Commentary

Trust is a valuable asset in our Air Force. To me, it is the cornerstone to our core values. Throughout our military education we are taught to trust our fellow Airmen. We build a foundation around that trust.

Success is rarely by accident; each successful person can normally attribute their achievements to a leader who had a significant impact on their career and life. This January marks the 13th anniversary of National Mentoring Month, and it is appropriately themed “Mentoring Works!”

What images or thoughts does the phrase “shock and awe” give you? This phrase, originally included in a published paper by National Defense University in 1996, suggested its use to achieve rapid dominance with the goal to destroy or confound an adversary’s will to resist with no alternative except to capitulate.

When people ask me what I do in the Air Force, the best way I can describe it to them is, “I’m a journalist.” Though this is the best way I can describe it, it is not exactly true.

We hear the term “wingman” a lot. “Keep an eye on your ‘wingman.’” “Be a good ‘wingman.’” “Know what your ‘wingman’ is up to.” But do we really know what it means to be a “wingman?”

My name is not José. Steve asked me not to use our real names if I write down what I recently learned about the events of 2002. He’s not “Steve,” either. Steve agreed to share his part, and I will tell you mine — our two sides of one story. What follows is our recollections of then and now.

Trust is a small word with immense consequence. It is the key component to effective organizational communication, the driving force for innovation, and the key element of successful leaders and the organizations they lead. When you walk into an organization, you know if there’s a culture of trust. You either feel it, or you don’t.