• "... the Air Force truly is a family..."

    "One of the most challenging times of my career was losing a fellow Air Force member during a deployment.  It's something that you can never truly prepare for as a leader. It took a lot of thought, soul searching and mental preparation to find a balance for people to grieve as well as to continue

  • "...when I'm faced with an opportunity to learn I jump in..."

    "We grew up very poor in Nepal, but my drive to succeed comes from my mother. She instilled in me our tribe's three core values:  1) always be loyal to your king, that means Chief or employer, 2) always repay your debts, if someone helps you, you are obliged to help them in return, 3) take care of

  • "...you can't stop doing what you love to do..."

    "I played a lot of sports during my life--football, baseball, basketball, even soccer. I always gave the game my best with the goal of going to the championships. As the captain of my high school baseball team I noticed some players didn't seem to share the same enthusiasm as I did resulting in the

  • "Ever since I was a little kid I wanted to be in the Air Force"

    "Ever since I was a little kid I wanted to be in the Air Force. My grandfather retired as a Chief. I used to sit on his lap and he'd tell me stories of where he went around the world and the things he did. I wanted to be an Air Force mechanic. But I am partially deaf in my left ear, which prevented

  • "... you get married and work at the 'happily ever after' part..."

    "I've been married for 39 years and have five children and 16 grandchildren. The biggest myth about marriage is 'you get married and live happily ever after.' The reality is you get married and work at the 'happily ever after' part. My daughter was shocked to hear that my husband, her father, is not

  • "...The pace of life is much different over there ..."

    "I've never lived anywhere in my life for more than four years. The first time I went overseas I was in college my freshman year doing a language immersion program for two months.  The pace of life is much different over there and it took some getting used to.  One thing that I learned in traveling

  • "...Biking can be a mental battle..."

    "The longest bike ride I've accomplished is 60 miles. I'm about to ride 72 miles, at high altitude, around the perimeter of Lake Tahoe. It will be a new personal record for me, hopefully to be broken again by a 100-mile ride I am doing in August. Biking can be a mental battle fought by you or with a

  • "...those are the values for which I'm most grateful for...”

    "I started tae kwon do when I was six and received my third-degree black belt nearly three years ago. Soon after, I began Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and now attend classes in the area twice a week as a blue belt. Martial arts taught me discipline, respect and self-control, and those are the values for