Dart Board Incident Tonight and Apology (with Sr. USAF Officer response)

Published On: May 31, 2014|Categories: MRFF's Inbox|1 Comment|

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> Good Evening Mr. Weinstein,
>
> Sir, I am a (officer’s rank withheld) and (aircraft type withheld) pilot in the U.S. Air Force. Before tonight I would have said the word “proud” before the words “(aircraft type wirhheld) pilot” but I don’t feel that proud right now.
> Before I begin I would ask a favor. Please do not release any of my personal information at all. I am sending this to you from an email that is supposed to be untraceable but just the same am asking that you do not reveal it just in case sir. I have a family and don’t need the burden of being tied into this email. Other than my name and rank, my aircraft and the name of my squadron our club and my base all the rest of what I say is fair game. In a way now I almost hope they confront me about what I will tell you.
>
> Sir, I fly the (aircraft nomenclature withheld) and am stationed at (name withheld) AFB in (U.S. state withheld). Late this afternoon and evening my squadron, the (squadron name and nomenclature withheld), held a pretty typical end of the week social gathering on base at the (name of club withheld) Club. It’s supposed to be about comraderie and there is alot of drinking, drinking “events” and “story telling”. Sometimes kind of a controlled riot. It’s general pilot bonding. One of these events is playing darts. Sometimes a picture of “an enemy of the State” is hung up on the dart board in the bar area. We’ve had pictures of the likes of Osama Bin Ladin, Vladimir Putin whoever is the President of Iran and Saddam Hussein and many others bad guys. Today was the first time they ever hung up a picture of an American on the dart board. It was you sir. At the bottom of the picture of you they wrote “Shylock Shyster for Satan”. Most of the squadron attendees laughed and the dart throwing started. In a short time your picture was shredded with dart hits. The cheering was loud and proud. The last person to throw darts at your picture was one our Flight Commanders (name and rank withheld). He is also pretty much the most respected pilot in the squadron.
>
> Sir, I didn’t laugh and few others did not either. We were pretty shocked. And confused. Not just that your picture was put up on the enemies of the State dart board. But also by the ugly caption. Describing you that way was just awful. Among other things maybe even antisemitic? Pretty mean and sketchy. . Unfair and cowardly too. Also considering all the threats you guys get all the time. I don’t know whose idea it was and I guess it doesn’t matter now.
>
> Sir, I wish I could tell you that I stood up and tore that photo of you with that messed up caption down. I did not. Noone else did either. I am ashamed that I did nothing and I’m still struggling to understand why? I decided to at least inform you of this so I got your email address off of the MRF website.
>
> Mr. Weinstein, I did not graduate from the Air Force Academy. I am a ROTC graduate from (University name withheld). But I know and respect your hard work at the Military Relgious Freedom Foundation. My wife kids and I attend a local (Christian church denomination name withheld) church. We have always considered ourselves to be solid citizen Christians. I have been in the Air Force long enough though to have not only seen but experienced the things you fight against. Alot. I just never thought something as shady like this would happen right in front of me. I should have done something I know. And now I know how it feels and I hate it.
>
> I told my wife about it and she encouraged me to send this email. She is very upset as well. She is as worried as I am that somehow my squadron leadership will find out that I told you what happened tonight. My OPR is due soon. So is my promotion board and I’m competeing with many others for (Air Force professional education school name withheld) in residence. Sir I am disappointed in myself. In a way I have not felt before. Please forgive me. I feel terrible and deserve to.
>
> Sir, I would like to apologize personally to you and all the workers at the MRFF for my total failure to act. I would like to apologize on behalf of my fellow pilots in the (squadron name and nomenclature withheld). I will do everything I can to try to make sure that this never happens again. I am ashamed and embarassed that it even happened this one time.
>
> V/R
>
> (USAF Pilot’s name and rank withheld)


Dear Mikey,

Just amazing. A squadron, group, or wing commander that tolerates or (worse) creates an environment where this is in any way condoned should be summarily fired. There’s a VERY small step between this short of “boys will be boys”–justified fun and putting up pics of POTUS (because we don’t like him) or cheating on proficiency tests (because they don’t really matter anyway), or treating women and others like objects (because, hey, even if things go too far and sometimes “boys make mistakes.”* The wolfpack mentality of some military units, justified in the name of esprit de corps and unit cohesion, is just a rationalization for bullying to bolster the fragile egos of those that feel threatened by the equality of respect that would cut into the majority life of privilege they’ve enjoyed since childhood. Too often, though, that “childhood” never develops into an adulthood of responsibility (because it’s been perpetuated at places like USAFA), leading us to situations like this in which highly trained, professional purveyors of death and destruction are still emotional and intellectual teenagers.

*This is the justification used by the Uttar Pradesh governor in India to explain gang rapes.

Sr. USAF Officer

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One Comment

  1. Jimbo June 3, 2014 at 12:28 pm

    begin the firings at the highest level in each service that these types of religious infections exist, because either they can’t be initiated without the highest commander’s allowance, or if they have then the commanders are not being effective in their jobs. Continue in each case down the chain of command, for the same reason. Further, those who participate in this religious infection are probably dominionists, who by definition place their first allegiance to gods, not man, not our Constitution. Their allegiance to non-existent supernatural beings mandate they do anything for the benefit to their gods, including ‘lying for the lord’. As such, they are traitors to our Constitution, they cannot be trusted to support the Constitution over their idiocy. Keep in mind you can’t ask an individual if that’s what they believe, they will lie. So the answer, after purging the liars from the top ranks, is to observe behavior. If behavior is contrary to that spelled out in the Constitution fire them, because their ignorance is a danger to all Americans, and to all the world.

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