Atlanta, GA
February 28, 2024
Monday, our elder son turned twenty-three. When he turned 19, he decided where he was going to college. Then, a few months later, he decided again.
This week, he made a more momentous decision. But unlike the previous choice, he won’t be able to change his mind.
Four years ago Alexander wanted to be a pilot, so he narrowed his college options to Auburn University and Middle Tennessee State. Both offered professional flight programs, and seemed like reliable paths to a career in the cockpit.
A Niche Profession
Having received a full scholarship from MTSU, that’s where he decided to go. But when the world panicked in response to covid, pilots began to lose their jobs.
Furloughs proliferated. The airlines were reeling. Several pilots warned us the industry wouldn’t recover, and that another career was probably warranted.
Airline pilot is a niche profession. That’s part of what makes it appealing. But it means it’s a vulnerable basket for a single egg, especially when the bottom begins to fray.
With some regularity, it tends to do so. Airline economics are notoriously cyclical. Recessions, geopolitics, terror attacks, and pandemic pronouncements can produce precipitous declines in carrier profits.
Sufficiently frightened by the prevailing prospects, we agreed this probably wasn’t a profession our son should pursue. We convinced him we were right. Or at least that he should believe we were. But I don’t think he really did.
In retrospect, he probably shouldn’t have. But he exchanged his passion for a more “practical” path. If he weren’t to be a pilot, Middle Tennessee no longer made sense. His scholarship was for the pilot program. Without that, there was no reason to enroll.
The deadline to accept his invitation to Auburn had already passed. But because of covid, the university extended the offer an additional month. He took them up on it, and Alexander has been on the Plains ever since.
In two months, he’ll receive a Bachelors degree in Biomedical Sciences. It’s a great achievement, and his parents are proud. But he knows this isn’t a profession he wants to pursue.
He still wants to be a pilot. This time, I won’t get in his way.
Several Options
His potential flight path includes several options, none of which are cheap. The only variation is the currency, denominated in cash and commitment.
Various private pilot schools offer training and opportunities to compile flight hours that cost six figures and several years to accrue. After completing the courses and accumulating sufficient flight time by being an instructor, pilots from these programs typically pursue opportunities with regional carriers. Five or six years later, they (ideally) land with a major airline.
But the most common course is thru the military. This mitigates the financial burden, but entails obligations and risks the civilian path doesn’t include. The most obvious is being dragged into one of the ridiculous fights our government seems determined to pick.
Still, the idea intrigued our son. He did some research, spoke with friends who’d been in the service, and paid a visit to a nearby base. While there, he underwent a medical exam and took the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test.
After considering his options, Alexander decided he doesn’t desire active duty (whew!). But he was interested in the Air National Guard (hmm…). This would commit him to a “drill weekend” each month, and two weeks of training every year for six years.
The Guard is a state-level entity that serves at the behest of the governor. But the president can “federalize” it, and is able to mobilize it under the Department of Defense in event of “emergencies.”
This is what worries me. Because if there’s one thing the US government is good at, it’s creating crises. And it gets better at doing so with each passing day. The risk of my son being shipped to some hostile hellhole is less in the Guard than were he active duty.
But it’s not zero, and it seems to be rising…particularly as the psychopaths in power keep rattling sabers in eastern Ukraine. For a couple weeks, I’ve incessantly made this point to my son. He understood. But still wanted to enlist.
His obligation would begin with nine weeks of basic training and a couple months of Tech School, after which he could begin the process of becoming an officer. Were he to attain that distinction, he’d be eligible to request a position as a pilot. Attaining that, he’d receive extensive training for several years, till he earned sufficient hours to approach an airline.
As a father, my emotions are mixed. I’m thrilled my son is enthused, and seems certain of what he wants to do. And he does seem to have considered the risks. I just hope he hasn’t underestimated them.
At this point, that’s all I can so. Yesterday afternoon, Alexander enlisted in the Alabama Air National Guard. After he graduates Auburn in May, he’ll be based at Maxwell AFB in Montgomery.
Yesterday we noted the indispensability of prayer. Today is merely another reminder. But with prayer comes pride. Not in the sense of the deadliest sin, but of satisfaction knowing Alexander is embarking on something that matters to him. I’m proud of my son.
Yes, he’s taking a chance. But the chance is his. I wish I’d done more in my own life to reach for what I wanted, or to even know what that is. I’m glad he does.
Fear of the Rain
Risk is everywhere. We can’t avoid it, so we do our best to manage it. As we spent the week helping our elder son consider his, we received horrific reminders our younger one faces them too.
David is a freshman at the University of Georgia, where on consecutive days last week two students lost their lives. One took his own. The other had it taken from her. The latter tragedy has been all over the news.
Within a day of the murder, a suspect was apprehended, and politics unleashed. We all know the story, so need not dwell on it here. As parents, we can’t imagine what those of the victim must now be enduring.
When I went to college, my mother told me she’d never stop worrying about me, because I’d always be her child. She was right. If anything, when adult kids fly the coop, we worry more, if only because their actions are all beyond our control.
But that’s OK. As that wise sage, Dory from Finding Nemo, told the worry-wart father about his lost son, “you can’t never let anything happen to him. Then nothing will ever happen to him.” We don’t want our kids to hide in the water for fear of the rain.
In two months, Alexander will receive his degree, and begin Basic Training. He’s created a new flight plan. For the rest of their lives, his parents will be there…on the ground, ready to help, and offering advice.
But it’s time to relinquish the controls, and let him fly solo.
JD
G'evening JD, While our country appears significantly diminished, there remains honor in service for her. In my immediate family there were 86 years of Military service. Mom and Dad, 2nd WW vets and dad retired in 1980 after nearly 40 years of service - 33 with the Washington Air National Guard. My brother also retired from the WAANG -the same unit dad did- with 32 years time served. I was the rebel and went Army. My late and post-Viet Nam experience did not inspire me to the long-term service similarly, managing 7 years before meandering through civilian life beginning in 1979. I've close family who've made the ultimate sacrifice as well. My cousin, raised with us kids lost his life in 1969 in Nam. But I would not change a thing. I suffer to think my nearly 18 year old Grandson might be drafted into a God-forsaken war such as are simmering possibilities. The 'Woke' take-over seems to be infecting the dignity of our forces - however there are traditions that go much deeper than a decade or so of un-patriotic US leadership can quench. Tho' they're doing a pretty good job undermining it, this country remains worth fighting for. Perhaps the fight needs be internal presently - but still worth the fight. God Bless you JD - as well as your whole family. Thank you and thanks to your son for his willingness to serve. Such sacrifices and commitments need be made when this spell of insanity get's corrected. And that, Sir, I believe will begin when the people of this country return God as priority-one. I'm not a betting man, but I will remain confident in God's ability to redeem we citizens. His Grace may not restore our country to how it once was, but each one of us has that Grace available to us no matter what else. Hope your week goes very, very well! (Wayne from Idaho)
Paradoxes of life..,allowing our children to take the risks, so that they may be come strong!