I am 81 years old. I have decided to list some things I have learned in my years on Earth.
This “learning” business is being done in installments. This installment is what I learned while in the United State Air Force. Enlisted at age 19 and released from active service at age 23 (four years).
Here we go.
1. Vocabulary:
I enlisted in 1958, a time when “certain words” were not freely used. Well, when I got off the bus at Lackland AFB, I quickly learned that there are many names young men can be called. None of them flattering.
2. Stupid mistakes:
This is when some jerk does something stupid. When it happens, he is the only one the sergeants ridicule. I remember one kid who put his tee-shirt on backwards because all of that white showing would look cool. Well, what happened was, at inspection, it seemed that every sergeant within 100 yards gathered around the boy. They laughed and kept talking about some stupid recruit who didn’t know how to put his tee-shirt on.
3. Please not me mistakes:
This is something you pray that no man in the squadron does, especially you. Why? Easy. The entire squadron pays. Do you know what the command “Dress right, dress” means? Well, it’s like this. Every man is standing at attention. Each man stretches out his left arm parallel to the ground. Your left fingers are perilously close to a man’s shoulder but you aren’t supposed to touch the shoulder because you are supposed to be able to hold out your left arm with no support. It’s right easy for 5 seconds. Try 5 minutes. There is almost always one whose strength flags and a shoulder is touched. Every man knows about it because the next thing you hear is, “Oh, you like that. Let’s keep those arms up a little longer.” Need I say more?
4. Teamwork:
In the military, as in many jobs, teamwork is essential. In the military, they teach that a lot This lesson was easy to learn, painless, and sensible. On the first night, we were told that a lot of us still had light beards but some had heavier beards, so all the ones with light beards were told they should shave at night. That’s because, in the morning, we had 10 minutes to be outside and in formation. That means that if some guy had to stand in line to shave, he could not be in formation on time. If you haven’t guessed, penalties were involved. In other words, we began the lessons of how to get along in a large group.
5. Smart remarks:
During basic training, I learned right quickly not to answer sergeants with smart remarks. I was on KP. It was about 3:00 in the morning. A tech sergeant said to me, “Boy, see those sacks of potatoes? Move them over there.” It didn’t make sense to me to move potatoes from one part of a room to another. There were 20 sacks of potatoes, each weighing 100 pounds. That’s a ton of potatoes. For some reason, I was supposed to tote a ton of potatoes about 75 or 100 feet. Being an extremely wise young man, I cleverly said, “Me and who else?” I never did that again. I learned to do what I was told. Need I explain?
6. Stupid orders:
I’m not talking about basic training here, I’m talking about the real Air Force. There were always some sergeants who liked to tell people what to do to show their authority. They were usually guys who didn’t get very far; a few tech sergeants, mostly staff sergeants. If you ignored them, nothing happened because everybody knew they were jerks. I was lucky because all of my senior NCOs were WW II and Korean vets. In other words, they were soldiers and not jerks trying to impress others. I cannot remember a master sergeant who was a jerk. Military maybe. Tough maybe. But not a jerk. It took a while but I learned that lesson.
7. Growing up:
I was not cut out to be career military but I shall never regret enlisting. I learned a lot in my time in the USAF. And, truth is, I had a bit of fun. This is the best way I can sum it up: I went in a 19-year-old boy and came out a 23-year-old man. That’s a lot of learning.
Well, that’s it for me. Were you ever a GI?
If you’d prefer to listen to the audio version, click this link.
