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I believe that a diverse military is a strong military — as long as we understand each other well enough to work together.

I’m also a strong believer that good literature can help people to connect and understand each other, even when they are from very diverse backgrounds. Some literature that does this includes Native Son, Of Mice and Men, The Milagro Bean Field War, and Born on the 4th of July. 

Do you notice something about the first classics that popped into my mind? Not one of them was written by a woman. So let me quickly add Little Women, The Color Purple, Song of Soloman, and The Glass Castle. Every book I mentioned shares the troubles, inner thoughts, and lifestyle of people who didn’t fit into the mainstream-America stereotype — yet they were all apart of America.

Is there a book you read that expands your understanding of people different from you?

An upcoming anthology, Jane’s Stories IV: Bridges and Borders, has gathered stories, memoirs, essays, and poems from women with a variety of experiences. My favorite is the story of a woman who risked her life several times to immigrate to the promised land of America, to help her family, and her disillusionment here. The  publisher, Jane’s Stories Press Foundation, a non-profit organization that I volunteer for, is dedicated to increasing the diversity of voices in literature.

To get your own copy of Bridges and Borders, please go to kickstarter.com, search on “Janes,” and make a pledge. You can even watch me stumble through a video explanation of the anthology. While you are at it, please leave a comment, here or there, about a piece of literature that changed what you think about someone.

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You made it! Salute a classmate. Kiss a classmate. You are forever bonded with each other.

Since the Commander-in-Chief is giving your commencement address during an election year, you will be able to hear what he said on the news tonight. I have no idea what Secretary of the Air Force Hans Mark told my graduating class.

Congratulations also to 2012′s top graduate, Dustin Hayhurst  from CS 06. Public Affairs writer Don Branum published a cute quote from the Superintendent to Cadet Hayhurst: “‘Do you want to practice the speech that you’ll deliver next to the president?’ Gould said, laughing.”

What I want to know is who will be “Tail-end Charlie,” the cadet most endeared by his or her classmates?

Now AFA Class 2012 will enter the real world of making your own meals, scheduling your own athletic time, keeping your own place, inspiring others, being another “dumb second lieutenant”. . .

Of course, this is just the beginning. Everything until now was preparation. So keep the faith and rediscover your idealism as you join the “real Air Force.”

Best of luck to all of you. I hope you check in with me occasionally. Oh, and you might like to check out the post and comments on Top Ten To-Do’s for New Grads.

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I’m sitting in my childhood home in Albuquerque, unable to get the lyrics of Carly Simon’s song “You’re So Vain” out of my head.

“. . .then you flew your Learjet to Novia Scotia, to see the total eclipse of the sun.” That’s me! Not quite, but almost. At one time in my life, I flew learjets to Novia Scotia. Not this decade.

I have driven over 400 miles to see the total eclipse of the sun, and to share the experience with my child, husband, and parents. As I said earlier, we are in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the prime viewing spot in the United States for Sunday evening’s “annular” solar eclipse.

An annular solar eclipse occurs when the moon is too far away from Earth to completely block the sun, even when the eclipse is at totality. Think of the Sick Puppies’ Polar Opposite album cover, and you’ll have an image of what I hope to see on Sunday, through a special viewing lens, of course.

You can read Karri Ferron’s excellent article about the eclipse here.

This will make the second total solar eclipse I have experienced in my lifetime. Sometimes you do not need a learjet to be vain and cool; you just need to be excited about the heavens, a little geeky, and lucky to be nearby.

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 My deepest sympathy to everyone who knew Mike Joyal, Lt Col, USAF, Ret., AFA Class of 1987. During a week that three American warriors were killed in Afghanistan, a drunk driver killed Joyal here at home as he road his bicycle. If you wish to honor him, you can make a donation to the college fund for his children, Jackie and Katherine, at Joyal Children’s College Fund, 15954 Jackson Creek Pkwy Ste B, Box 316, Monument, Colo., 80132 (make checks payable to Suzanne Roseberry).

I never met Mike Joyal, but he was a frequent reader and commenter on this blog and our careers were very similar. We both graduated from the United States Air Force Academy (me seven years earlier than he), we both flew C-141s, and we both flew for Vice Presidents in Air Force 2 (he flew the B-757s). You can read more about his life in this Idaho obituary. I will miss his discernment and dedication to our alma mater.

You can read  Mike’s thoughts about USAFA and service below.

On my speculative article, “Tragic Death Requires Investigation,” Mike Joyal said:

Unless you have inside information you’re not sharing here, it seems like you are really grasping at straws trying to tie this to something deeper, even in speculation. Why do you not think it might not be just a young man driving too fast for the conditions? Thinking this kid was troubled by the child abuse scandal at Penn State seems like a stretch. And the fact that he was in CS-20 and a football manager like Henning doesn’t seem damning. I’d like to hear the results of the investigation to see if alcohol was involved, but even then, college-aged kids drink, troubled or not. Is there something else you know that you’re not divulging? If not, I don’t think there’s enough here to draw conclusions.

On my article about depression in senior cadets, Mike asked:

Just curious what your 10 reasons were for staying. I’m a USAFA grad, too. Today I retire after more than 23 years of active duty and I’m spending some time thinking back on my career. Hope it was worthwhile for you. I don’t regret my times at the zoo although it was no cake walk at times.

After Mike inspired me to post “Ten Reasons to Stay at USAFA,” he said:

Anne, thanks for posting these. While I know you had some bad experiences there, I hope overall USAFA was a worthwhile endeavor for you. Being at the end of my 23+ year career and stationed here now, I have reflected on my time as a cadet and really feel it was a good thing for me. It would be very interesting to speak to female cadets (25% of the doolies!) now to see what has changed and what hasn’t since you were there.

Later, he added:

For what it’s worth, I’ll tell you about my experience with women in my doolie squadron that I think is a good representation of my experience with USAFA cadets in general. We had three women in our doolie squadron – Kelly, Kerri, and Chris. Kelly was a standout in everything she did. She was on the basketball team, a straight A student, and a great contributor. Last time I saw her years ago in a base ops in Europe somewhere she was getting ready to go to test pilot school. Kerri was the middle-of-the-packer, much like me. We struggled to get through the doolie year like most others, but managed to do OK. I was so happy to see her teaching in my daughter’s school at my last assignment at Andrews AFB that I gave her a big hug after not seeing her for 20+ years. That bond we all have after going through the zoo, and especially the doolie year, never goes away. Chris was the screw-up of the bunch and frankly, I don’t know that she cared. We dreaded seeing her name alongside ours on the table assignments for the week because we knew we weren’t going to eat much with her at our table. She ended up getting kicked out of the Academy – for what, I don’t recall. My point is the women ran the gamut, just like the guys. But for the most part, the women I encountered in my career were great officers and aviators, from Beth Martin, one of the best T-38 IPs I flew with in UPT, to Beth Burda, my primary instructor in the Twin Otter in my last assignment back at USAFA. I was proud to serve with them.

Those who served with Mike were undoubtedly proud of that, as well. I am diminished by his loss, and I will miss his thoughts.