Son's new career path, pretty proud father

[Sigarms]

Even with kids with the same biology and upbringing, they can still be completely different. Our 2 girls are completely different in their personalities and life ambitions.

That I understand. My wife and her sister are NOTHING alike, and I consider myself blessed that I got my wife

That said, having a son die due to a drug overdose (something laced with fentanyl) kind of sticks with you about what you should have done differently as a parent.

I mentioned it in another thread, but one reason why my son in the AF got a pretty big tattoo (which surprised the living heck out of me because he never seemed interested in tattoo's) was because of a pact he made with his brother when they were growing up. I never had a clue about this pact they made with each other.

Helping out last year at the local high school for church work in the county, came across my son's old high school principal and he (principal) was asking about him. I told the principal about the tattoo, and he said he remembered him talking about it and why he wanted it when he was still in high school. I had no clue...

I was impressed with the tattoo shop in Lackland. Can't get one when you're drunk and they ask you why you want it. After my son told him why he wanted the tattoo, he had to go back two times for them to finish it, and they did it for free for him. Had to laugh, son said it hurt like a bugger...I got to admit, it is pretty well done.

 

[gsganzer]

Sorry about your son's death. I remember reading the thread. We can influence our kids only so many hours of the day, the rest of the time, the rest of society has their chance.

I had a nephew that was hooked on drugs. I expect he would have also overdosed at some point, had he not died from asthma. In a sense, the asthma death was also related to his drug use, because he didn't have money to get his rescue inhaler refilled due to poor choices.

 

[Sigarms]

due to poor choices.

You hit the nail on the head as to why some things happen to people when they grow into adulthood IMO.

I'm in no way trying to defend my one son's actions because of the poor choices he made, but there were some things that came up after we talked with his biological sister at his memorial service (first time we met her, long story). His 3 biological brothers (2 who were in foster care) are making the exact same poor choices now that they're adults.

When you adopt kids "locally" from the state you live in whose families may not be a good influence, it adds another wrinkle into parenting.

We never hid our boys biological families from their lives, as they both knew they were adopted between 7-8 years old when they were in the foster care system.

Sad to say, there is no licensing to have children and anyone can have them, but the reality is some people should not be able to propagate IMO. I say that with first hand experience.

At the end of the day, sooner or later I'm looking forward to talking to the son no longer with us as there are so many things I want to say to him.

 

[Gator6x4]

He came home for a visit last night.

I was asleep when he pulled in last night, but in my office at 06:00 this morning to tell me he's going off with his older biological brother for breakfast and hitting a local car show in another town (long story, but I believe I mentioned both of our boys were adopted at a young age).

I had to ask him why he got a hair cut (he keeps his hair within regulations apparently, but longer IMO than I think it normally should be when I see him home LOL) it looked more like a high and tight this morning.

Apparently he was teaching a visiting high ranking official "one on one" on something new. He told me some other things he was doing, and he really seemed happy and enthused with what he was doing. I'm kind of impressed with him training this "official" because this guy is up the food chain after my curiosity got the best of me and I wanted to look.

The reason why I'm really proud of him is I found out from him that his first recruiter kind of screwed him over on his enlistment (he didn't realize it at the time). I couldn't figure out why he didn't get a choice of his MOS's (or whatever the air force calls it), and he didn't know what tech school he would go to until after he finished basic (apparently our son basically let the Air Force decide where to put him which was a big NO NO in my book but he never explained it to us and we didn't force the issue and just wanted to be supportive).

Son wanted to go into the mechanical field (either air craft or vehicles) and got something totally different. I explained to him when he was in tech school that sometimes we don't always get what we want in life, but what determines your future is how you react to something that you don't expect to get. Give 110% of yourself, be enthused, be trainable and act nice with your coworkers is exactly what he is doing even though he was originally disappointed in tech school on what he got.

Since he got that award of some sort for the work he's doing a couple of months ago, he's doing exactly what I told him and he seems happy. Only thing you can really hope for your kids IMO.

Apparently he needs to take some more tests, but he seems to have a good grasp on what he needs to accomplish to get to the rank where he wants to be when his enlistment is up, which tells me he has a game plan. He's also the go to guy for his friends on base when they want to do work on their cars he's reliable LOL. It's also nice to know he's using the tools I bought him before he enlisted (whenever I ask him what he did over the weekend, generally helping someone on their car).

His ONLY kryptonite is his choice in "girlfriends" IMO, but I won't go there... LOL

Most of the US Military Branches recruit on the desired MOS. Then once they get you and subject you to a battery of test they place you in the MOS where they think you would be better satisfied and qualified.

The Military places the individual they do not let the individual place themselves. If they did all people who joined would be Air Craft Pilots.

