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BusyInsanely busy. Irrationally so. Firing on all synapses. Every sinew a-twitch. Busy. So. Talk amongst yourselves. As though you needed any encouragement from me. Suggested topic: Close Air Support. How very hard it can be to deliver warheads on foreheads when those forehead are in close proximity to other foreheads whom you are actually trying to protect. And who need it bad, or else they wouldn’t be asking for you to drop 500 pound bombs over the top of them, because really, who needs the stress? But only they’re locked in mortal combat, like. In the beatin’ zone, but with the roles of beater and beatee not yet clearly defined. But whose situation is not improved if in fact you mid-ID the target or otherwise drop short. Alternative topic: Raising 15-year old daughters in Southern California – from the parent’s perspective, is attempting to do so a suicidal gesture, or merely self-destructive ideation? Discuss. 17 comments to Busy |
 
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Copyright © 2009 Neptunus Lex - All Rights Reserved |
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I’ll leave the CAS topic to those who know better.
Regarding the second question, all I would have to say is that if you teach your children well enough, and let them choose their own path in the world, it will always lead home to you.
The daughter thing – has to be similar to raising them in CT. Have watched my friends go thru it and I agree with RPL above – give them a good foundation and eventually they’ll come around.
In the meantime, you and The Hobbit will be complete idiots for a few more years…at least in the minds of The Biscuit and The Kat.
If I can combine the two topics, it would be like this:
Know and transmit your own position clearly and often.
Knowing your own coordinates and transmitting them correctly prevents friendly air from making you blue-on-blue toast.
With teenage daughters, the same principle applies. What guff that gets handed back at you in one of those ‘danger close’ arguments is less likely to frag you emotionally when she very clearly knows your position on various issues [clothes, surfer dudes, etc.] beforehand. Which, as the good dad you are, you have consistently and repeatedly held forth on said topics in a friendly but clear manner. You may get the sighs, eye rolls, and door slamming as a response, but she IS listening.
So it’s not a suicidal gesture, it just feels that way sometimes. Being clear on where you stand let’s everyone involved know you aren’t the target.
My cousin grew up in SoCal…..and when her daughters were 6-10, she moved to Southern Mississippi. Nuff said.
1. When you hear “I hate you” then you’re on the right track.
2. Be willing to intervene in her peer relationships that are not in congruance with the influences you believe are 100% healthy. No one gets a pass. i.e. “You may no longer hang out with Susie-period!”. Groom your daughter to understand that EVERYONE must EARN a relationship with her. Refer to Item #1 for affirmation.
3. Teach her the difference between true friends and simply acquaintences and buds. At that age everyone is her best firned. They need to learn the difference.
4. Her wardrobe is such that no skin shows between the bottom of the shirt and the top of the trou. When she balks make her take off the clothes and throw them out. Let her know that when she runs out of clothing you (Dad) will buy her all new clothes without her input, from WalMart.
5. She slams her bedroom door you take the door off the hinges and leave her room doorless for an extended period of time. They HATE the loss of privacy.
6. Is mom her “mom” or her “girfriend”. First is good. Second is not good.
7. Sports and church. Get her involved in both.
8. Get her to understand that you view malcontent children as no different than if she broke a curfew. The hammer drops for both.
9. A drivers license is not guranteed at 16. A car??? Fuhggedaboudit!
My daughter just turned 18 and she is JUST beginning to get her head out of her backside. I can actually see the metamorphasis happening. It has not been easy but way worth the effort and tensions. I did it as a single dad.
I have a million more ideas but I’m gonna write a book and retire off the experience. She owes me at least that much for the 5 years of accelerated aging I have incurred.
Just finished reading “Flying Black Ponies.” About VAL-4 in the Mekong delta during the Vietnam war. Great read for anyone intrested in CAS. OV-10 are ideally suited to the CAS enviro in Afganistan. We should bring ‘em back. I don’t think UAVs are good platforms for FAC(A). Hell, the F-14 was good at it…it became a choice platform for it. Bottom line, something simple, need 2 pairs of eyes and the ability to op close to the FLOT. Maybe bring in a 2 seat A-10? F-16 for CAS? Yeah right.
