Musings at Altitude

I had the fortunate opportunity to join a good friend and also a former Air Force officer at the Air Force – Army game today.  We had very good end zone seats, 14 rows up, with a great view of the entire field as well as direct line of sight to that end zone location where the cadets do push ups every time the Air Force scores.

Before the game started, we noticed in the end zone at least six, 4-star generals, plus a couple 3-stars, and then a couple of 1-stars.  There were also several senior officers from the Army, all obviously wanting to be part of one of the most important games of the year between our two schools.

Shortly after the game started, Air Force ran a punt back for a touchdown and a huge horde of cadets gathered along the eastern stands, waiting anxiously for the cue to charge the field toward the north end zone right in front of us and drop for the number of pushups required based on the score.

When the cue came, the cadets charged, and I noticed two officers standing anxiously waiting their arrival – a 4-star and a 1-star.  The cadets dropped into the push up position and when all were down, the 4-star and 1-star dropped with them and called cadence as they did the pushups together. 

As Air Force continued to score, a 1-star general was with the cadets the entire time.

What a great lesson in leadership for all those young men and women that are training for four years to become the best possible military leaders they can be.  That learning is much easier when great leadership is so visible right in front of them during those four years of learning!