Tag Archives: Air Force

Chapter 41, Retirement Speech

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Alright, sorry about the tirade last week, but I had to get some things off my chest.  Many folks have asked for a transcript of my remarks from my retirement ceremony but, due to a technical glitch with my digital recorder, there is no recording.  I don’t do verbatim speeches so I’m going to give ya’ll a transcript as best as I can remember.  Here goes……

“I’d like to thank everyone who came today.  Especially those that came from very far away!  I’m not going to take a long time today, but there are some things I’d like to say and you’re a captive audience.  I’ve always thought that words really do have meaning and I hear so many wasted on meaningless chatter.  On May the 7th 1978 I stood up in front of crowd of people including some that are here today like my mom and my, then future, wife Peggy. I’m going to ask everyone here who is serving, or who has served, to stand up, raise your right hand, and repeat after me. “I, Daryl Hartman, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter. So help me God.”  At the time all I could think of was the adventure ahead and the struggle and hard work behind.  I didn’t give a whole lot of deep thought to the words I had spoken.  Years later, while pulling late SOF duty one night, I was asked by a recruiter to administer the oath to a new guy and after hearing the words again I decided that I needed to really understand what it meant to “uphold and defend the Constitution”.  So I got hold of a pocket constitution and this one in my jacket has been with me for over 25 years.  What does the oath mean to you?  How do you intend to defend it against enemies foreign?  What is an enemy domestic?  To that end, I’m going to ask ten volunteers to come forward and pass out a pocket constitution to everyone here today.  I encourage you to study it, discuss it, memorize it and be ready to execute that oath every day.

On 11 August 1979 I stood up in front of another large group, looked into Peggy’s eyes, and said, “I Daryl, take you Peggy, to be my wedded wife. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish ’till death do us part.”  I made a commitment to my wife to be true and honest and faithful to her and to put her needs before my own.  But I was saying more than that.  I was committing myself to my kids and my family and her family.  My career of moving from Youngstown to Pittsburgh to Youngstown to Pittsburgh was a direct result of Peg’s need to be here for her parents and my obligation to be here for my family.  My parents, my siblings, my nieces and nephews.  I have no regrets and I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to see my kids and their cousins grow up to be mature, godly adults.

In the reserves, we talk a lot about the three legged stool of Family, Reserves, and civilian Employer, but my experience is that three legged stools don’t pass the OSHA test.  My fourth leg is my most important one.

On the 7th of December, 1969 I stood up in front of a large group of people and said, “I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God”.  With those words I made the most important commitment of my life.  I made a decision to live my life filtered by what God had in mind for me.  I made a commitment to a congregation which I have been a part of for nearly 56 years.  I have tried to lead in a way that honors God and to make decisions prayerfully and consistently and to have an even and honest temperament.  I hope I’ve had a positive impact on the people I’ve served with and I want each of you to know that I will continue to be available for you.  You can’t turn caring off.  I wish you all the best, and may God bless you all and the United States of America.”

That’s it as best I remember.  If I missed anything please feel free to comment.

Defend against enemies domestic and VOTE!

Chapter 40, “A New Chapter Begins”

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It has finally arrived.  Effective today, I have been permanently promoted to “civilian”.  We don’t often put it that way, but it is the constitutionally correct description of what I am today.  As a result, I now have constitutional rights which I abrogated on 7 May 1978, and I intend on exercising them, especially the most important, starting today!

It’s not really accurate to say I left the air Force today because, in fact, my air force left me a long time ago.  It wasn’t a sudden thing, like being thrown from a moving truck, but a slow insidious almost methodical breakup.  Like buying a new car and as the years go by, and the rattles start, and the suspension begins to creak, and the radio cuts out, eventually you realize it’s not that fun to drive it any more.