 

[ultrarunner]

Several in the medical field were recruited solely for medical and another friend who specialty was programming was also recruited for that…

One day you are a nurse in private life and the next day you are an officer nurse in the military.

The recruiters were calling the house when I was in High School… dad put a stop to that and all the men in my family served and dad said the Navy was good for him but Vietnam reshaped their thinking… different times.

 

[Gator6x4]

Several in the medical field were recruited solely for medical and another friend who specialty was programming was also recruited for that…

One day you are a nurse in private life and the next day you are an officer nurse in the military.

The recruiters were calling the house when I was in High School… dad put a stop to that and all the men in my family served and dad said the Navy was good for him but Vietnam reshaped their thinking… different times.

One day you are a nurse in private life and the next day you are an officer nurse in the military.

The pathway to wearing a 2nd Lieutenants bar in the Nursing Corp is more involved than that.

Army nurses do not attend traditional basic training like enlisted soldiers; instead, they attend a Basic Officer Leadership Course (BOLC), 9 week course which is typically held at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, where they learn the fundamentals of military life as commissioned officers.

Key points about Army nurses and training:

• No bootcamp: Military nurses do not go through basic training ("boot camp").
  
  
• BOLC: They attend a Basic Officer Leadership Course to learn military basics.
  
  
• Location: This course is usually held at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
  
  
• Requirements: To become an Army nurse, you must have a Bachelor's degree in nursing and pass the NCLEX exam.

 

[ultrarunner]

I will have to ask for update…

One of our doctors at age 50 accepted a commission with the VA.

He really made it sound just like that… although he did have prior military service nearly 30 years prior… and did go through basic training… he did not become a doctor and go to medical school until after he separated from service.

I posted before about the Doctor that was our Chief of Staff.

He was in medical school with no intention of serving… quite adamant about it until the military came for him after he ignored them.

Doc said no one had explained his options so clearly as when 2 soldiers were at his dorm room.

His options were arrested as a draft dodger while his conscience objection plea went through the system or finish his medical degree and report for duty… he opted for the later and upon graduation reported and was on a transport to military hospital in Germany…

He said military life as a Doctor serving in Germany was nothing like he imagined and was content patching up soldiers for the remainder of his service and made lifelong friends…

 

[Sigarms]

Most of the US Military Branches recruit on the desired MOS. Then once they get you and subject you to a battery of test they place you in the MOS where they think you would be better satisfied and qualified.

The Military places the individual they do not let the individual place themselves. If they did all people who joined would be Air Craft Pilots.

Yes, you do test, and from there they generally give you your options.

What you described didn't even happen to myself in the 1980's.

Pretty much everyone in my sons flight knew where they were going to for tech school because they knew what they wanted to do before they enlisted and that's what they enlisted for.

 

[Sigarms]

I will have to ask for update…

One of our doctors at age 50 accepted a commission with the VA.

He really made it sound just like that… although he did have prior military service nearly 30 years prior… and did go through basic training… he did not become a doctor and go to medical school until after he separated from service.

I posted before about the Doctor that was our Chief of Staff.

He was in medical school with no intention of serving… quite adamant about it until the military came for him after he ignored them.

Doc said no one had explained his options so clearly as when 2 soldiers were at his dorm room.

His options were arrested as a draft dodger while his conscience objection plea went through the system or finish his medical degree and report for duty… he opted for the later and upon graduation reported and was on a transport to military hospital in Germany…

He said military life as a Doctor serving in Germany was nothing like he imagined and was content patching up soldiers for the remainder of his service and made lifelong friends…

I don't know what the medical profession is like in the military now, but I know from first hand experience that pretty much all of the branches have great medical doctors 30 years ago.

That said, I don't have the air force figured out. Son doesn't have any heat in his dorm room and apparently the mess hall on base has been shut down for a couple of years now and no clue when it will re open.

Apparently housing for enlisted men is becoming an issue as well.

I laughed pretty hard when he told me he has the "hurry up and wait" figured out now.

 

[ultrarunner]

Can’t say I know anyone with air force background… lots of Navy and Marines and Army and a few Coast Guard.

The SF Bay Area has a long and proud Navy history… and the military employed a lot of people here for a long time prior to base closures.

Lots of the kids I grew up with had parent(s) serving at the Oak Knoll navy hospital and some were born there.

Injuries aside just about all have plenty of positives to say looking back at their service… discipline, teamwork, education benefits and VA home loans earned through service.

I was part of a discussion not long ago about how young people can’t afford homes like their parents… almost to a last one the parents used their military service VA loan benefit… many used the education benefit too.

My pilot friend became a commercial pilot using his education benefit and 2 of our nurses from very modest beginnings growing up in Section 8 housing were able to afford nursing school through service…

It’s too easy to forget the sacrifices parents and grandparents made to achieve success…