From a letter: “Two years as an Air force ‘Butter Bar’ confirms everything, well, virtually everything stated by Mr. Reed. And I’m not being self-loathing when I say this. The critical element in officership for today’s armed forces seems to be the ability to regurgitate the official line, no matter how comically erroneous it is. But here is the rub, even if a jaded captain or cynical lieutenant realizes (or admits to himself/herself) that they belong to a peculiar class of buffoons, they must nevertheless keep up the charade or face criminal charges until they are allowed to resign! That’s where I am right now. Watada may fall on his sword, but what happens then? It’s like making a glorious stand rather than retreating to fight another day.
“Furthermore, I completely agree with Mr. Reed on Drill and Ceremony. One tries not be outside at 0700 and 1700 in order to not get caught by reveille and retreat!”
2:42 pm on October 3, 2006
