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  • The dos and don'ts of the political season

    With the excitement of the presidential primaries lurking around the corner, there are a few things Airmen must remember during this upcoming political season.When you joined the military or became a federal employee, you did so with the knowledge that this decision came with some sacrifice.Everyone

  • British Billy's Merry Christmas

    There is so much to chase around at this time of year - tinsel, tree decorations, pine cones and the odd vagrant mouse. I love Christmas. I can curl up by a log fire or in a box of wrapping paper and delight in rodent-filled dreams.As you prepare to spend your Christmas in the U.K., no doubt you

  • British Billy's Great Britons: Charles Dickens, 1812 - 1870

    It's turned a bit chilly, hasn't it? My family in Scotland is already experiencing their first snowfalls of the winter, and the sight of flurries of snowflakes never fails to stir the festive feline within me.Apparently this is largely due to Mr. Charles Dickens, the quintessential Victorian author

  • British Billy and the Great British Panto

    However you plan to celebrate the Christmas season this year, let me recommend you book yourself a seat at one of the many pantomimes, or pantos as we like to call them here in the UK, which will be taking place at theatres and town and village halls up and down this land from now until January.

  • British Billy celebrates St. Andrew's Day, Nov. 30

    (Editor's Note: This is the fourth in a four-part series Billy will write about the patron saints of Great Britain.)As we near the end of another year, it is Scotland's patron saint, St. Andrew, who cheers us with his feast day on Nov. 30. The Scots are renowned around the world for their proud

  • A visit to Bentwaters Cold War Museum

    I recently visited the Bentwaters Cold War Museum at the invitation of its curators, the Bentwaters Aviation Society.September was the 60th anniversary of the 81st Tactical Fighter Wing, a unit that was instrumental in winning the Cold War. With six operational squadrons on both RAFs Bentwaters and

  • Action Line: Youth Center noise complaint

    COMPLAINT:I am currently living in Liberty Village near the AYA. The last few weeks on Friday nights the AYA has hosted some kind of a babysitting night. While I understand the importance of keeping kids off the streets, the noise coming from the AYA is out of hand. I have young kids that are

  • Have a plan and a wingman

    As we enter the holiday season I wanted to share a message of safety and making responsible decisions. A message that we all hear time and time again but it continues to be an epidemic in our society.The holiday season is one of the deadliest times of the year for alcohol-related crashes. Mothers

  • Remembrance Sunday and the British Legion Poppy

    At the eleventh hour on Nov. 11, we will mark 93 years since the end of The Great War. In the U.S., it is called Veterans Day, in the U.K., it is known as Remembrance Day, Armistice Day or Poppy Day. Beginning in 1939, at the start of World War II, the two-minute silence was moved to the Sunday

  • British Billy explains Bonfire Night, Nov. 5

    Although I am quite the party animal, I'm not a huge fan of fireworks. Those of us in the animal kingdom blessed with acute auditory gifts will not thank you if we have to endure startling explosions and high pitched squeals. As Bonfire Night approaches here in the U.K., I plan to spend the next few