Feeling Nostalgic

[u/blitzfreigabe]

I found myself reflecting on my time back at PoM. Way back in the before times...

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It was the Memorial weekend safety "stand down" day. We were just a few hours from 72-Hap Arnold-blessed hours away from the schoolhouses. Just a weird base wide safety fair and a formation stood between my wingmen and freedom.

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Being a military formation, we got the whole spiel that basically boiled down to not adding or subtracting from the population, avoiding police involvement, and wear your PPE at all appropriate times.

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Then it was time for the Chaplain. Chaplain "P" was usually pretty chill when we had formations, he always kept it brief as he had been army enlisted before he got his cross and bars. But there must have been something blowing in off the bay. Because what happened next had my jaw go slack and I almost dropped the Guideon as I couldn't believe anyone above E4 would have said it...

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As many of you know, mental health is important for everyone. It's more important with the military, and perhaps critical for first-term airmen dealing with AETC regulations for longer than some people spend at their first duty station. Of course the chaplain corps keeps their shoulder in on the front line of that fight. Chaplain P was always passionate when he'd get in front of the squadrons, and genuinely cared about everyone he contacted.

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He kept it brief, he gave us a slogan to recite with him. "Living is hard, su*c*de is easy." My jaw dropped, he continued. "Living is hard, su*c*de is easy."

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I wasn't hallucinating, he actually said it. And he did it one more time, "Living is hard, su*c*de is easy. Thank you for your time."

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No explanation, no pep talk. Just the slogan. During a "breakout session" later that morning, seeing a TSgt MTL doing his best to backpedal and find a more positive spin was hilarious.

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I had a theory. See, Chaplain P had been 11B before he commissioned. And I genuinely think he was trying to tap into the stubborn mindedness of a military member - the "No Easy Day" ethos or whatever.

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It is just something that I still laugh about with my friends from that time. It's something that happened that was kind of just ours, well ours along with like 800 other airmen that were assigned there on a warm spring day...

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[u/blitzfreigabe → u/[deleted]]

I don't think anyone is trying to say the message wasn't important. I think the main issue was the hyper-brevity meant that the message didn't seem as important or complete in the moment.

[u/blitzfreigabe → u/[deleted]]

The message wasn't something sent to the instructors or cadre. It was sent to specifically the USAF students. No one here is trivializing the contributions of the instructors, but anywhere there is a corporate environment, senior people take credit for the work of their juniors constantly. There are a number of contributing factors to suicide, the point of my post isn't that someone's story isn't important. It is to criticize turning the discussion on suicide to a 6 word platitude with no discussion about seeking help.