Thursday July 9, 2009 - Youth

Not long ago one of the things I really appreciated about the military was learning from the older guys. More than just flying, many of the crew chiefs, maintainers, pilots and other folks had a wealth of lessons from their life experiences.

THEN!! One day I woke up and was ONE of the old guys! I am not sure if I pass along many lessons, but now, ironically, now I appreciate the youth!

I am pictured with one of the crew chiefs that launched me for a compelling sortie with Scrounger yesterday: Hays Plowman. Hays and I have had some funny experiences on this deployment. I like trying to keep up with (okay, beat) the athletic young bucks in the gym and Hays is a great pace rabbit. Hopefully I have passed a little wisdom along to him, but he has definitely inspired me. Hays combines his passion for basketball and his Christian Faith by traveling to prisons to compete against prison basketball teams while also sharing the gospel. It is humbling the inspiration I get from these kids.

Someday, when you "start" to get old like me, be sure to take the opportunity to also learn from Youth.