Life tends to throw us curve balls when we need strikes. A child throwing up at 1:00 am on the morning of a big presentation, traffic blocking the road on the way to a concert, the dog shaking his ears in the middle of the night when you’re on call, and (of course) a canceled flight when you have to make it across the country by a specific time. With over 10,000 flights canceled during the 2022 holiday season and airport terminals lined with cots and dissatisfied customers, this last one is particularly raw for many of us.
Like my son, Jaden, who experienced his first return to the US Army after holiday block leave.
Every holiday season, the US Army schedules block leave, shutting down training and sending all Soldiers home. I experienced this twice from Ft. Benning, GA (once during Basic Training and the following year during Ranger school). The Atlanta airport is a sea of camouflage-clad Soldiers directed by Drill Sergeants in brown campaign hats ensuring compliance, order, and politeness to fellow travelers. The US Army occupation of ATL occurs twice a year, at the beginning and at the end of this holiday block leave.
Returning from block leave is challenging. It’s hard to say goodbye to family and friends after a few weeks in civilian clothes and a warm bed, eating home-cooked meals. Every Soldier wants to stay, but every Soldier must also make it back by their command prescribed hard time. Hard times are so non-negotiable in the Army that they are called, “drop-dead time(s)”. Jaden’s drop-dead time to get to ATL was 6:00 pm. This allowed for the 90 minutes transportation down to Ft. Benning in time for a 5:00 am post-block leave Physical Fitness Test the following morning.
Welcome back to Benning, “the land that God forgot,” (where the mud is 18” deep; the sun is blazing hot - cue the cadence chorus)!
As a Soldier, you learn quickly not to violate hard times. That’s why we say things like, “if you’re not 15 minutes early, you’re 15 minutes late.” You learn that high on the list of cardinal sins for Soldiers is “missing movement” - not being with your unit when they move out to training or to deployment. You learn about “Murphy’s Law” - anything that can go wrong will go wrong! So you learn to prepare for the worst, and hope for the best. And you routinely begin to choose the needs of the mission over your personal comforts.
And as a young Soldier returning from block leave, you learn to take the early flight back to your duty station instead of the afternoon flight that will land just in time if everything goes right. Because when Murphy strikes, you learn quickly that no one is responsible for solving the problem but you. So at 2:45 am, when Jaden and I were walking out the door and Delta Airlines canceled his 5:45 am flight and rebooked him on a 5:45 pm departure, “school was in session”.
After a brief freakout moment, Kelly calmed the cussing kitchen, and Jaden and I worked the problem instead of adding to it. In short order, we found a bad, yet functional alternative. A 5:23 am flight to Salt Lake with an 8:00 am connector to DFW and a 12:00 pm connector to ATL making it in by 3:45 pm.
Three flights and a full day in airports (ew!) instead of one direct flight and time to have a nice lunch in ATL. He rebooked, kissed mama goodbye, bolted to the airport, and notified his Battle Buddies in Colorado who were also in the same pickle. One Soldier became two, and Jaden and his mate drove on. All the way to Salt Lake where their connector broke down and they could not get to DFW. Murphy struck again!
This is another key lesson for us all - learning when to ask for help. Jaden and his Battle Buddy asked and were rescued by a Delta gate agent and two passengers willing to take the later flight to allow them to hop the last direct flight between Salt Lake and ATL that would get them to GA on time. They arrived at 5:30 pm, hitting their hard time and accomplishing their mission.
And while this all may seem trivial in the grand scheme of life, I’m here to tell you it’s not.
Jaden and his Battle Buddy chose the harder right over the easier wrong. They had the “out” they needed. They could have crawled back into their comfortable beds, slept for another four hours, and eaten brunch in their jammies. They could have relaxed for the day and grabbed Chick-Fil-A on the way to the airport. They could have blamed Delta for their circumstances with a documented excuse in hand and taken a few lumps from the Drills on the back end.
But they didn’t.
They took responsibility, kept the mission in focus, and adapted to meet the objective. They shouldered the discomfort and solved a problem they did not create because their mission demanded it so.
And when they got to ATL there was no fanfare, no applause, and no Drill Sergeant cheering for them saying, “good job for not crawling back into bed!” No. Not at all. They had just enough time to deplane, grab a bag of chow and get into a line for the buses headed to Benning. They hurried up and waited like good Soldiers do because good Soldiers don't miss movement. Good Soldiers reject their comforts and accomplish their missions because that is what the Army demands of them. The Army doesn’t care if an obstacle gets in your way because the enemies of our country don’t care. Full stop.
And while they did not receive fanfare for making it on time, they have earned my respect and appreciation. It’s moments like this that an old Soldier like me can smile and know that we are in good hands. It’s moments like these that I beam with pride in my son, whom I love.
Sometimes, the options are all bad and you have to be willing to take the pain to accomplish the mission.
“Readily will I display the intestinal fortitude required to fight on to the Ranger objective and complete the mission though I be the lone survivor.”
Rangers Lead The Way!
Brandon
Cover Photo: 11 Alive