Skip to main content

I'm not dead or anything




Man, it's been awhile huh?

The last time I published an article was in February. Why the long break? Well, it's complicated.

My last article was posted at about the 1 year anniversary of my retirement. I had moved to my forever home in my forever state and started a new job. The new job was helping low income and first generation [college] veterans enroll in undergraduate programs all across the great State of Maine.

It was the first time in I can't remember how long where my job produced essentially zero stress. More importantly, my entire job was to help veterans reach their goals. Something that I craved since my retirement.

I didn't know what this blog was when I first started it. Really, I just wanted to tell a story I had been holding for a long time. Then it gave me the opportunity to relay some of the lessons I learned through my career.

Eventually the stories seemed a little less relevant and moved into current Air Force and military events with my critique of toxic command climates, unsustainable maintenance readiness goals, and the as yet fully realized crisis with suicide in the service.

I had planned on starting a podcast and even went so far as to record the pilot episode. But, me sitting in a room ranting and raving wasn't an organic experience so I scrapped the solo project. I solicited a few of my military friends but none had the bandwidth to collaborate. So, it has since fallen by the wayside.

As time went on, and the longer I went without publishing the more guilt set in. Between my readiness and suicide pieces I felt I was a voice for the field. That I could elevate actual concerns to leadership. I received messages in support. The most gratifying were the messages where leadership teams actually looked at their processes and norms to make sure they weren't replicating toxic behaviors I had written about elsewhere. When I stopped writing I kind of felt the weight of not speaking on behalf of the field.

Now, I worry I am too removed from the field to be able to speak with accuracy. One of the many curses of being on the outside looking in. Next thing you know I'll be wearing ugly blue mesh hats and calling Senior Airmen Buck Sergeants.

So what's next?

Well, I started law school a few weeks ago. If you've read my long, winding, career ending post you probably aren't surprised. So now that I don't have nearly as much time to write I find myself wanting to do it more. Maybe it's because now writing here seems less stressful than before by comparison to my newfound daily stress in law school. I'll try to keep up.

I've been working on a First Sergeant piece for about 6 months. I really need to finish that or abandon it. I'll try and get it done soon.

Oh, one more thing. To all the Russian bots and trolls that visit my page everyday? Fuck you.

Until next time!






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Smoke doesn't always mean fire Part I

This is the first post in the long final story that I will tell from my career in the Air Force. All the other stories up to this point were told so you, the reader, could understand how I was guided in my career to be prepared for the moment in this story. The main character in this story has had his name changed to protect his identity as he is still active duty. He has given me permission [read: excitedly asked when I will write this] to tell this story. In the summer of 2015 I was the specialist section chief in the 311th AMU at Holloman AFB. We had a few new arrivals to the section. Most of them were new avionics airmen, which we desperately needed. However, we did have an E&E SrA arrive who had a line number for Staff Sergeant. His name was SrA Tyler Perkie. He was respectful, polite and hard working. It was rare to not see him covered in aircraft filth, which is quite the compliment for the working sector of the Air Force. He was tireless at the job and his positive at
Post a Comment
Read more

Air Force "Deep Dive" on Suicides Lands in the Shallow End

Photo courtesy of Technical Sergeant Brian Martin A year ago this week I wrote an article about what I believed was an impending and escalating suicide problem afflicting the Air Force. I was using my own military service, as well as information from my colleagues still serving, to piece together bits of information on suicides. In so doing I noticed a trend. But, before I get started a reminder: I am not an expert on mental health and nothing I say should be interpreted as medical advice. As I wrote the article, more suicides were happening. I initially believed the issue was local to Holloman Air Force Base. However, as 2019 progressed it was clear this epidemic wasn't the exclusive domain of the 54th Fighter Group. Prior to the Air Force announcing they had a suicide problem, I submitted a Freedom of Information Act[FOIA] request to the SecAF requesting all suicide metadata, to include Air Force Specialty Codes[AFSCs], or "job" data from 2009 to 2019. Thre
4 comments
Read more

So what's with the 7 levels?

I recently asked in a  Facebook post what are some subjects you the readers wanted me to write about. I received quite a few great suggestions, but one stood out as a topic that I haven't quite addressed and I believe its time is due: inexperienced 7 levels. [I will apologize in advance, this one has quite a bit of acronyms.] Before I dive into the topic I think it's important to explain my own journey to a 7 level, and it goes all the way back to MEPS. You see, like many aspiring Airmen I didn't know what job I would get when I joined the Air Force; I came in open mechanical. Which to me seemed strange, because mechanical was my lowest ASVAB score. My recruiter assured me that my score would allow me many mechanical jobs to pick from. I tried to explain that the ASVAB was an aptitude test, and I should be selected for a job that matched my highest category. He seemed apathetic, obviously meeting his quota was his motivator, not me aligning my career to my aptitude.
7 comments
Read more