{"id":124,"date":"2021-12-26T02:47:03","date_gmt":"2021-12-26T02:47:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jamesdbrewerwriter.com\/?page_id=124"},"modified":"2022-07-10T02:46:26","modified_gmt":"2022-07-10T02:46:26","slug":"indomitable-spirit-part-4","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jamesdbrewerwriter.com\/?page_id=124","title":{"rendered":"Indomitable Spirit (Part 4)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Decade Four \u2013 the 1980s<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Carolinas, Colorado and New York <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

From Classical to Eclectic<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

4.1     Be All You Can Be<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

C-130 going down the strip<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Airborne Daddy gonna take a little trip<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stand up, hook up, shuffle to the door<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jump right out and count to four<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army motto in the 1980\u2019s was \u201cbe all you can be,\u201d and my second assignment after OCS was to a unit that gave me that opportunity — the 82nd<\/sup> Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, NC, where I was immersed in four years of a rich, challenging, and sometimes dangerous training and operational environment. While in the 82nd<\/sup> I met another lieutenant named Miller who had trained to the brown belt level in Taekwondo. After we started working out together, several of the other soldiers asked if we would start a club and teach Taekwondo to the unit. I felt like it was a great idea and I approached the battalion commander suggesting that we allow interested soldiers to substitute martial arts training for their regular PT a couple of days a week. To my amazement, he said he thought such training had \u201cno correlation to military skills.\u201d To this day, I am dumbfounded how anyone of position, rank and experience in the US Army could come to such an absurd conclusion. But then, that battalion commander was not exactly the brightest bulb in the chandelier[i]<\/a>. So, we were relegated to training after duty hours in an abandoned building we signed for from the supply officer. It all started off well enough, but we were competing with soldiers\u2019 off-duty time, so eventually our attendance began to dwindle, and we ultimately had to give up the club after only a few weeks. This experience provides a classic example of what happens when the leadership of any organization, be it military or corporate, will not get behind martial arts training for its employees. How foolish to not make available \u201ccompany\u201d time for developing precisely the kind of mental and physical discipline the leadership of the organization claims to want in their people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            I also got a chance to play \u201cbet your bars\u201d with this same commander in an incident that would test my indomitable spirit. New arrivals to the 82nd<\/sup> Airborne Division, officers and enlisted alike, were expected to undergo a hazing ritual called the \u201cprop blast.\u201d The term prop blast was taken from the name of the wind that hits a jumper upon parachuting from a prop-driven aircraft, e.g., a C-130. Basically, it was a semi-annual, all-day, (usually weekend), fraternity-like hazing that consisted of strenuous physical exercise amid continual quizzing on details of airborne operations, all amid an attempt to get and keep the soldier as drunk as possible. During the inquisition toward the end of the day, if the \u201cboard\u201d (the guys running the event) asked you a question and you answered it wrong, you were expected to take a swig of \u201cgrog\u201d \u2013 a mixture of various alcoholic beverages. The intent was to get the soldier drunk and stumbling about, answering more questions wrong, while continuing to push the booze. All of this occurred to the amusement of other soldiers who had previously passed through the ritual. When I did not attend the first prop blast, I found myself called before the battalion commander the next Monday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u201cLieutenant Brewer, you were not at the prop blast this weekend,\u201d the lieutenant colonel declared as I stood at attention before his desk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u201cRoger, Sir.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u201cI don\u2019t consume alcohol, Colonel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u201cDo you think you\u2019re too good to participate in unit morale events?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u201cNo, Sir.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u201cThen I will expect you to be at the next prop blast,\u201d he declared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u201cRespectfully, Sir, I cannot and will not attend a unit event where I am required to drink alcoholic beverages.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u201cSo, we won\u2019t be seeing you at Stable Call [the cavalry term for an after-duty drinking session] on Friday afternoons in the O\u2019club? Is that what you\u2019re telling me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u201cNo, Sir. I am not saying that. I have no problem with coming to Stable Call. I will simply order a soft-drink or an iced tea.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            The battalion commander eyed me like I was an alien recently landed on the lawn in front of the headquarters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u201cSo,\u201d he said slowly, \u201cyou are telling me you won\u2019t attend the next prop blast?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u201cNo, Sir. I have no problem with the physical aspects, and I will gladly answer the questions when quizzed. But I will not consume alcohol. Now, if the colonel will provide a non-alcoholic \u2018grog\u2019 from which I can drink, I will fully participate with the unit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure I trust a man that doesn\u2019t drink,\u201d he declared, then shook his head in disgust and dismissed me from his office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            I attended the next prop blast, went through the hazing and the questioning, and when I answered a question wrong, I was sent to the \u201cgrog.\u201d But the unit had provided a \u2018special\u2019 grog just for me. To this day I have no idea what was in it, but it was nasty. It was alcohol-free, but it was at least as disgusting, if not more, than the alcoholic grog the rest the unit was forced to drink. I still have my prop blast certificate of graduation\/completion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n