Rumsfeld Waxes Eloquent in Colorado: 
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told the graduating class as the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., that they must “go beyond simply a change of a process here or of a piece of equipment there. Our country did not survive and become great through timid responses or aversion to risk. … Your charge will be to challenge inherited assumptions, and cherished habits, and seek out better approaches.” Down the road from USAFA, Rumsfeld took time to praise the efforts of US Northern Command, telling reporters that the new command’s homeland defense progress has been “truly impressive.”
Airmen and Guardians in the Active and Reserve component, as well as civilian employees, in “mission critical and high-risk populations” are now required to receive influenza vaccinations annually to “preserve force readiness,” according to a recent Department of the Air Force memo.