No organization is perfect, but when I went on active duty, I felt like I was a part of something so much bigger than I could comprehend. It had a clear mission, an obvious mission and, at least from my perspective at the bottom, leadership with direction.  Maybe I’ve just been in too long, but I’ve seen the air force take on a personality more like an inside the beltway politician than an organization sworn to “uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States”.  For example, this years’ FSA (Force Structure Announcement).  You didn’t have to be a genius to see that the only decision-making filter used was “What can we do to circumvent congress?”  You can have as many folks sign non-disclosure agreements as you want, but the truth always gets outs.  Not using any sort of cost benefit analysis to make informed decisions was the first mistake, but then to continue to stonewall the public by not responding to FOIA requests and giving inaccurate data to congressmen and staffers moves it into Saul Alinsky, “Rules for Radicals” territory.  Just repeat the lies often enough and they will become the truth.

It is the responsibility of the military to rise above the political fray and tell the truth.  If we’re asked to find ways to cut costs and make us more efficient, integrity demands that we set aside parochial arguments and execute our oath to “well and faithfully discharge the duties” of the office to which we have been appointed.  And that’s just the beginning.

Political correctness has infected the air force.  We are not airmen and airwomen, we are airmen.  Let’s stop driving wedges between people by feeling the need to he/she, him/her everything the we put in print.  Grow up, get over it.  We need to be blind to gender, race, religion, shoe size, and whatever else the left comes up with to Balkanize us.  We can’t afford to waste the time and manpower.  We need everyone who is willing to commit themselves to defending this country and we need to put to good use all of their talents.  My first assignment was in SAC (Strategic Air Command) flying the venerable B-52 and I eventually was in TAC, MAC, AMC, ACC, and AFRC.  But looking back, SAC was the command where I learned how to take care of families.  Every commander I had back then knew that the mission was tough and that families were an integral part of making it work.  There was no formal organization to send families to Disney world, but commanders were, well, commanders.  When you deployed, someone from the squadron would just show up at your house to mow the lawn, or shovel the snow because they knew your wife was home with a new baby or just had surgery.  It’s what commanders did and taught us to do.  Programs, especially government programs, can’t and shouldn’t replace people who really care.  I could go on, and in the future I will, but I want to close with something that happened yesterday as we all waited for Frankenstorm to smash the east coast.

We got a call from TACC with an interesting request.  They asked if they could start sending C-130s and C-17s to The 911th to begin a 24 hour airlift staging operation to support the impending relief efforts on the east coast.  The answer was, of course, yes and we would be able to begin receiving aircraft immediately.  Then we asked the question to which we already knew the answer: “Why did you pick Pittsburgh?”.  They answered: “We were sitting around trying to figure out what would be a strategic location within easy reach of the east coast with access to recovery assets, open 24 hours, and near other transportation hubs and Pittsburgh and the 911th was the obvious choice”  Shazzam!  A room full of Majors and LtCols took five minutes to figure out what a Pentagon full of generals couldn’t.

 

To Tina, Aazita, Diane, and Tracey;

I miss you all already!

Chapter 38, The Beaver

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First of all I’d like to thank everyone for a fantastic retirement event this past weekend.  You don’t know how much it all meant to me.  I was overwhelmed!  A special thanks to my girls.  My biological ones and my fellow Air Force ones whom I will miss every day.

 

I’ve been an Operations Group Commander for a really long time.  When you add it all up it comes to nearly ten years.  I’ve worked with many Mission Support Group commanders, but I’ve always thought the most important relationship for an OG was with the Maintenance Group commander.

I think I learned the lesson while watching an old TV show called “Baa Baa Black Sheep”.  It starred Robert Conrad as Pappy Boyington and it only ran from 1976-1978, but it left a lasting impression on me.  There was the crusty old crew chief always complaining about the “flyboys busting up his airplane”, but it was all bluster to cover up the interdependence of flyers with their maintainers and the mutual respect they had.  I’ve always tried to nurture that relationship but, oddly, the three best MXGs I’ve worked with haven’t been crusty at all, they’ve all been women. (Although I’m not implying that women can’t be crusty!)

