Author: Kearny
-
What’s Your Why?
If you don’t know why you’re doing something, your effort is in vain. This article incorporates concepts from the U.S. Air Force’s “Comprehensive Airmen Fitness” resiliency program. My examples and uses are my own. Without a doubt, one of my favorite motivational speakers is Dr. Eric Thomas. It is impossible not to get completely pumped about whatever you’re trying to accomplish in life…
-
Uniforms Matter
A uniform is a symbol that represents your organization and affords legal authority and accountability. Anyone following the news recently has heard about ICE’s intervention against Black Lives Matters protestors in Portland, Oregon. While many have expressed concerns about the agents themselves being “unmarked,” in all reality, their uniforms were marked, though with subdued patches. Where the…
-
Three Expectations
As a senior enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, I have three expectations of officers. A senior non-commissioned officer – or SNCO – carries a wide range of responsibilities in the U.S. military. Depending on their position, they are expected to be the top-tier technical experts, competent administrators of enlisted-specific issues, supervisors, program managers, functional…
-
My Top 5 Travel Apps
Traveling is hard, but these mobile apps take the sting out of it. Let’s just get this out of the way: I miss traveling. I enjoy doing it for both work and pleasure, but like all of you, COVID-19 has got me spending a lot more time around the house. Eventually, we’ll be getting back on the…
-
Military Professionalism: How to Do it Right
It starts with recognizing that war is a family business. In 2015, I was attending the U.S. Air Force’s Mathies Non-Commissioned Officer Academy down in Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi. While I certainly valued the lessons I learned through the course material; I like to tell people that the real benefit to in-residence professional military education (PME)…
-
How to Ride a Dead Horse
James Clapper’s wonderful and humorous anecdote on Washington D.C. I’m in the middle of reading former Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper’s memoir, Facts and Fears. While I’m enjoying the career intelligence professional’s insights on a variety of issues, I had to go back and re-read a particular joke one more time. It was such an enjoyable…
-
Only a Few Lives Left
An inspiring story of resilience from Master Sergeant Jake “TJ” Miller MSgt Jake “TJ” Miller Recently, a great friend of mine, Master Sergeant Jake “TJ” Miller, asked for some help editing a short autobiographical work focused on some of his very personal resiliency challenges. I met Jake back in 2014 while on deployment and was…
-
COVID-19 and Mission Command
The circumstances forced by a constantly evolving viral pandemic force us to a Mission Command environment. What is Mission Command, and why does it apply? “Mission command is the conduct of military operations through decentralized execution based on mission-type orders. Successful mission command demands that subordinate leaders at all echelons exercise disciplined initiative and act…
-
OODA? I Hardly Knew Ya!
While many in the military have (finally) learned about the OODA Loop and the man that created it, it’s still an understudied approach that deserves more analysis. As I recently discussed, I entered the Air Force in a long training pipeline and sought inspiration to keep me pushing forward. While many writers, thinkers, poets, etc. entered…
-
My Top 5: Fiction Books
Reading for fun is important! Here are some of my favorites. Most of my writing on books in this forum revolves around non-fiction books that explicitly help me be a better leader, manager, Airman, and father. That said, I never underestimate the value of reading fiction as a form of pure entertainment! The books in…
-
Stop Monetizing Joy!
Too many of us try to convert our hobbies to a side-hustle, and it’s destroying our creativity. It seems like every few days I’m asked, “So what are you doing to get your blog to make money?” It does personally cost me in hosting fees, domain name registrations, and if I think an idea is…
-
To Be or to Do?
Which path will you follow? Shortly after I entered the U.S. Air Force in 2005, I began searching for inspiration to keep moving forward. I knew that my unique technical specialty would keep me in training for at least three years with an enduring continuation training requirement long after then. While I found numerous fantastic…