Sign of the Times

April 8, 1966 the magazine "Time" had the cover "God is dead". Looks like once again, they just don't get it. Just goes to show that freedom of the press is no guarantee of truth.

Time article:

Helping the Air Force Win WWII

Time neglects to mention
+ China is developing next generation fighters.
+ Last few weeks Russia has been more boisterous with the west.
+ The Air Force flies many other kinds of planes than fighters that are essential to national security.
+ The Air Force flies every single wounded or sick military or DOD person home for care.
+ Every single military member or DOD employee that deploys for the war on terror flied in an AF bird at some point.
+ Not to mention the AF moves supplies, and personnel all over the theater.
+ Not to mention the AF is responsible for rapid on call transport of national leaders and essential personnel.
+ Not to mention space command - our communications and eyes in the sky
+ Not to mention the state of art medical facilities we maintain in the theater of operations

Personally I'd prefer to fight the terrorist somewhere else so we have no more 9/11s and keep our military technologically and professionally superior so we don't have any more Dec 7ths either.

ps. I love the bit about dogfighting. Shows a total ignorance of how real combat tends to shake down. I guess they forgot the lessons of Vietnam where our pilots were taking a beating with stand off tactics until the AF returned to teaching them dog fighting skills. But it sounds like "stand off" or "stay out of it" might be the thinking cap this writer is using. Someone should tell the ostriches that you can hide your head in the sand but your hiney is still up in the air. I can imagine the next editorial will be directed toward law enforcement telling them to make do with 25 - 40 year old automobiles since there aren't really any bad guys out there any more (just take it easy on the curves and watch the acceleration.)

Christmas in DC

This week I and several of my military team were invited to the White House to tour the Christmas decorations. (Picture to the left is from 2004, no cameras allowed.) Yes, we were there when the fire broke out next door in the Executive Office building. We thought something might be going on from the scramble we saw with some of the Secret Service. The fire did not disrupt events in the White House though. Outside though, it was evident that big doings were going on as firetrucks screamed through the area.

I was very surprised by a few things. Everything we saw is old, nothing much modern. The rooms were tall but much smaller than I would have thought. But there was not a plain or uninteresting surface, nor is the artistic aspect overdone. It was truly an enjoyable experience. Then it was back to work.


Thursday was a surprising day. The Air Force is doing a major re-engineering of some of my old dental work and I looked forward to a day of having the whole left side of my head numb. (Wasn't dissapointed there.) We had a last minute training evolution dropped on us too. I was lucky though, I got out of my appointment in time to make the session and find a parking place (a huge challenge at Bolling AFB). My teammate drove over and could not find parking near the location so he wound up not taking the training. You don't dare park creatively (illegally) as the DC police dept will kindly serve as your conscience. I've gotten used to parking at the BX and just walking the mile or mile and a half to get to where I am going. But sometimes you don't have the time.

Speaking of time, I wish I had a few more days before Christmas. This will be my third year away from home for the holidays. I hope to take some leave right after Christmas but it will depend on whether I get a few things done. I had some things fall onto my desk this week that I didn't anticipate. I've been tapped for a short term special duty escorting flag officers which has moved up some suspenses of projects I am working on. Looks like during the long weekend that most civilian federal employees are enjoying I'll be working on finishing up two major projects and starting a third. (The gym I use has been closing at 2:30pm already for the holidays and starting tomorrow is completely closed - yes it's a military gym, but not Air Force.) One is very labor intensive as it involves finalizing a design for a database for our Air Force team at Arlington to help us better track and manage our funeral services. The other is not as intensive, but requires precision or as it is called "attention to detail". That one is due the 26th. I hope to knock out most of that tomorrow if I can get into my office which can be a challenge. The military does not control the building my office is in. I've found that my access to my office tends to be restricted to normal business hours, when the civilians are in. Last time I tried to get in on a Saturday, the computer access would not recognize me. Well that is not exactly the case. It knew who I was, it just wouldn't allow me in. I've been told that has been corrected so tomorrow I plan to test it. (Me & computers haven't been getting along lately. Blew the mother board out on my main system at home and my keyboard at the office likes to type on its own sometimes.) If I can't get in to my office over the weekend then I'll go in during the day on Christmas Eve when the computer locks will allow me access during normal business hours. I just wish life came at you in normal business hours. At least the building will be quiet. (Hope the heat is on. Hmmm.... didn't think about that.)

I'm reminded every day practically that our service members don't really have regular office hours when I see the security forces personnel manning our gates at one of the local bases. A local radio station is asking for people to pray for those overseas and away from family. But I wonder if folks realize that even military people right here at home are pulling duty away from family. This is a job that takes the vast majority of our folks away from home. Not many can take leave, because we always have the job to do and we must always be prepared for contingencies. Our cops are standing security in the cold. Our communications and command and control folks are in their work centers. Our hospitals are staffed. There will be a lot of our young men and women working Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Our family will spend part of Christmas Eve in worship at a local Lutheran congregation that is holding a candelight service. I bit early for my taste (5:30 and 7:30pm) but it looks to be very nice. Christmas Day we will likely visit a different church for worship. There are a bunch of great Lutheran congregations in the area. Wednesday I have a full day with funerals as I am the only chaplain doing funerals that day. I hope to be able to leave for the mountains of Tennessee on the 27th to spend some time with my Mom. The holidays weigh on her now that my father has passed to be with the Lord. I also hope to get my girls down to Dollywood for the festival of lights. Then it will be back for training, escort duty, and finalizing preparations for a marriage workshop that I am supporting at Bolling.

Wreaths At Arlington

It was quite cold as my oldest daughter, her friend, and myself met with our IMA Chaplain and one of our chaplain assistants and his girlfriend to join in the annual wreath laying at Arlington. This year the number of wreathes was doubled to 10,000. There was a huge crowd of folks. I would guess there were 3 to 5 thousand people here. We took a wreath a piece and found gravesites to lay the wreath. The girls laid their wreaths on soldiers who fought in the Spanish American war. I laid my wreath on the grave of a sailor who fought in World War I.

I buried an airman who retired from the Air Force after many years of service. He started his service in WWII in the Army Air Corp where he flew 7 missions against the Ploesti Oil Fields in Romania which were the main source of petroleum products for the Nazi war machine. Casualties were very high. At one point so many plains in his squadron were shot down, that his plane became the lead plane.

I am especially moved by those services where the families share my hope in resurrection through what Christ accomplished for us at the cross. Each family grieves the loss of their loved ones, but St. Paul is so right when he says that those who have faith do not grieve as others do. You can see the hope in their eyes when the traditional passages of Scripture promise are read. Christmas is especially moving as it is very much in remembrance that the Savior came to this world to defeat sin and death. Even as the holiday season expands due to various cultural and social influences to include non-Christian traditions, it will always be the birth of Jesus that is the source for why their is a Christmas celebration. And death, the biggest problem of them all still finds its only solution in the promised salvation and resurrection that is God's gift to us through faith in Jesus Christ. My favorite services are those where I not only honor the memory and sacrifice of military service made by the deceased, but where I also proclaim and celebrate with the family our shared hope in Jesus.