All three have had completely different leadership styles but this week I’m dedicating my story to Anna.  She was my first……MXG and when she came to Youngstown I thought she was rather, shall I say, stiff.  Let me explain that.  It was in no way a bad thing.  She was all business, and I’m not sure if she got my sense of humor or my whimsical way of looking at life.  As a result, I was determined to “loosen her up’ a bit.  Months went by and I wasn’t really sure I was making headway so when this incident occurred I wasn’t quite sure how to take her .

The AOB or Airfield Operations Board is a meeting held quarterly and chaired by the OG, me.  Every organization that has any part in running an airfield attends so at an active duty base it would be a meeting between a lot of military organizations discussing issues with runway construction, and grass mowing to keep the birds away, and airspace issues around the field, and base operations manning, RAPCON issues, you get the picture.  But at a reserve base, there are many civilian organizations involved since we don’t really own the airport. It makes for a much more interesting and engaging meeting and it helps build a strong relationship between all parties involved.  One meeting ended up being much more interesting than most.

We had all gathered in my conference room.  All told, almost twenty people.  We had folks from the Port Authority, civil engineering, base ops, approach control, safety, airspace manager, tower controllers and, the lone woman, Anna, the Maintenance Group Commander.  We followed the agenda for the meeting and everyone had a chance to discuss their particular area of expertise and how it could affect the flying operations at Youngstown.  We had gone around the room and the last one to speak was Jack.  Jack was “the guy”.  By that, I mean he was the guy that had been at the airport forever.  He worked for the Port Authority and if you wanted to know anything about the history of the airport or how and why decisions had been made about anything, he knew the answer.  He is a very quiet man and unassuming, but if Jack said that there was a problem you’d better believe it was serious.  On this particular day, we had a problem.

I asked, “Do you have anything for us Jack?” and shaking his head slowly from side to side he said, “We have a serious beaver problem here on the airport”.  I was truly surprised.  Finally something interesting to discuss at an AOB!  I never suspected that beavers could be a problem at an airport, but he went on to describe how the diligent critters had built a series of dams along the creek at the southwestern edge of the airport and the water was actually backing up and submerging the end of the small runway.  Who would have thought?  So I asked them how they were dealing with the problem and he said that they had hired a local trapper to kill the beavers and they had already killed three with one weighing in at nearly 75 pounds.  I thought we were finished but then Anna broke in, she calmly turned to me, looked me straight in the eye, and simply asked, “Can you eat beaver?”

Time stood still for an instant while every head in the room turned to me.  I knew what they wanted.  I knew what they expected.  They wanted me to take the slow curve and swing for the fence.  But being the sensitive, politically correct person that I am, I simply paused, turned to her with a straight face and said “I suppose so, if you’re into that sort of thing”.  She seemed satisfied and I asked if there were any other questions or comments. With every eye still fixated on me we finished the meeting. As everyone began to push back from the table, Anna hopped up and announced that she was late for another meeting so she bounded out the door and was gone.  The second her footsteps went silent down the hall, the room erupted into laughter, like I had never heard before.  Grown men with tears streaming down their cheeks.  Faces red as apples, and it went for a good 15 minutes.  We had a million one liners that popped into our heads that day, but not using any of them, in the moment, made it all the funnier.

I never found out the real reason Anna asked the question.  Was she lobbing me the slow pitch so I could hit it out of the park?  Or did she really want to know  what culinary delights could be created from rapacious rodents?

When she transferred from Youngstown we threw her a going away party and I told this story.  After telling it I answered the question by presenting her with a stuffed toy beaver on a platter, apple in its mouth, on a bed of plastic vegetables and lettuce.

Chapter 36, The Trials of Tall

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I was asked one question of last weeks’ chapter and I appreciate Shawn’s query.  It was: “What happened to the hot girl your were dating?”  Peg didn’t appreciate the implication of the question, but the answer is simple.  I’ve been married to her for 33 years.

I am a freak of nature.  Combine my 6’5” frame with my oversized noggin and you get someone capable of frightening small animals and children without uttering a word.  Oddly, I’ve never really considered myself tall.  In fact, I grew up thinking I was average.  My dad was 6’3”, my mother 5’9” and as they pumped out progeny we kept getting taller.  My little brother Tim is 6’7” and my sister Kelly is 6’0”.  It’s really all about perspective, but I have come to the opinion over the years that being tall can be a blessing or a curse.  I never wanted to be shorter or taller, but oftentimes those that are “differently statured” wish they were taller. Be careful what you wish for.  Let’s look at the facts.

