Touching The Face Of God...
A man should not leave this earth with unfinished business. He should live each day as if it was a pre-flight check. he should ask each morning, am I prepared to lift-off?
- Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider, Northern Exposure, All is Vanity, 1991
As many of my readers know (or could deduce) - I'm assigned to Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage, Alaska. This is no big OPSEC thing or security breach - living in Anchorage and being a member of the Air Force leaves few places for me to hide.
Last night we lost our Wing Commander, Brigadier General Tom Tinsley to what was apparently a self-inflicted gunshot wound. You can read about it from multiple press sources and I have no more information than the public nor will I participate in any rumors that may be going on.
I will say that I've had a few opportunities to interact with General Tinsley in the last few months and I have no doubt that we've lost a great man. I can say from personal experience that he was probably the nicest general officer that I've had the opportunity to work for. In my old assignment on Elmendorf we seemed to be in constant fear about what general or high ranking person might think about our organization or what we might have to tell them. It wasn't that they weren't nice people, but they were the types where you knew exactly who was the general and who wasn't.
General Tinsley was different - from the most junior airman to the O-6s sitting and flying beside him he always had a kind word and a smile. He also cared about what you said - he listened, asked questions, and was a genuinely nice person to have come into the office. In fact - he was the only general officer that I know could do that - walk into an office without causing a huge ruckus, special preparations, and without an entourage. I, in fact, was surprised by him a couple times walking into and out of various places on base. Generally a young officer such as myself tries to keep a good track on where their leadership is, but General Tinsley had this way of being a great leader and just another one of the pilots all at the same time.
The quote above does not quite capture General Tinsley, but it comes close. He did have a bit of unfinished business - family shouldn't have to say goodbye so soon - but one thing you can say from knowing the type of person he was and the things he accomplished was that his life was full. A great family, flying the top aircraft in the world after flying the previous top aircraft, test pilot, Weapons School grad, etc, etc. He may not have been prepared to life off - he had so much left to give - but in the time he had on this earth he made the most of what he had. Truly this is a lesson we all need to be reminded of from time to time.
It's a bit counterintuitive, but I believe death has a way of making everyone a bit self-centered. I guess a better way to put that would be that it makes us all introspective. If one is directly affected by death obviously the focus in on you. If you are not the direct focus it tends to make you think of the times you've lost someone close to you - an experience I have only too much experience in - I won't recount my own sad story here...everyone has one and if you don't you will at some point in your life. It's a sad truth, but a truth nonetheless. Too often I think people try to shed or hide the dark parts of their life - to forget the losses they've suffered. This happens for a lot of good reasons - people move on, have lives to life, and are trying to leave their own mark on the world - to be ready to "lift off." However, sometimes I believe it's good to be reminded of those experiences and the lessons learned from those we've left behind (or have they left us behind - I guess it depends on your perspective).
For now, my prayers are with the Tinsely family - if I know anything it's that they'll need it and will appreciate it.
Until next time - I'll be relearning old lessons...
AirForceKush - aka - The Arctic Fox
- Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider, Northern Exposure, All is Vanity, 1991
As many of my readers know (or could deduce) - I'm assigned to Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage, Alaska. This is no big OPSEC thing or security breach - living in Anchorage and being a member of the Air Force leaves few places for me to hide.
Last night we lost our Wing Commander, Brigadier General Tom Tinsley to what was apparently a self-inflicted gunshot wound. You can read about it from multiple press sources and I have no more information than the public nor will I participate in any rumors that may be going on.
I will say that I've had a few opportunities to interact with General Tinsley in the last few months and I have no doubt that we've lost a great man. I can say from personal experience that he was probably the nicest general officer that I've had the opportunity to work for. In my old assignment on Elmendorf we seemed to be in constant fear about what general or high ranking person might think about our organization or what we might have to tell them. It wasn't that they weren't nice people, but they were the types where you knew exactly who was the general and who wasn't.
General Tinsley was different - from the most junior airman to the O-6s sitting and flying beside him he always had a kind word and a smile. He also cared about what you said - he listened, asked questions, and was a genuinely nice person to have come into the office. In fact - he was the only general officer that I know could do that - walk into an office without causing a huge ruckus, special preparations, and without an entourage. I, in fact, was surprised by him a couple times walking into and out of various places on base. Generally a young officer such as myself tries to keep a good track on where their leadership is, but General Tinsley had this way of being a great leader and just another one of the pilots all at the same time.
The quote above does not quite capture General Tinsley, but it comes close. He did have a bit of unfinished business - family shouldn't have to say goodbye so soon - but one thing you can say from knowing the type of person he was and the things he accomplished was that his life was full. A great family, flying the top aircraft in the world after flying the previous top aircraft, test pilot, Weapons School grad, etc, etc. He may not have been prepared to life off - he had so much left to give - but in the time he had on this earth he made the most of what he had. Truly this is a lesson we all need to be reminded of from time to time.
It's a bit counterintuitive, but I believe death has a way of making everyone a bit self-centered. I guess a better way to put that would be that it makes us all introspective. If one is directly affected by death obviously the focus in on you. If you are not the direct focus it tends to make you think of the times you've lost someone close to you - an experience I have only too much experience in - I won't recount my own sad story here...everyone has one and if you don't you will at some point in your life. It's a sad truth, but a truth nonetheless. Too often I think people try to shed or hide the dark parts of their life - to forget the losses they've suffered. This happens for a lot of good reasons - people move on, have lives to life, and are trying to leave their own mark on the world - to be ready to "lift off." However, sometimes I believe it's good to be reminded of those experiences and the lessons learned from those we've left behind (or have they left us behind - I guess it depends on your perspective).
For now, my prayers are with the Tinsely family - if I know anything it's that they'll need it and will appreciate it.
Until next time - I'll be relearning old lessons...
AirForceKush - aka - The Arctic Fox
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