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It’s all in good fun

Some airmen didn’t think it was so funny when Army Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. Central Command, told a joke to a Marine Corps booster group that compared the sweaty work of ground troops with the supposedly breezy life of an Air Force “ponytail-wearing” pilot.

A few weeks later — after the Air Force Association raised a protest — Petraeus called Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz and apologized for his comedy bit.

Petraeus apologized again, to all airmen, in a letter published in Air Force Times.

There was outrage among a few airmen, who said the leader of a joint-command shouldn’t fuel negative, untrue stereotypes about any service.

Many others, though, took the ribbing good-naturedly — as well they should have.

A sense of humor tells the world a lot about a person and an institution — the ability to weather criticism, a sense of proportion and a healthy measure of self-confidence.

Airmen know the contributions they make every day — and so do the troops in the other services who have been supplied through airlifts, saved by close-air support and evacuated to safety and medical care — all provided courtesy of the Air Force.

The best course, as ever, is to lighten up and roll with the punch line — like a good soldier should do when faced with a joke about, say, West Point football.