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  • This is a photo of me and my grandmother after I graduated from basic training Oct. 14, 2011. Family is important to me as I reflect on the holidays. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Jaeda Tookes)

    Ditch the shopping list: Cherish this holiday season

    For many people the holidays are the happiest times of the year. Families come together, sales are everywhere, houses are decorated to the nines and often it is the time when people are in a giving spirit.Unfortunately in the midst of all this holiday cheer, many department stores are now opening their doors Thanksgiving Day for Black Friday

  • Setting myself up for financial success

    Finances, one of those topics we tend to avoid in public situations. We cringe at the thought of someone ever seeing what we spend our money on. It’s a subject that brings about various fervid complications.Why? Why does money have to be a subject seen as taboo? From a young age we are taught it is rude to ask someone how much money they earn.It is

  • Moving Forward: 20th AF/CC outlines professional development initiatives

    Today, more than 11,000 “Sentinels” currently serving in 20th Air Force are following in the footsteps of our first commanders - Generals Henry H. “Hap” Arnold, Curtis E. LeMay and Nathan F. Twining - founding fathers of the United States Air Force and global strike innovators. For more than 55 years, the men and women who served in the ICBM
  • Hazel Ying Lee, left, was one of approximately 1,100 civil service Women Airforce Service Pilots that flew Army aircraft during World War II and was the first Chinese-American woman to fly for the United States military. Pfc. Emma Jane Windham Burrows served in the U.S. Army Air Forces during the war and was the Women’s Army Corps’ first crew chief and aerial engineer. Great Falls, Mont., is significant to both of their stories. (U.S. Air Force photo illustration/John Turner)

    Paths of two Air Force women ‘firsts’ crossed over Great Falls

    An Army newspaper from Aug. 25, 1944, shows Pfc. Emma Jane Burrows Windham wearing a leather flying jacket, fire extinguisher in hand, and grinning near a B-17 bomber. "Windy," according to the article, earned her air crew status in June while with the 7th Ferrying Group at Gore Field in Great Falls, Montana. Windham is today considered the first

  • Why traffic stops during reveille and retreat

    As the drum roll of the national anthem began on base, my guests were puzzled when I stopped our conversation mid-sentence, turned toward the music and placed my right hand over my heart. We were outdoors. Nearby, traffic on Goddard Drive lurched to a halt.After the last note faded, I explained that this event occurs every day at 4:30 p.m. as the

  • Leadership and education – you can’t have one without the other

    Leaders are confident, respectful, consistent, involved and self-aware.  Interestingly, all Airmen should also be confident, respectful, consistent and self-aware. Therefore, all Airmen have the capacity for leadership. It sounds simple, right? Well, how do you get these characteristics? Through education! Education is the pursuit of knowledge.

  • Remembering those who aren't home for holidays

    In December 1944, over 63,000 American GIs languished in prisoner of war camps in both theaters of war.As the holidays approached, more than 7,000 prisoners waited out the war at Stalag Luft I near Barth, Germany. The POWs continued to celebrate Christmas the best they could under the depressing conditions of their detention.Col. Einar Malmstrom

  • Purpose of our service

    It has certainly been a great year here at Malmstrom. An incredible effort by so many people led to wing success at every turn. Our recent domination of the competition during Global Strike Challenge and bringing the Blanchard Trophy home as the Air Force's best missile wing was certainly a testament to the kind of year we have had. Now, although
  • Maj. Gen. Anthony J. Cotton, 20th Air Force and Task Force 214 commander. (File photo)

    The Journey Continues...

    It's wonderful to again be a part of the nation's ICBM team! Marsha and I are excited to return to the mission that has provided us so much personal and professional camaraderie and growth through the years. As I begin serving with you, I want to share a few thoughts that will help you get acquainted with me and understand my intent.I am an Airman,

  • Lessons learned from a boy wizard

    I have always been an avid reader. My grandmother started teaching me to love reading early in my life. She would spend countless hours reading aloud to me and encouraged me to find a love in literature. My grandfather-her husband- and my mother are both illiterate. My grandmother knew if I didn't learn from her, I never would.I grew up in a home
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