Clothes – Good luck!  I don’t wear shorts, as often as I do, to show off my not so attractive legs.  It’s nearly impossible, or cost prohibitive, to find pants long enough for my 38” inseam.  When I try most pants on they look like Capris, or, as I call them, Manpris. Shirts are even more difficult.  I’ve never owned a long sleeve Air Force blue shirt because I’ve never been able to find one with a 38” sleeve.  Most of the time I feel like Lurch from the Adam’s Family or, with a few bolts in the right spot, Frankenstein.  For most people, if your shirt or pants are too long, you can always cut some off.  But If they’re too short, you’re out of luck.  I finally solved my flight suit problem by getting oversized ones that droop down to give the appearance of longer legs but the crotch hangs halfway to my knees.

Cars – I know I get odd looks climbing out of my Jetta, but I fit because Germans tend be tall and they design their cars accordingly.  Otherwise, there are cars that I can’t actually physically drive.  Dave Mitchell once asked me to take his Mazda RX-7 in for service while he was TDY and I had to drive it with the door open because there wasn’t enough room between the steering wheel and the door for my knee.  I’ve actually had to pay for size upgrades on rentals (mostly GM products) because I couldn’t get my legs under the steering wheel.

Fitting – I have hit my head on door frames, store displays, automatic door closers, ceilings in one and a half story houses (like the one I grew up in), overhead bins in airplanes, and ceiling fans, just to name a few.  Flying commercial is torture.  I just have to pray the person in front of me doesn’t recline their seat.

Longevity – There are over 40 studies that show a direct correlation between height and life expectancy and the results don’t favor me!

Don’t get me wrong, there are some advantages.  If you’re trying to make your way through a large crowd it’s extremely helpful.  My daughter Erin revealed to me several years ago that at a very young age she learned that just tucking in close behind me was the easiest way to get through a crowd.  But, on the other hand, you stick out like a sore thumb and there’s nowhere to hide.  If you really do want to intimidate someone, standing tall and getting close does the trick.  But, for some mysterious reason, drunks like to pick fights with the biggest guy in the room.  Another reason to stay out of bars!

So where am I going with this discussion?  I have, very intentionally, over my career attempted to mitigate the effects of my size on my coworkers.  I don’t believe in leadership by intimidation so I usually sit in a chair, or on the corner of a table, or lean against something so that I can look folks in the eye.  I make fun of myself and look for something funny to say so I don’t come off as Godzilla when I enter a conversation.  And luckily, everyone looks like a giant to children so I don’t actually look so large to them.  And I love getting down on all fours to see the world through their eyes and picking them up to give them a view through mine.

The most important thing (there it is!) is to be approachable, not intimidating, to make people feel comfortable and willing to speak freely. Tall or short, big head or little head, male or female, thin or fat, it doesn’t matter what you look like.  Wait, strike the “fat”, this is the Air Force, only thin people can be great leaders. Thin or less thin, we need the talents that everyone brings to the table to get the job done. Physically, we are what we are and we can do very little to change that.  But we can consciously change who we are emotionally, intellectually and spiritually.

When I was going into the ninth grade I decided to try out for basketball.  I was 5’9”, which for an 8th grader was pretty tall, but I knew nothing about basketball.  I couldn’t dribble or shoot or, for that matter, “walk and chew gum” at the same time but I tried and was immediately cut on the first day.  So I went out for track.  When I came back to school the next year, and was going into tenth grade, I was 6’4”.  Needless to say there were lots of leg cramps and new clothes that summer.  The basketball coach walked up to me on the first day of class and with a big smile on his face looked up at me and asked “Can I count on you for basketball this year?” to which I replied, “I wasn’t good enough last year and I’m no better this year”.

I ran track for three more years.