Posted on 06/08/2005 11:47:09 AM PDT by Al Simmons
Ever want to look into the mind of a Clinton-era ‘Generation-X’ slacker who ‘made a mistake’ by accepting a prestigious Air Force Academy slot and then just could not stand to serve out his 6 year military commitment? Well, the following would be hilarious if it wasn’t so sad (from the standpoint of our nation). Hopefully 9-11 has somewhat cured this kind of attitude amongst the younguns.
The following is the actual text of a handwritten letter left at his desk by a 24-year-old Second Lieutenant, a US Air Force Academy graduate, on the day he deserted from the Air Force and flew to Cancun, Mexico, in the middle of an Air Force training class in the late 1990s. He left it in an envelope on the outside of which were written the words:
‘WHERE’S MARK?’
“To my friends in the US Air Force,
I’ve decided to embark on a new adventure, and you may be wondering why. Actually, that’s a good question, and I’m sure my hand will cramp up and I’ll drift off before I’ve concocted a reasonable reply. How to distill this storm of ideas into some coherence?..
As of this writing I am an officer, an AF member, an (American) US citizen, a man, an artist, a mammal, and a sentient being, in that order. When the needs and longings of one of the deeper, richer levels cries out for fulfillment, I can deny it only a little while. I’ve tried, for two years willingly and for three years with growing disharmony, to play this role I scripted at the misimpressionable age of 13. (Oh USAFA admissions office, please turn away all future applicants who list an interest in art. Have mercy.) But when the raucous rhythms in my head drown out all trace of AFIT instructors and SV staff meetings, when the shelves of AFIs and “special” programs dissolve into puddles of gooey indifference, only I remain, a little boy standing at the edge of an emerald ocean, tickled by the breeze and smiling at the gulf, no longer even grasping why people spend their lifetimes staring into cathode ray tubes decoding the language of flashing lights and smattering printers.
Why? Whoever reads this – OSI, AFIT, SV, or others… Why? What the F—k are you doing it all for? Who cares? Will anyone remember you? Will you touch my life? Are you happy? If your light winks out today and the breath of life floats silently away, will you be able to say, “To my own self I was true?”
I sat in class today, reeling at the violence of the waves of irrelevance battering against the seawall of my purpose and felt the camel’s back break. Can I wait another 4 years and get out ‘honorably?’ Would that I were blessed with such patience. I am weak, irresolute, fluid, impulsive. I am no respecter of status, standards, precedent, or convention. I only want it all – is that so much? To sample every dish at the banquet of this world, to step lightly through a life without clocks and suspense slips and long staff meetings and short tempers.
I love you all. If you catch up with me I’ll buy you a drink, a toast to the freedom of a heart let loose, a toast to living in the delicious beauty of this moment. I apologize for the inconvenience my fugue may cause. I knew of no other way. I fear for my sanity (what remains of it.)
If ever you think of me, may it be to remind you that this life is yours. If you are not happy, you are the only one who can change that. Create the reality you dream of.
Do what you want with my stuff. I’m not coming back. I respect you for continuing in service to the AF and nation. I only wish that I had realized sooner that this is not my place. The shackles chafe at my wings. Give me liberty…
To the other students in SV101 – its been fun. Vince – I know what you’re grinning about. Bill – wake up, its 7:15. Steve – you’ve got a way with words. Lori – you’re married to a very lucky man. Peggy – Mark’s outta here! Damien – I’ll give you $10 US and a pair of Levis…Serge – remember that last conversation on personal ethics? And to all the other students, instructors, and friends, sorry for causing a commotion and I wish you the best in the rest of the course and your careers. Now I have a plane to catch!
MARK
(P.S. Now the Distinguished Graduate award is wide open!)”
POSTSCRIPT: The young man’s flight to live the life of a Central American painter (and he was a good painter, too) was cut short when the $$ ran out 3 weeks later, and he came back and turned himself in. He was placed in confinement pending his court-martial for desertion, dereliction of duty and theft (he paid for his plane ticket with his Government Credit Card.)
The 4-5 month confinement drove his whining to even greater heights, and he begged to just be dismissed from the Air Force.
The request went to the Clinton-appointed Air Force Legal Counsel, who approved the request and let the young man go to live the artist’s life, having shorted the AF $200K in education costs. (Don’t know if he’s managed to repay any of it yet, or if the Gov’t has pursued recovery).
All I know is that when he was merely dismissed instead of court-martialed, my general – the Convening Authority for the Court-Martial – was steaming “We used to shoot people for that in Viet Nam!” he said. (Maybe not exactly, but he was definitely not ‘touchy-feely’ like Lieutenant Mark.)
"As of this writing I am an officer, an AF member, an (American) US citizen, a man, an artist, a mammal, and a sentient being, in that order."
He left out first class doofus.
This is another good example of why liberals should never be in our military.
"He left out first class doofus."
He also left out "byproduct of primordial sludge."
Dismissal is the officer's equivalent of an E's Dishonorable Discharge. Hardly a go-home-free card. Try getting a job with that. That said, I'd like a second source coroboration on this.
One of the big things missing in this mope's life is some kind of commitment, and MAN O' MAN SHOULD THIS GUY BE COMMITTED!!
Excuse me! 24 in the late 90's would make this guy a Generation Y member, ie, the child of a Baby Boomer. Please do not sully the reputation of us Generation Xers!
Al
You done good.
The Anglo-Saxon word for Narcissist was of course Cissy...
not to be confused with the affectionate term for a female sibling, Sissy...
then they became interchangeable.
Wot a goober.
sp
We're still wondering...
What an irremediable assclown.
Sums up modern generations very well. I'm surprise this guy was able to suffer four long years at an armed forces' academy (given that much of the military culture is based upon status, standards, precednt and convention), and do it without gripes enough to receive a commission. By all accounts, he should've been kicked out in his freshman year...what took him so long to find his voice?
Major Joe, a good friend and wiser in the ways of the military than I at that time, just laughed at me:
"But Al", he said, "of course it will approved."
When I asked how he could possibly believe that, he replied wisely:
"Al, the (civilian) lawyer at the AF Counsel's office who is reviewing the request IS (a) 'Lieutenant Mark'." (By which he meant that, in the Clintoon-appointee era, the individual recommending thunbs up or down was probably a weenie who identified more with the young LT than with the military.)
Sure enough, wise old Major Joe was right.
Except for the desertion it sounds like some of the USAFA POSs I had the misfortune of serving with when I was in the Air Force. When I was enlisted I developed nothing but contempt for the "Girls School in the Rockies," because the lieutenants who came out of there whined, moaned, complained, and eventually shirked duties that other officers (non-USAFA) and NCOs just took in stride. The Air Force Academy is utterly pointless and should never have been opened in the first place....all it was was a way for West Point graduates in the Air Force to maintain an academy system. A degree from the USAFA won't get its holder into graduate school without additional courses, and even AFIT requires USAFA graduates to take additional classes before they will be admitted. Sheesh.....the skunk gets a free ride, guaranteed pilot's training (no matter how blind he is) and can't hack six years? I had to do my required time, and it didn't hurt me one bit. As for considering desertion, I wouldn't have been able to let my friends and fellow crew members down like that. This POS is a disgrace to the Air Force.
This guy sounds like a major metrosexual.
And on the bright side. this POS "90's Guy" didn't end up as some poor bastard's Wingman.
Probably has it framed up on his wall the better to start conversations with his counter-culturalist friends.
There are a lot of dishes in this world that are deadly poisons. Where do you draw the line? Actually, I have daydreamed many times of doing exactly what this guy did...except I realized that home-cooking was the best banquet of all.
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