. Anybody in the military can understand what a busy time this is for me. As well as receiving orders, I married my love, my best friend and my soul mate Aron. Aron in in the National Guard and for the last few months we have been contacting all of our sources so Aron can come with me to Japan. He was supposed to deploy but with his deployment and training this summer that will keep us apart for about 2 years. Any with our marriage so new that makes it tougher. But we are swinging until we hit the ground and we are supposed to know something pretty soon, so keep your fingers crossed.

Blogging in the Air force world is starting to grow. I was approhed by public affairs here at whiteman a few weeks ago and they are very interested in getting a blog started for the base. I think it would be great in my personal opinon. It's the new way of commiuncating to the public at least with the younger generation. I think eventually they could grow with a blog and maybe discontuiue the newspaper. But this is a touchy subject. some people are not ready to get rid of the newspaper. Yes the newspaper is a classic way of learning current events, but the base paper is maybe 5 to 10 pages long and takes about 5 minutes to read. Really who actually reads the paper every friday when it comes out. I'm not sure how many they actually print but I'm sure it's to many. To me I think it is a waste of time and money that could be used in other areas that would benefit the public affairs better. But that's just my opinon.

I hope to keep up more with my blog especially when i pcs to Kadena. I'm sure I will have plenty of interesting things to write about there.

p.s. any opinons on bases blogging?