11-11-11

Veterans day 2011,… I have a little over 3 months left here at flight school in Fort Rucker, Alabama.  The daily interaction with my instructor pilot and stick buddy is something I look forward to every day.  For the first time in my life, I'm a little surprised whenever I receive a paycheck.  We work long days but it just doesn't feel like work when you're advancing the engine power control levers to "fly" (my favorite part of starting the engines).  My instructor pilot is a couple years younger than I am.  He was in the Army for ~6 years, got out and has been teaching as a contractor here at Fort Rucker ever since.  Every once in awhile he'll share a story or two about his time in Iraq.  Just this past week, I discovered he was one of the first to respond to my friend Sean's 'incident' in January of 2007.  What a small world.  When we realized we were talking about the same 'incident', he said, "you know one of the guys from Easy Four Zero?",… I said, "yeah, Sean was a good friend of mine from College…"  There are reminders everyday of the dangers involved in this job, and while I don't like to think about it much, it's difficult to consider it could happen to anyone, anytime,… including myself.  The walls of the hallways and stairwells in the academic building where we learn about aircraft systems is littered with class photos dating back to the '80's.  Sean's class photo is in the north stairwell.  I can't help but think of all the other faces on those walls who have also paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country.  It's humbling to be a part of it all.  Often times I find it difficult to navigate the ascent through the northern stairwell and usually find myself circumventing them using one of the other two stairwells.  So, on this Veteran's day, I am grateful for all those who have served, who are currently serving, and I especially pray for those who may serve in the future.  The 1% of our nation who guard and protect the American way of life.