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  • They Walk Among Us

    Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force #5 Robert "Bob" Gaylor landed at McGhee Tyson Airport on August 2, 2011. The Paul H. Lankford Enlisted Professional Military Education Center hosted the 81-year-old former U.S. Air Force top enlisted leader for a little more than 24 hours as he dined with

  • Follow our leaders...and rediscover mentorship

    Much has been written about mentorship: its importance, how to mentor, choosing a mentor, mentoring subordinates, mentoring peers, reverse-mentorship, and so forth. Attempts to codify, formalize, or in extreme cases, even mandate mentorship often result in the "self-licking ice cream cone" syndrome.

  • Tradition of excellence handed to new leader of Lankford Center

    I.G. Brown Air National Guard Training and Education Center may be the least familiar higher education campus in Blount County. Surrounded by a security fence and protected by armed guards, it is not easily accessible.But when it comes to maintaining the nation's security and to attracting a diverse

  • The Accidental Veteran

    My friend Gail Spain was an accidental veteran. Like many of his age (born in 1947) he began college but soon felt a draft. His grades did not merit a deferment but he did have enough credits to qualify for an Army commission and so he became what was then known as a "ninety-day wonder." Lieutenants

  • Tough Times Demand Tougher Leaders

    These are tough times to be a leader! Just take a look at the front page of any newspaper and you'll see why. Wall Street is a mess! Unemployment is sky-high and rising! Detroit auto makers are about to go bankrupt! The economy is in a recession! Where does it all end? As someone once said, "These

  • Memorial Day Thoughts

    In the basement family room of my wife's Iowa farmhouse is a pretty standard collage of family photos. Some are of now nameless turn-of-the-century relatives and some are fairly recent, portraying growing grandchildren. On one wall are three perfectly level rows of six 5x7 photos corresponding to

  • The Best and Worst of Mankind

    Forty years ago tomorrow I was a Texas teenager, about to enter high school, and astronauts were about to land on the moon. To have lived and experienced that historic event remains a highlight of my life.As a boy I had a love of all things science and space. Astronauts were my heroes. I recall