We used to go to the Officers Club or NCO
Club Stag Bar on Friday afternoons to drink, smoke and swap lies with our
comrades. Think about this when you read the rest of the letter below.
What happened to our Air
Force/Marines/Army/Navy/CG... (or Military)? Drinking became frowned on.
Smoking caused cancer and could "harm you." Stag bars became seen as
'sexist'. Gradually, our men quit patronizing their clubs because what happened
in the club became fodder for a performance report. It was the same thing at
the Airman's Club and the NCO and/or Top 3 clubs. Now we don't have separate
clubs for the ranks. Instead we have something called All Ranks Clubs or
community clubs. They're open to men and women of all ranks....from airman
basic to general officer. Still, no one is there. Gee, I wonder why.
The recent brilliant thought out of
Washington was that the operators ("pilots?") flying remote
aircraft in combat areas from their plush desk at duty stations in Nevada or
Arizona should draw the same combat pay as those real world pilots actually on
board a plane in a hostile environment. More politically correct logic? They
say that remote vehicle operators are subject to the same stress levels as the
combat pilot actually flying in combat. ----- REALLY...you're bull-shitting me,
right !!!???
Now that I've primed you a little, read on.
There are many who will agree with these sentiments, but they apply to more
than just fighter pilots. Unfortunately, the ones with the guts to speak up or
push for what they believe in are beaten down by the "system."
"Unfortunately there is a lot of truth
in the following text - supposedly, Secretary Gates had a force beating the
bushes to learn who wrote this.... Where have all the fighter pilots gone? Good
Question.
Here is a rant from a retired fighter pilot
that is worth reading: It is rumored that our current Secretary of Defense
recently asked the question, "Where are all the dynamic leaders of the
past?" I can only assume, if that is true, that he was referring to Robin
Olds, Jimmy Doolittle, Patton, Ike, Boyington, Nimitz, etc.? Well, I've got the
answer:
They were fired before they made Major! Our
nation doesn't want those kinds of leaders anymore. Squadron commanders don't
run squadrons and wing commanders don't run wings. They are managed by higher
ranking dildos with other esoteric goals in mind. Can you imagine someone today
looking for a LEADER to execute that Doolittle Raid and suggesting that it be
given to a dare-devil boozer - his only attributes: he had the respect of his
men, an awesome ability to fly, and the organizational skills to put it all
together? If someone told me there was a chance in hell of selecting that man
today, I would tell them they were either a liar or dumber than shit.
I find it ironic that the Air Force put
Brigadier General Robin Olds on the cover of the company rag last month.
While it made me extremely proud to see his
face, he wouldn't make it across any base in America (or overseas) without ten
enlisted folks telling him to zip up his flight suit, get rid of the cigarette,
and shave his mustache off.
I have a feeling that his response would be
predictable and for that crime he would probably get a trip home and an Article
15.
We have lost the war on rugged individualism
and that, unfortunately, is what fighter pilots want to follow; not because
they have to but because they respect leaders of that ilk. We've all run across
that leader that made us proud to follow him because you wanted to be like him
and make a difference. The individual who you would drag your testicles through
glass for rather than disappoint him.
We better wake the hell up!
We're asking our young men and women to
go to really shitty places; some with unbearable climates, never have a drink,
have little or no contact with the opposite sex, not look at magazines of a
suggestive nature of any type, and adhere to ridiculous regs that require you
to tuck your shirt into your PT uniform on the way to the porta-shitter at
night, in a blinding dust storm, because it's a uniform.
These people we're sending to combat are some
of the brightest I've met but they are looking for a little sanity, which they
will only find on the outside if we don't get a friggin' clue. You can't
continue asking people to live for months or years at a time acting like nuns
and priests. Hell, even they get to have a beer. Who are we afraid of
offending? The guys that already hate us enough to
strap C-4 to their own bodies and walk into a
crowd of us? Think about it.
I'm extremely proud of our young men and
women who continue to serve. I'm also very in tune with what they are
considering for the future and I've got news for whoever sits in the White
House, Congress, and our so-called military leaders. Much talent has and will
continue to hemorrhage from our services, because wanna-be warriors are tired
of fighting on two fronts - - one with our enemies, another against our lack of
common sense.
Take it or leave it....that's just the way it
is, no. if's, and's, or but's
