Wednesday, January 11, 2012
So, I was saying that I made it to flight school. Flight school was an arduous task, but it was what I wanted more than anything. After graduation I immediately got heavily into debt by buying two new cars—one for me and one for my wife. I got stationed to a unit in El Paso, TX (Fort Bliss). The debt followed us and continued to grow. It was very easy for an officer in the US Army to get credit. Credit was new to me. Prior to being married, I had stock-piled quite a few of my paychecks. They were quickly spent on important needs like the wedding, a stereo, a set of encyclopedias, and the like. Diapers for our son (born in 1989) put us further in debt. My wife hated being in El Paso (having grown up in UCLA—Upper Corner of Lower Alabama), and one thing that we did a lot to help her feel better was go shopping. More debt!
I deployed with the Fort Bliss unit to Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990. Because we were both undisciplined with our money (or lack thereof), we went further in debt. I came back from the Gulf War in terrible physical and mental shape. The doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with me, but I knew that I was in no shape to continue flying. I grounded myself so as not to be a danger to others. My short-term memory was nonexistent. I felt as though I had lost my first love—flying helicopters—and I became depressed.