GENERAL TOPICS > Our Pro-Military, Veteran, and Thin Blue Line place
Sending a second young man away...
Flyin6:
Last night I took the youngest Pre-Ranger out to dinner. Mom was working so it's a good time for him and me to just talk.
We have been having some issues with him preparing to leave for college this fall. He signed up for the professional aeronautics program at Kentucky Eastern University which produces commercial pilots. His concept of the operation was to get the B.S. and all his pilot ratings up to ATP (Airline Transport Pilot) and his multi-engine instructor and instrument instructor ratings. He was then going to visit the Army recruiter with all that and ask to become an Apache pilot. If they bungled, he was going to do a rapid sidestep and enter the Marine recruiter office with the same request but make it either an AH-1W or an F-18.
But I have noticed that something has been missing. When I talk about flying it seems to go nowhere. When I look around to see if he is googling airplane stuff, nada.
So, I confronted him about it. During that hour-long conversation. I did not see any real interest in flying, only a love for what flying brings...$$$.
I may have misspoke, but I consider that a lack of character. I explained you do it because you love it and because it is the passion that makes you get out of bed for decades.
Last night he made it very clear to me that what he has always wanted to do is to become a Ranger. Not a tab wearer, but a member of 1st Ranger Battalion, which is our Tier 1, counter-terrorism battalion, and probably the single best infantry unit on earth.
He told me that every time we go down to visit Nate, he just feels so alive. He feels like he belongs there, and he does not want to leave. He goes and hangs out in the barracks with the soldiers, and I can testify, the boy seems more alive down there. So God help us, but it looks like this family is about to produce another US Army Infantryman!
So that's it. We are off to start the conversation...
cj7ox:
See? That's what happens when you're always talking about "Special Operators"! LOL! You should've been taking him to the airfield and putting a stick in his hand!
I'm sure he'll do well! And, he can always change his mind and go for WOCS/Flight School towards his ETS.
Flyin6:
--- Quote from: cj7ox on February 16, 2023, 03:56:22 PM ---See? That's what happens when you're always talking about "Special Operators"! LOL! You should've been taking him to the airfield and putting a stick in his hand!
I'm sure he'll do well! And, he can always change his mind and go for WOCS/Flight School towards his ETS.
--- End quote ---
Its funny you mentioned it that way.
When the young pre-Ranger explained me his master plan of first graduating from Eastern with all his qualifications and FAA licenses, he never intended to ask to become a Commissioned Officer. He planned to become a Warrant Officer unless he was forced to enter the Marines, then of course he would have to be commissioned to fly.
To this day I think it is an absolutely brilliant idea for the Army to have the bulk of its pilots as Warrant Officers. I also think its an awful idea. Having served on the Warrant side, now that I am retired, I often wonder what 25 years of service and having retired as an O-5 would have looked like. Man, for all the fun I had just flying things around for a couple of decades, I sure suffer in retirement from the delta in retirement pay!
Flyin6:
Yesterday that young man came into my office and announced that he was ready to begin talking to the Army recruiter.
I am sharing this with other fathers who will someday face the same circumstance. It makes me just bust with pride and renders up a gut-felt fear at the same time. His mom and I are sort of nervous because we both know what soldiering looks like while that brave young fool knows nothing of what a battlefield looks, feels, or smells like.
But what are you as a father going to do? We can't say "NO." The best we can do is to give heartfelt prayers to the matter and give the best advice we can to our children.
Allow me to share something here. Matt here says that regarding daily prayer use the PUSH method. Pray until something happens. Well, you all know I am in 100 days of prayer over some specific topics. The health and welfare of my boys are on the list. Chris and I were arguing over his going to college. He has a full 100% paid-for ride to an aviation program that will end with him being able to fly as an airline pilot with a 4-year degree. But as I have mentioned, I see no passion there. No searching the internet for airplane stuff. No talking to other pilots. His eyes do not light up when the subject of flying comes up, just nothing.
I saw that and we had the "What's your passion," talk. The thing that has always come up is becoming a US Army infantryman and a Ranger. So that very night I started to pray for my son. I first talked to Kat because, in this marriage, God speaks to me through her. Like he is right there with wisdom. She told me that I should pray for God to give that boy a passion, a fire. Wow, that sounded like exactly what I should do, so I did. I prayed, "Father God, give Chris passion in his heart and open doors for him to follow that dream."
I guess this is a testimony of sorts, because the very next time I saw Chris he said, "Dad I think I want to join the Army to follow my dream of being an infantryman." Wow...Just WOW!
That was maybe 4-5 days ago. I have continued to pray for him and that passion. Then yesterday morning, he walked into my office and told me he had the day off and asked if I had spoken to the recruiter yet. I told him earlier I would go and interview the recruiters and find the right one. So yesterday morning I called to recruiting station commander and asked if I could visit. I met a bright female Sergeant First Class. I told her my plan and asked her which of her sergeants were infantry or ranger or SF. She pointed out two. I called them into the office then proceeded to put all three into an interesting hour-long session. I made statements like, "I think this inclusion business is a bunch of crap, what do you think?" And, I got some darned good answers. I was honestly impressed.
None of them felt it was doing anything other than weakening the force. Through it all, I saw three really good NCOs. The station commander told me she would personally handle all of Chris's paperwork while the sergeant of my choice would run him around and guide him. Honestly, I could not pick. Either NCO was a combat vet and seemed sharp. I picked BOTH! She agreed and with my phone on speaker, I called my young lad to come in. He was standing there within 30 min, and I departed.
After a few hours, Chris came home saying he liked working with the more senior Staff Sergeant and that he was driving up to the testing station tomorrow (Today) to take all the tests. He took a preliminary test at the station and he apparently turned in one of the highest scores they had seen in some time. They gave him an online test which he took last night, and he scored even higher.
I think this is his time. I believe by week's end Chris will have enlisted into our honorable Army and be a soldier in waiting. I am so proud of him, and I do love my boys so much...but I'm just a little scared...
Atkinsmatt:
Can't argue with the call and expect to win. Men have to make decisions and then execute.
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