Are you 'plugged in' to your Air Force?

  • Published
  • By Maj. James Blackman
  • 56th Component Maintenance Squadron
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  We celebrated Veterans Day last month, and many of you may have found yourself being thanked by a member of our great community for your service.

I'm often amazed when talking with members of our local community how much they know about Luke and the Air Force and how they truly want to engage and talk about what we do. What an opportunity, and more appropriately, what an awesome responsibility.

It's this responsibility that I'm talking about in this article; a responsibility to know more than just what you and your shop does for the mission at Luke, but to also know what's going on in your Air Force.

You have tons of information blasted toward you at overwhelming speed on television and high-tech devices you carry with you at all times - it can be overwhelming. So, how do you stay "plugged-in" to what's important, and not just what you've overheard people saying around the "water cooler?"

For example, you should know why "Reinvigorating the Nuclear Enterprise" has been a top priority for the last two years. Don't know? Keep reading and I'll show you the three steps I've found to help manage this overwhelming task.

Three steps to getting and staying "plugged-in"

Step 1.   You must first accept that the responsibility to be "plugged-in" is yours; you cannot simply rely on what others tell you. You have to go get the information for yourself, and get it from credible and multiple sources; no single radio, TV or print media will inform you as well as many sources will.

Step 2.   You're already ahead of the pack; you are already doing step 2 - reading your base paper. You've made it this far through this article, so obviously you are doing pretty well, but before you skip to the classifieds to find that great deal, read the Shirt's Corner, News and Fitness or Global Air Force News articles. In a few minutes you'll be up to speed on what is going on here and around the Air Force.

This last step is for the committed "all in" Airmen, but I think you'll be surprised at what you can learn in just a few minutes with this last step.

Step 3.   On Air Force Portal, under Featured Links, click on Publications & News. From here you can check out Aim Points. Here you'll find Key Messages, Fact and Figures, or Quick Facts, and View From The Top quotes. This monthly one-pager is great when you only have a minute or want to print and take it with you.

Have another minute? Click on Air Force Link and read the Top Stories or Air Force Headlines articles where I'm sure you'll find something you want to know more about. Still have a few minutes, and want more? Click on The Early Bird. This site pulls together all the military and defense related articles from top news organizations across the country in one place - read the headlines and pick one or a few articles that grab your attention.

Take it as a challenge, a few minutes well spent and I'm convinced you'll find yourself more connected to what's going on in our great Air Force, more confident to speak when you have the opportunity, and more capable to carry out this awesome responsibility - to stay "plugged-in" to your Air Force.