Lex, if you and Kat didn’t get the job done by the time they become teenagers, then you’re down to prayer and divine intervention. I’m going to take a wild guess and say that you and the Hobbit were on-target, and have nothing to worry about, with the exception of that little tuition and dorm fees
Oh..forgot…weddings
Two seat A-10 is probably better than the OV-10A Bronco. It can get out of trouble faster, for one thing.
A 30-mm might actually convince the Talibani with RPG’s to keep their heads down as well.
1. When you hear ?
Captain J and A-Man: Both excellent. That’s all I got is complements.
Except CDR Salamander: What’s your screen name gonna be when you make O-6?
Love your list, A-Man. On the right track all the way. Out of curiosity, did any of y’all say “I hate you” to your parents? I certainly didn’t, and thank God, neither did my kids (now in their 40’s) or one of us might have wound up in jail!
Jason-
Those were my thoughts. Read a book called ‘Sock it to ‘em Baby’ about an RAAF type that did a USAF tour as a FAC.
Seemed like he’s turn up, work out where the good guys were, where the bad guys were, what weapon and heading was appropriate for whatever turned up to party and then mark it all out for them.
Now, this may put a crimp on the airborne feats of derring-do those fixed wing guys enjoy talking about but the only argument I can see is perhaps someone somewhere thought low and slow in countries so awash with RPGs just wasn’t a good idea.
CPT (Not you Lex, the one that seems an Army type)-
“Know and transmit your own position clearly and often.
Knowing your own coordinates and transmitting them correctly prevents friendly air from making you blue-on-blue toast.”
I’m imagine that wouldn’t always help when the guys circling above are a couple of k’s from where they think they are.
If your kids never hate you, you’re not doing your job as a parent.
I choose the main topic, but I can relate it to war at sea, because the TASM, rather than the environment, brought the same type issues to the table. I got to play “Mr. Tomahawk” for a few years way back, and I have put the discussion in the blog….
Also, the 1st Cav at Ia Trang faced an enemy, albeit a uniformed one in the form of the NVA, who had the tactic of trying to close quickly, so the air and artillery superiority of our forces would be taken out of play, for fear of friendly fire, even if it menat taking lots of casualties to get far enough across the battle space to mix it up that closely. The difference is most civilians got out of the way back then…increasingly, we aren’t seeing that anymore, on land or at sea.
Miss BirdLegs: I once wrote “mom is dumb” on a slip of paper and stuffed it in the back of my desk in my bedroom. I was about 10 at the time; my mom found it some months later and hooted & howled in fits of laughter for HOURS afterwards. Kind of took the wind out of my sails and I never said anything like that again – in writing or in print.
Oh, and she saved the damn thing too! 30+ years later and it’s still hanging around somewhere.
Sim,
You raise a possible but unlikely scenario.
The guys [and gals] ‘circling above’ are NOT ‘a couple of k’s from where they think the are’. They always know where they are. CAS aircraft have the navigational tools needed to maintain situational awareness at all times.
The problem and the worry is that the CAS drivers don’t always know where YOU are [the friendly on the ground] in relation to the enemy’s position, especially in a non-preplanned strike. Is the enemy too close to friendly positions to drop? In close combat, friendlies can’t always mark their positions visually to be seen from the air because it will draw hostile fire.
The friendly must know their own position coordinates first, before giving the reference points to the target they need hammered. In the confusion of battle, the friendly might mistakenly transmit their own position coordinates in place of the target coordinates in the 9-line, with tragic results, as has apparently happened on one occasion. Training and doctrine strive to prevent these errors, but it’s still the fog of war.
When mistakes happen, its easy to blame the air, but the fact is everyone involved is responsible for their part of clarity.