God Bless Those Georgia Gate Guards
Media was reporting yesterday on an incident down at Robins AFB, Georgia, where base administration had come under fire because the contract civilian gate guards were, upon checking entrants’ identifications, waving them on with a cheerful, “Have a blessed day.” As you could well expect, some disgruntled airman contacted a civilian organization, Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which was founded and now managed by a disgruntled former Air Force officer and now lawyer, “Mikey” Weinstein, who are now raising a stink. Yep, know what you’re thinking: The dude wants to be taken seriously in matters of great legal and spiritual import, and he calls himself Mikey?
Reading that news account brought back a memory that has made me laugh for years every time it pops back into my mind. I was a pharmaceutical sales manager handling field sales operations to the military, a job which took me to almost every military installation in the continental U.S. and some foreign located American bases. One of my calls was the Pentagon and to gain access to that huge facility on a routine and repeat basis, one needed to get a laminated photo pass which had stamped in large letters on one side PEN, which I quickly learned was an almost magical “Go Pass Go” identity card. From coast to coast, down to Puerto Rico and Panama and over in Germany that PEN identity card gained me unchallenged entrance to hundreds of military installations. Civilian German gate guards actually snapped to attention clicked their heels and saluted. That Pentagon pass became my magic key that got me onto military installations everywhere.
Until the morning I pulled up to the gate at Robins AFB, GA, the same facility now under media fire. A contract guard in full southern cop regalia right down to the Smoky Bear ranger hat with its brim aggressively cocked down over his face, reached out for my proffered Pentagon pass and gave it a quick glance before pointing to the visitors’ center and snarling, “Git over there and git yourself a visitors pass!”
When I protested that the piece of plastic he was holding permitted me to enter the Pentagon, the military holy city, its Mecca, he thumb-tipped his brim up very slightly, pulled his Sam Brown belt up over his substantial belly and in the perfect image of Buford T. Justice, explained reality to me, “Sonny, that there is a Pentagon pass an’ this here is Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. Now git your ass over there and git yourself a visitors pass.”
As ticked as I was at having to go wait in line for a visitors pass, I couldn’t help but laugh at the irony that out of all the gate guards from coast to coast and overseas who had breezily waved me through because of that Pentagon pass, it took a good ol’ boy, Georgia cracker to correctly recognize that a Pentagon pass is good only for entrance to that great five-sided circus, not Robins Air Force Base nor any other military installation.
It’s good to see those ol’ boys apparently haven’t changed much, God bless ‘em.
Crossposted at American Thinker
Category: Air Force
Good on him for knowing his job. And that is a hilarious story.
Looks like some “DIPWAD” didn’t want to have a blessed day, he wanted to have a shyty day and mope around all day, what freaks we have in this country anymore!!
Funny story, but at least SOMEONE out there knows his job and isn’t afraid to do it the right way! 😀
I think it’s pretty clear where I sit with respect to religion, but I can’t under any circumstance image a scenario where those words, “Have a blessed day” would offend my tender sensibilities. I imagine a polite, “Thank you, and you as well” would be appropriate in a civil, courteous society.
I have no issues with people talking to me about religion and letting me know their biblical insights. You won’t change my mind, you won’t convince me that there is anything beyond a cosmic accident of chemistry that made this all possible. But neither will I be offended.
What offends me about religion has nothing to do with talking about it, greeting me with it or making a decision based on your religious take on the world.
Where I get concerned is law that pretends to protect religious freedom but actually inserts a religious take on a civil issue.
Which is where religion does not belong, according to how the founders wrote the base rules of law.
i have to say the quality of your guys writing has really been top notch lately. Humorous, insightful, and on point is hard to pull off sometimes. Well done.
I’m a Robins resident, and believe me, it was a veritable sh!tstorm for 8 hours as the word got out and the phone calls to the base commander’s office started. Everyone was amazed that it took so little time to “clarify” the situation.
So, somebody in the Air Force is offended by religion?
My first thought is: “Do you remember your oath of enlistment?”
“I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”
“So help me God.”
If you were so offended by religion, you should not have joined.
I have my own views on religion, they are mine, and I do not broadcast my views unless you ask me.
I served in the Army to protect the Constitution, all of it, and that includes the right of some people to be downright assholes.
Some people are just not happy unless they can make everyone around them miserable.
The commander at the AFEES told us we could omit the “So help me God” if we felt no need to say it. We didn’t ask him if we could; I’m guessing it was part of his opening remarks before swearing us in.
I didn’t say “so help me god” back in the 70s either….it wasn’t required and I didn’t do it.
I stayed a night on Robbins last month when there was the big ice storm and didn’t want to risk driving back to TN. When I got to the base the gate guard said that as he waved me though. It did kind of catch me off guard because you don’t normally hear that.
I am not religious at all but that did not offend me at all or make me want to go complain about it. Some people just need to complain about anything.
I went to DS School at Benning. Back then, it was next to the OCS (over by building 4). One morning about oh-dark-thirty, we got on the bus to go somewhere (Sand Hill, Harmony Church). When the bus driver closed the door, he started preaching (not just talking but an actual sermon). I thought that was kind of strange but others found it offensive (probably because they wanted to sleep on the ride over). He actually kept preaching through all the “shut the F– up’s!” and other remarks from a lot of folks. Me, I just put it off as a “whatever” and continued to drive on. Although, I admit I did find the whole thing a bit funny, it broke up the crap-to-crap day in DS school and that these things can happen in the south.
Now see here – that’s an entirely different kettle of fish. Doesn’t matter the subject matter, the driver should be driving, not talking or being distracted by anything, even himself and/or his passengers. Had I been the rankest person on the bus, his “preaching” would have been stopped, just as would any other activity in which he was engaged which took his attention away from the road.