Monthly Archives: April 2014

Chapter 93, Proximity

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I’ve been thinking a lot about my dad lately. It might be because of Easter, holidays do that, or it might be because spring is finally here and we used to talk about, and do, projects around the compound. Either way, he’s been on my mind. If you have multiple kids, or have siblings, you know every parent/child relationship is different. Personalities are different and how you deal with those differences makes those relationships, well, different. So I’m not saying my relationship was better than my siblings, it was just different.

When I left active duty in 1984 there were only two certainties in my life. #1, I was joining the reserves and #2, we were moving home to Pittsburgh. We weren’t quite sure of our housing arrangements but we knew we didn’t want to be far from either of our parents. During the six years I spent on active duty our single largest monthly bill was our phone bill. Every Sunday afternoon we would call my folks and talk, way too long. We talked about family, politics, issues at church, and plans for coming home. But we never really nailed down the “where” of the move until we got here. We didn’t talk about it, but my dad had a plan. I don’t think we had been here 24 hours when my dad proposed giving us my mom’s rhubarb patch to build a house, I don’t like rhubarb anyway, and gave us a brochure from a local home builder. We’re still in that house. And that’s why my relationship with my dad is a little different than my siblings. For the next 18 years I saw my dad almost every day. Some days it was only a wave as I came home late from work but there were lots of roofs to fix, plumbing to repair, dirt to move, porches to build, grass to cut, snow to shovel, and near death tree removal experiences. And since we shared many of the same passions, we sat together on the boards of multiple organizations and talked endlessly about those passions. God, family, and country, in that order, and he never lost his passion for any of them.

He introduced me to Rush (Limbaugh, not the band) and Jim Quinn and tried to talk me into running for office until I explained to him that, as a federal employee, I couldn’t. I think in another life he would have run for office and he would have been fantastic. Unlike me, he was an extrovert and he had what you would call “the gift of gab”. He could talk to anyone about anything and make them feel like his best friend.  But having five kids and being a small, sole proprietor, businessman left him with no time to be directly involved in the political process. He did, however, care deeply about our little township and when things were going sideways in the community he convinced several neighbors to run, get elected, and get things back on track. He was also the head of the township planning commission. A position he accepted because the state and federal government were trying to reach their tentacles into how local municipalities zone properties, effectively seizing personal property rights.

It’s been nearly 12 years since he passed but a day doesn’t go by that I don’t think about him.   I know you’ve all seen the WWJD , What Would Jesus Do?, bracelets. I understand the concept but I’m not comfortable claiming to know what Jesus would do in every situation in the world. Too many people have made that claim and had it end very badly. Jamestown for example. I do, however, ask that question every day and I also ask the question WWDD, What Would Dad Do? I know that it would be ridiculous to speak for someone who was never in the situation in question but I think I have a pretty good idea how he felt and how he thought. We didn’t agree on every question like,” Should I use these new deck screws to put that together or should I straighten out these old rusty 16 penny nails and use them?”, or, “Should I buy the $12 Glacier Bay faucet or the $40 Moen?”, but on the big picture questions he had a huge influence on who I am today.

I miss you dad.

Chapter 92, “The Last Guy”

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I’m going to ask my non-air force friends to bear with me today because there really is application in today’s discussion to the civilian world.

In many ways the Air Force Reserves has a totally different culture than the active duty Air Force. Active duty leadership, and sadly reserve leadership as well, is forever trying to squeeze the “round peg” reserves into the “square peg” active duty failing to acknowledge the strengths of the former. For example.

I’ve been to dozens of conferences where they’ve invited a JAG to come and speak about legal issues that might face a commander. Inevitably it leads to the subject of fraternization. Now I know you military types know what I’m talking about but the idea that you can’t date, let alone marry, someone you fall in love with is a concept foreign to the civilian world. It makes sense in a military setting but here’s where the train falls of the track in the reserves. As part time military, reservists are only on military status for a very limited number of days and are therefore only subject to the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) on those days. The air force has no say in who you date or marry when you’re not on duty. Every JAG, after long discussions, grudgingly comes to the same conclusion. They don’t like it. They don’t advertise it. But it’s true. On active duty they hand out Letters of Reprimand, Article 15s, and force people out of the military. But in the reserves, we deal with it. You have to keep couples out of each other’s chain of command. You have to occasionally transfer one or the other to a different organization but in the end, we make it work very successfully. I had dozens of officer/enlisted couples in my units and as long as there was no contact during duty days there was rarely a problem. That is just one example. Here’s the more interesting and challenging one.

The Air Force has a very strict up or out structure. You’re expected to progress in your career in rank and position or your services are no longer required. I’ve discussed the folly of that process in the past but in the reserves things can be a little different.

I’ve known several guys who have risen to the position of squadron commander and then, for a variety of reasons like family health problems or civilian job changes, had to step down from the position. Now in most organizations, both military and civilian, the former “guy in charge” finds another job, retires, or moves away but in the reserves there are certain skill sets that you can’t afford to throw away. Skill sets like pilot and navigator take years to develop and losing those talents is something the taxpayer can’t afford to do. I have seen former commanders successfully step down from leadership and successfully remain in the unit as a line crewmember. It would be like a CEO stepping down and then working the production line. It can work but it takes a very special guy and most don’t have the maturity or are too egocentric to make it happen. You have to be willing to accept the fact that things will change and the worst thing you can do is say even one word about how you think you had a better plan. It’s the single quickest way to destroy an organization. If folks don’t like a decision the new guy makes they automatically go to the old guy asking for an opinion. It’s OK to have a sympathetic ear but the ONLY acceptable response is unwavering support for the new guy. It takes a bigger man then most men are capable of being.

It’s even a little weird being the last guy, who retired, still lives in the area, and communicates regularly with the guys in the organization. I told my replacement I wouldn’t darken the door of the group for six months, and I think I kept that promise, and my advice has always been to communicate your concerns and keep your eyes on what’s best for the organization not just yourself.

I am concerned about the direction of the Air Force and the military as a whole but I hope the continuing budget problem forces us to take a look at how we manage people and how we often waste valuable human assets by forcing them up or out.