{"id":177,"date":"2017-06-17T14:55:37","date_gmt":"2017-06-17T20:55:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gordonsavage.com\/sowhat\/?p=177"},"modified":"2017-06-17T14:55:37","modified_gmt":"2017-06-17T20:55:37","slug":"samantha-decision-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gordonsavage.com\/sowhat\/uncategorized\/samantha-decision-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Samantha \u2013 Decision Time"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Instead of handing out serious punishment to Samantha, Renee, and Dwayne for their pranks, Dr. Ashworth put them to work. Speaking separately to Samantha, he suggested she should consider applying for a military academy. At first appalled by the idea she began to give it some serious thought.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite Brian losing his life to an IED when he was really not cut out for military service, I couldn\u2019t get the idea of going to an academy out of my head. It might have been that I was flattered by Principal Ashworth saying I was leadership material. I know that service was and is important to me. My parents \u2013 mostly my dad, of course \u2013 had drilled it into me all my life. I had to take the next step, at least finding out what was involved.<\/p>\n

The internet was a big help. The service academies had reams of information on their websites. Okay, that was both a blessing and a disadvantage. Wading through all that data gave me a pretty good picture of what I might be getting into, but it also ate up a lot of my time. I spent most of my free time for several days researching both the Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy. I know, Dad was an admiral, but I looked at the Air Force because I really liked the idea of becoming a pilot, and I figured that even between the Navy and the Marine Corp, the odds of becoming a flier were better with the Air Force \u2013 after all, that was their job.<\/p>\n

When I talked to Dad about it, he surprised me by suggesting I apply to both schools to increase my chances of being accepted. The remaining question was did I really want to go to an academy. I asked Mom and Dad to sit down with me to help me decide. We met around the kitchen table.<\/p>\n

Dad started. \u201cYou know this has to be your decision, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

I nodded and looked at Mom.<\/p>\n

She was frowning. \u201cYou were so upset when Brian died. Are you sure you want to put yourself in the same situation? You\u2019d probably end up in a combat zone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dad shook his head. \u201cThere are a few Navy and Air Force members on the ground in Afghanistan and Iraq, but most of them are shipborne or on bases outside either country.\u201d<\/p>\n

I considered that for a second. \u201cIf I\u2019m going into this business, I\u2019ll serve where I\u2019m needed. The risks might be lower in the Navy or the Air Force, but I wouldn\u2019t avoid duty on the ground or flying over either country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mom didn\u2019t look happy with my response. I hadn\u2019t thought about it until then, but I realized she was concerned about losing another child, me, to war. I spoke to her fear, \u201cMom, my risk would be really low. Women aren\u2019t allowed in combat. Yes, if I get to fly, I might have to fly over places where fighting is going on \u2013 search and rescue, that sort of thing. I don\u2019t know what kind of jobs I might end up with on the ground, but they would be away from the front line.\u201d<\/p>\n

She continued to frown. \u201cI would still worry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n

When we adjourned, I hadn\u2019t come to a definite decision, but I was definitely leaning toward applying for an academy, either the Navy or the Air Force. I went up to my room to think about it some more. It may seem funny, but I kept thinking that a combat role was appealing. Was it the idea that women could serve but couldn\u2019t fight that was challenging me? I think that was what finally made my mind up.<\/p>\n

Yes, I\u2019m going to apply, and I\u2019m going to learn all the combat skills better than the boys I\u2019ll be going to school with. I\u2019ll prove women can serve in combat roles.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Instead of handing out serious punishment to Samantha, Renee, and Dwayne for their pranks, Dr. Ashworth put them to work. Speaking separately to Samantha, he suggested she should consider applying for a military academy. At first appalled by the idea she began to give it some serious thought. Despite Brian losing his life to an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nSamantha \u2013 Decision Time - The Oath Still Stands<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gordonsavage.com\/sowhat\/uncategorized\/samantha-decision-time\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Samantha \u2013 Decision Time - The Oath Still Stands\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Instead of handing out serious punishment to Samantha, Renee, and Dwayne for their pranks, Dr. Ashworth put them to work. 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His punishment \u2013 being a teacher\u2019s assistant instead of having study hall \u2013 was light enough that\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":187,"url":"https:\/\/www.gordonsavage.com\/sowhat\/uncategorized\/samantha-graduation\/","url_meta":{"origin":177,"position":1},"title":"Samantha \u2013 Graduation","author":"gordonsavage@msn.com","date":"July 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Samantha had made up her mind to apply to both the Air Force Academy and the Naval Academy. This is what she had to say about the remainder of her school year. I\u2019m going to synopsize here because the following eight months were hectic but not exciting. As I mentioned\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":170,"url":"https:\/\/www.gordonsavage.com\/sowhat\/uncategorized\/samantha-coming-clean\/","url_meta":{"origin":177,"position":2},"title":"Samantha \u2013 Coming Clean","author":"gordonsavage@msn.com","date":"May 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Of all things, the inept detective had gotten one thing right. Ingrid had painted the graffiti on the school. That relieved Samantha immensely, but it didn\u2019t last. He had also blamed Ingrid for the other pranks, and Dr. Ashworth had accepted that as fact. The more Samantha thought about it\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":168,"url":"https:\/\/www.gordonsavage.com\/sowhat\/uncategorized\/samantha-dilemma\/","url_meta":{"origin":177,"position":3},"title":"Samantha \u2013 Dilemma","author":"gordonsavage@msn.com","date":"May 17, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Samantha had told Dr. Ashworth that his detective was not only inept but was actually encouraging pranks because the pranksters were treating him as a challenge. Instead of blowing a fuse, Ashworth seemed to like the information. It gave him an excuse to fire a buffoon who obviously wasn\u2019t getting\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":154,"url":"https:\/\/www.gordonsavage.com\/sowhat\/uncategorized\/samantha-co-conspirators\/","url_meta":{"origin":177,"position":4},"title":"Samantha \u2013 Co-conspirators","author":"gordonsavage@msn.com","date":"April 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"For those of you who are just joining this blog, it\u2019s a character study of the protagonist, Samantha Pederson, for my next book, Antimatter (working title). She tells about her life starting just before she turns 16 and follows the events that shape her personality up till her current involvement\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":164,"url":"https:\/\/www.gordonsavage.com\/sowhat\/uncategorized\/samantha-convincing-ashworth\/","url_meta":{"origin":177,"position":5},"title":"Samantha \u2013 Convincing Ashworth","author":"gordonsavage@msn.com","date":"May 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The student council meeting had approved a motion to put up flyers around the school and pass them out to every student. A committee was formed to prepare the flyer and given a short fuse for getting it done. 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