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Lieutenant Col. Om Prakash, 87th Flying Training Squadron commander
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Today's Youth
Posted 1/4/2007 Updated 1/25/2007
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Commentary by Lt. Col. Om Prakash
87th Flying Training Squadron commander
1/4/2007 - Laughlin AFB, Texas -- "I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on the frivolous youth of today, for they are reckless beyond words. When I was young, we were taught to be discreet, respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly disrespectful and impatient."
Who do you think articulated the above critique on the young? Sound like your parents? Perhaps a teacher? Maybe a politician? Was it your former TI or your Air Officer Commanding from the Air Force Academy? How about when it was said? Pretty recent, wouldn't you think? Well, it's from about 700 BC, and it was said by the Greek poet, Hesiod. Apparently 300 years later, little had improved:
"The youth of today love luxury; they have bad manners and contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Youth are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up food at the table, and tyrannize their teachers."
These words are attributed to Socrates in Plato's The Republic. The more things change, the more they stay the same? Well, I'm in no position to disagree with Greek philosophers, but I do know their society fell. I also know that every time I meet a new Airman, or greet a new class of Pilot Training students to my squadron, I am left inspired. If anything, I am not at all dismayed by today's youth. I see tenacity, a quality of character, and a dedication that gives me new strength.
I joined to serve at a time well before the [Berlin] wall fell--a time when our enemies were clear, yet the threat of war seemed very distant. Then, there were only a very few veterans of battle around. Today's youth chose to serve when our Nation is at war, when the enemy is very real but diffuse, yet the battle is more chaotic than ever imagined. Times are turbulent and uncertain as our Air Force and the Nation adapts to a changing world. To serve now takes a special, focused, dedicated person.
I am not saying at times I don't feel a generation gap--I do. I don't understand the draw of online gaming - I worry what is lost when human contact is decreased so. I don't understand the appeal of texting, or instant messaging - who wants to have more than one conversation at a time? My son's favorite songs grate on my ears. But then I think back to what I must have seemed like to my father. I still say Panic at the Disco has nothing on Pink Floyd, but I realize change is constant. Further, what gives great hope is that change can be for the better.
I look at the caliber of the students entering pilot training now, and the quality of their training. I realize the training they are getting is leaps and bounds beyond my pilot training. They are doing more, and doing it better than we did. That is a good thing.
We have all heard before that you must train your replacement. Your goal is to make yourself irrelevant because you have trained your successor to take over for you. The pedestrian must be trained to be the combat aviator, the wingman to become the flight lead, the line worker ready to be the shop chief, the flight commander ready to command the squadron. If we succeed in training our replacements, I submit we have earned barely a passing grade. You must train, mentor, and inspire your successor to be much better than you.
You should be glad if with your help the new Airman learns their job better than you, not discouraged. You should be proud if your student can one day fly feats beyond your skill, not envious. You should feel the greatest satisfaction if one day your subordinate can do your job better than you ever did, not disparaging. For this is the ultimate in achievement. We cannot stagnate as an organization, as an Air Force, as a Nation. The next generation must be more than ready to fill our shoes; they must be ready to run faster in them. I sincerely hope that one day, when my son says he knows more than me, that he is absolutely right!
I take great comfort in today's youth. They are focused, they are hard working, they are not afraid of sacrifice; they seek to serve, and to do more than us, better than us. So let us help the next generation more than replace us. The future is in great hands, even if they have bad taste in music!
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