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Since I was five, the only thing I’d wanted to do was become a helicopter pilot.
In high school, I knew I didn’t want to follow the normal path by going to university and then joining the Air Force or the Navy as an officer. It was too long. and I was too impatient. Does this sound like any teenager you’ve ever heard of?
The Army needs helicopter pilots too. And I found a little-known program that allowed you to sign up when you hit 18 and go straight to their flight school as a warrant officer.
Army recruiters aren’t hard to find. So I found one. He convinced me to sign up as an enlisted man to become a helicopter mechanic – it would show good faith, he said. Good faith was going to be hard to come by. I found out much, much later that recruiters only get credit for signing up enlisted men – not warrant officers.
So, as I was trying to put together my warrant officer application, the recruiter started ghosting me. Not returning messages. Not returning phone calls. Because he didn’t want me to go forward with my warrant officer application since he wouldn’t get any credit for it.
I couldn’t set up all the tests and interviews that I needed to. I was an 18-year-old kid with his eyes on the skies but who found himself in Limbo. And there was no way in Hell I was going to linger in Limbo.
Fortunately, I had a mother. Most of us do. My mother had a business partner. And this business partner had connections. As in state-senator type of connections.
And this state senator made some polite inquiries of the Army as to my status. The Army doesn’t like state senators making polite inquiries. Because hovering in the background is the possible insinuation that the Army is trying to enlist teenagers under somewhat false pretences.
Suddenly – action. A bird colonel was put on my case. That’s what they’re called because of the eagle they wear on their uniform. An 0-6. It’s the beginning of top management in the Army.
My original recruiter was sent for, questioned, and a black mark entered in his record. The Army is a very competitive organization. If you get a black mark, you don’t get promoted. And you end your career kicking your heels in Podunk or some other, less pleasing place.
A new recruiter was assigned to me. And out of the goodness of his heart – because remember, recruiters don’t get credit for creating and ushering through thick files for potential warrant officers – he put an impeccable file together for me.
And I was accepted into the program. But there was a caveat – if I didn’t do very, very well at warrant officer leadership and flying training, I would be demoted back to a private (technically an E1) and bye-bye career.
I’m here to tell you that, with the help of a whole bunch of different people, I did manage to complete all the requisite training. And that 18 months after enlisting, I was flying Army helicopters on all sorts of different missions. And prouder than I’d ever been in my life.
First, that if you back yourself, other people might back you too.
Second, that there are some bad actors out there, but there are some really good people too. Identify the good ones, get them behind you, and you can fly high.
And finally, when push comes to shove, having a mother with some political connections is never a bad thing. After all, what else are mothers for?
