Vulnerability

When I arrived at Keesler AFB in April of 1973 I have to admit that I was "a little bit off" mentally... That was because I had spent the past 6 weeks (in basic training) being conditioned to do exactly what I was told without thought or hesitation... That's fine in a "military" context, but at some point you end up venturing back out into the real world where the ability to make decisions is actually kind of a bonus :-)

Now - you 'd think that once basic was over it'd be pretty simple to "turn your brain back on". Especially considering that you'd been using it for your entire life up to that point (except maybe when you were drunk, stoned  - or at school). But it turns out not to be quite that easy. It's kind of like trying to start a mower that has been sitting for too long. You keep yanking on the rope but nothing much happens...

BTW: It was kind of a shock to discover that while I was at Lackland AFB the world had gone on without me... Everyone was like "Oh, you're in the military? That's nice!" Yeah - they had absolutely no clue what I'd been through... I'm not sure what I expected - it just seemed inconceivable that such a major change in my life could be met with such total indifference by everyone else... But I digress :-)

I wasn't the only airman who ended up psychologically vulnerable after basic training. As a matter of fact, there was an entire community outside the west gate of Keelser AFB that depended on it (that's the gate closest to to the triangle)... There were businesses that sold used cars, stereo systems, jewelry - you name it. All vastly overpriced and being purveyed by persons (often attractive women) who were experts at separating young (and still witless) airmen from their money.... The TIs even warned us about it during our first week at Keesler (they had an orientation session covering local laws, customs and hazards)... Funny that they didn't say a word about the Biloxi police - more about that later.

Now... I wouldn't have ever set foot in that stupid jewelry store if not for one of the guys I used to hang out with. We were outside the west gate and I was like "Dude. Don't even think about going in there." and he was like "I just want to check it out. What could go wrong?", and the next thing you know some lovely young lady was doing this "Mother's Day is coming up - don't you love your mother?" number on me and a couple of hundred bucks later I owned a diamond pendant and it turns out my mom doesn't even like diamonds. Yeah - lesson learned... But at least I didn't spend $500 at the stereo shop next door like some of the guys did. (Adjusted for inflation that's "mucho dinero").

Of course, it wasn't just the civilians outside the gate who messed with the "pingers". The old timers (airmen who'd been at Keesler for more than 3 weeks) did it too. The most common ruse was "hurricane watch".  They'd try to convince you to stay up on the roof all night to watch for approaching storms...
Here's the weird part: Even though you knew it was total B.S., all those mind games they played during basic training had left you unable to trust your own judgment... It was kind of like when you were a little kid and someone told you something completely outlandish (like "meat comes from dead cows", or "there is no Santa Claus") and you couldn't tell if they were kidding or not.

Of course, I don't think anybody actually fell for it, but that wasn't really the point... It was just so much fun to mess with people who were so completely "off balance" :-)

It took a couple of months, but I did eventually find the balance between soldier and "sentient being".... All it took was going from "following orders without thinking" to "following orders while thinking they were stupid but keeping my mouth shut about it"... It wasn't really that hard :-)