April 2009 |
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March 2002 ArchiveAll the old garbage you can handle! |
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So, you joined a Squadron four years ago that had twenty members on the books but really had five cadets showing each week, and the Commanders dog, Fuselage an eighteen year old mutt. Well, Fuselage has gone to that big airport in the sky and you somehow have found yourself assigned as the new Cadet Commander. Even better, your Squadron has recruits coming out of the woodwork, and a pretty large selection of senior cadet NCOs and a couple Cadet Officers. You have two flights but you discover as you grow that there are more deserving cadets then positions available for them. Whats a commander to do?
I had completely closed in on myself. I was no longer living by the day, the hour, or even the minute. My focus had narrowed considerably. I was literally thinking “One more step, one more step, just one more…”. I wanted to cry, but I didn’t have the strength. I just kept raising one burning thigh and putting it down. Then I would raise the other and put it down. Every step became a conscious, agonizing effort.
Capt Gibbons challenged us to build field-expedient shelters. That was just fine with Capt Stanford because he was planning on building a shelter the whole time and had only brought a tarp and poncho along. The exercise of building shelters meant that he'd have someone to share the work - and the misery - if things went wrong.