but the passage of time out here was only a few moments. The two bodies on the ground are the only physical reminders of what occurred and a message that our tactics will have to change. Our advantage of fire power is only as good as our tactics. We certainly cannot afford to be in a battle of attrition or we are just not going to be around for that much longer. I sense the others around are also coming down to a feeling of normalcy, the events still clear, but being put away in the back of their minds.
“Okay, let’s get these supplies loaded and head back,” I say clearing my thoughts and returning to the present.
“Are you doing okay?” I ask Robert as I stand next to him gathering water bottles and see a tremor run through his hands.
“Yeah,” he replies.
“You did a good job in there,” I say.
“I was scared shitless,” he says in response.
“Yeah, well, we all were kiddo. But you didn’t let it affect you and stood in there.”
“But you and the others didn’t seem like it,” he says looking up from his gathering.
“I was fucking terrified,” I say. “As I am quite sure the others were. But you stayed in there when most anyone else would’ve run. And I have to tell you that was one of the most intense firefights I have ever seen.”
“But you and everyone seemed so calm. You were giving orders and coordinating like you were organizing a dinner party or something.”
“Did you notice that your fear was more intense before anything happened and that once it started, you stopped feeling that way and just reacted?”
“Well, yeah, to an extent I guess.”
“That’s normal and something you’ll kind of get used to. That transition from feeling anxious to reacting happens more quickly each time. Did you notice that everything seemed to slow down?” I ask.
“Yeah, I did notice that. There were times when everything seemed like it was happening in slow motion,” Robert answers.
“That’s something to use when it happens but be aware it is happening. Everything around you is still operating in real time. Thoughts and reactions come through with lightning speed and that’s an advantage you have to use with a sense of calm. You can think and react faster so use that to your advantage. But be aware that the reaction of things around you will seem slow. For instance, you move the throttle up. It will actually move up quickly because of your action, however, other indications outside of that won’t make it seem to you that it is. For example, the gauge you are staring will appear to move slowly and maybe give you the feeling that your action was not effective. The outside things reacting to your action will not appear to register immediately or react. You have to be aware of this and allow for it. Does that make any sense?” I ask.
“Yeah, it does,” he replies.
My memory tracks back to a time when temporal distortion, the slowing of time in an extreme situation, killed a good friend of mine. He was doing a touch and go in a T-38 with a student who was on his first flight. My friend let the student try to land – the T-38 is one tricky aircraft to land. It has short wings built for speed and the second highest landing airspeed of any aircraft in the world. At any rate, he let the student go too far and did not take corrective action until too late. The aircraft hit the runway hard and bounced high back into the air. My friend attempted save the situation by initiating a go around and rammed the throttles into what he thought was afterburner. The resulting bounce had angled the aircraft off to the side a little so they were not flying parallel to the runway. The wings wobbled a little – not a good sign in the T-38 – but it finally looked like he might make it.
There were two problems though. One, they were headed straight for the tall control tower that directed transient and
“Okay, let’s get these supplies loaded and head back,” I say clearing my thoughts and returning to the present.
“Are you doing okay?” I ask Robert as I stand next to him gathering water bottles and see a tremor run through his hands.
“Yeah,” he replies.
“You did a good job in there,” I say.
“I was scared shitless,” he says in response.
“Yeah, well, we all were kiddo. But you didn’t let it affect you and stood in there.”
“But you and the others didn’t seem like it,” he says looking up from his gathering.
“I was fucking terrified,” I say. “As I am quite sure the others were. But you stayed in there when most anyone else would’ve run. And I have to tell you that was one of the most intense firefights I have ever seen.”
“But you and everyone seemed so calm. You were giving orders and coordinating like you were organizing a dinner party or something.”
“Did you notice that your fear was more intense before anything happened and that once it started, you stopped feeling that way and just reacted?”
“Well, yeah, to an extent I guess.”
“That’s normal and something you’ll kind of get used to. That transition from feeling anxious to reacting happens more quickly each time. Did you notice that everything seemed to slow down?” I ask.
“Yeah, I did notice that. There were times when everything seemed like it was happening in slow motion,” Robert answers.
“That’s something to use when it happens but be aware it is happening. Everything around you is still operating in real time. Thoughts and reactions come through with lightning speed and that’s an advantage you have to use with a sense of calm. You can think and react faster so use that to your advantage. But be aware that the reaction of things around you will seem slow. For instance, you move the throttle up. It will actually move up quickly because of your action, however, other indications outside of that won’t make it seem to you that it is. For example, the gauge you are staring will appear to move slowly and maybe give you the feeling that your action was not effective. The outside things reacting to your action will not appear to register immediately or react. You have to be aware of this and allow for it. Does that make any sense?” I ask.
“Yeah, it does,” he replies.
My memory tracks back to a time when temporal distortion, the slowing of time in an extreme situation, killed a good friend of mine. He was doing a touch and go in a T-38 with a student who was on his first flight. My friend let the student try to land – the T-38 is one tricky aircraft to land. It has short wings built for speed and the second highest landing airspeed of any aircraft in the world. At any rate, he let the student go too far and did not take corrective action until too late. The aircraft hit the runway hard and bounced high back into the air. My friend attempted save the situation by initiating a go around and rammed the throttles into what he thought was afterburner. The resulting bounce had angled the aircraft off to the side a little so they were not flying parallel to the runway. The wings wobbled a little – not a good sign in the T-38 – but it finally looked like he might make it.
There were two problems though. One, they were headed straight for the tall control tower that directed transient and
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