Cutting the Towed Jumper Away

When is it okay to quit on someone? When is it okay to cut away that towed jumper? 

I can tell you from my own experience that although it takes alot . . . (alot alot) for me to quit on someone, it does happen. And it happens when I start to see that the quitting from that other person has become a habit. 

I remember when I was in Ranger School there were two words used I had never heard before . . . Cellulitis and Rubber Neck. Those two words will be a chapter in my biography. There was one that was used constantly in Battalion that I had no clue what it meant for a long while . . . break in contact. A break in contact is when the Ranger who is following another loses sight of the one in front and get's lost. Easily one of the worst things a Ranger could do while on patrol. The thing was it wasn't the Ranger in front's fault, it was the fault of the Ranger behind. If they didn't keep up, they were responsible for that break in contact. I've been dealing with my own form of break in contact lately. 

The hardest school I ever attended was Pre-Scuba school with 1st SFG in Fort Lewis. It was during a break and instead of going home, because Sgt Johnson found out I was going to be hanging around the barracks, he enrolled me in the school. Most of the schools have a pretty high dropout rate, Ranger School, Airborne, RIP. All over 50% fall outs. Pre-Scuba's was the highest of the bunch. 21 students started (7 Rangers and 14 Green Berets). We finished the class with 4 Rangers and 3 Green Berets. 

The reason this comes up is that we were practicing bobbing (see below) and I remember one of the SF Scuba Team instructors told us his views on quitting. "Quitting," he said, "Is a habit. If you start quitting once, it's easier the next time and the next time and next time." These are words I've remembered and a warning I've tried to heed. 

I remember Garbarino, he was someone our squad cut away. Why? Cause he only got worse and worse. He refused to learn. We didn't cut Gutierrez away, he just left. I guess he cut himself away. What about Baldwin? He was the worst of the bunch. He was cut away because he kept quitting, and the more he quit the worse it got. 

I cut someone away recently. Why? Cause their quitting was getting worse and worse and more frequent. First it was just a few days, then a few weeks. This last one . . . about 7 or 8 months. It wasn't becoming less of a habit, it was becoming worse than a habit, it was becoming a part of their life. Usually I treat this blog for my own writing therapy, in this case I hope they read this and they fix things, they stop the habit, that they turn it around. 

We were a pretty strict group, our Ranger Battalion. You quit like Baldwin or Garbarino and you're out. You have a break in contact too often, you're out. An AD, and you're out. But I had an AD, and I stayed around. There were plenty of accidental breaks in contact, and those folks stayed around. It's because we believe in second chances, but only for those who are willing to work on it, . . . those folks who work to redeem and reapply themselves. 

There's another reason I'm exploring this than my own personal life and friendships, this is actually a theme in Sunset Perfect . . . quitting, when to give up on someone, when to cut away, how to redeem yourself. All of these I'm planning on exploring in that novel. 

The question is whether or not they want that second chance. Garbarino? Baldwin? They didn't want a second chance. Plenty of others did. I remember that in those first 21 Pre-Scuba students in the class, five of the Green Berets were repeats, meaning they were taking the class again after having failed once before. That's what I hope I am and what I expect from others, a never quit attitude, and the vim and vigor to work harder the second time for that redemption. 

Elizabeth, Betsy