I chuckled to myself as I tore my eyes away from the beast of a car, affectionately known as the Black Stallion, and reminded myself that it would be good to give my old man a call before I shipped out. He was living in a retirement community with my mother, down in Florida. I hadn’t been able to go out and visit in over a year but tried to check in on both of them every couple of weeks with a phone call. Something I wouldn’t be able to do once I was deployed. I usually ended up handing over any phone time to guys in my unit that had wives, girlfriends, kids. I didn’t have any of those things and found I could keep in touch with my family and friends just as easily over email.
As I got to thinking about them down in Florida, thousands of miles away, a prick of guilt dug into my gut. I had a two-week leave coming up, a sliver of time to rest and relax before shipping out, and I hadn’t even considered going down to visit them. Instead, I was driving down the coast to visit my buddy, Aaron “Player” Rosen. We’d served together for years before he’d left the Navy to take over his family business when his father unexpectedly passed away. I hadn’t seen him in several months, and when I found out about the deployment, I made plans to spend my R&R with him on the coast to catch up and kick back. The upcoming deployment would be the first time I’d be going overseas without him by my side—and on my wing.
The mess of concerns faded to the background again as I maneuvered to get lined up for my landing. I radioed the tower below and requested permission to land. Once I got the all-clear, I focused my attention on the task at hand, landing the fighter jet on the runway with a small chirp from the tires.
I smiled as I cruised to a gentle stop at the end of the runway. “Smooth as butter.”
After a quick debrief with my plane Captain and flight team, I hustled across the base to Captain Collins’ office. His door was open, but I rapped my knuckles on it anyway. A sign of respect. Collin’s looked up from a stack of papers at the sound, and I saluted before he flagged me into the room. “Lieutenant McGuire. At ease. Take a seat.”
“Captain,” I replied, ducking my chin. I sat in the seat he indicated and crossed my right leg over the other, ankle to knee.
Collins’ slipped his reading glasses from his nose and dangled them from one hand. “How was your work-up flight?”
“Everything’s on point. No issues.”
Collins nodded vigorously, but his eyes were distant, as though he was only half listening. “Good, good. Listen,” he brought his focus back to me. “McGuire, I know this upcoming cruise must sound like old hat. You’ve been there, done that.”
I bristled at his statement, unsure of where it came from. I’d never treated an operation like it was anything other than the life or death situation that it was. There were plenty of guys in the squad that had a cavalier attitude about it, as though we were going over there for some elaborate version of the soldier games we played as boys—I was not one of them. But I kept my mouth closed—not wanting to jump ahead of him.
“You’re a leader here, McGuire. Everyone looks up to you, and I want you to know that it hasn’t gone unnoticed.”
Relief flooded my chest. “Thank you, sir.”
Collins steepled his hands together and stared at me for another long moment. “When you get back, there’s going to be a new opportunity for you. As much as we want you here, there’s some interest from a unit on a three-year tour over in Germany. It would be a leadership role, of course, and put you on a fast track to the next level in your career. I don’t know all the specifics yet, but from what I’ve heard from up the chain, the job is yours if you want it.”
The information sunk in slowly. I’d never expressed an interest in going overseas, but it wasn’t something I was opposed to either. Especially if it would mean reaching Lieutenant Commander at an accelerated pace. Truthfully, it was an honor to even be in the running for another promotion. “Thanks for letting me know, Sir. I’ll certainly take it into consideration.”
Collins stood, and I followed suit. “You’re a good man, McGuire. I know you’ll make the right decision when the time comes.” He shook my hand and then came around his desk to walk out with me. We walked down the corridor together, chatting about the flight specifics, until we parted, each taking a different turn at the end of the hall.