Off Duty Why Write?
By CAPT George Galdorisi, USN (Ret.) You Have a Story? – When Are You Going to Write It?
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everal years ago at the 2019 NHA Symposium, we had our first-ever NHA Writer’s Panel. The intent – and results – of the panel were captured by Lieutenant Sam Calaway in the Summer 2019 issue of Rotor Review. LT Calaway explained why the NHA Staff and our Rotor Review Editor, LT Shelby Gillis, asked us to hold the panel. Here is part of what he said: If there was a consistent theme and one main thing the panelists conveyed it was this: There are a number of wellknown writers who have been producing military fiction and non-fiction for decades – and that’s the problem. Most of them are former military folks who used to be well-versed in all aspects of the military, but their information has become so dated their stories are no longer as interesting – or believable – as their earlier works. But that problem creates an opportunity for all of you in flight suits or coveralls. You are living this now and can tell riveting and believable stories that will find their way into print. LT Gillis and the NHA Staff thought that a “one-timeinoculation” was a good start, but wondered if we could do something along the lines of a constant drumbeat and share some of the tricks of the trade as well as the tactics, techniques ,and procedures to help you get your ideas out into the world and noticed. However, LT Gillis also challenged us to not just talk about writing in our off-duty time, but to talk about the importance – and impact – of writing for all of you who are sea service professionals and still in uniform. This is the first of several installments aimed at doing both those things – talking about writing on and off duty. These are related – but somewhat different efforts (you may have received a FITREP once that read like science fiction, but most of us haven’t). So first, we’ll talk about writing with a small “w” – writing at work, and then segue to writing with a big “W” – writing for a mainstream audience. By way of clarification, for that second area, we’re not talking about tweets or Facebook posts or the like, we’ll be talking about getting something in a respected online venue or in print. The small “w” - writing at work. Wait a minute! – you might say, we’re aviators, “someone else” needs to be doing that. Well, not really. I spent my last 14 years on active duty as either CO, XO, Commodore or Chief of Staff. All that means is that I was at the end of the food chain for tons of written work: Officer FITREPs, Enlisted Evaluations, Naval Messages, White Papers, you name it. And like it or not, this material wasn’t written by a select few (those “someone elses”) but by every officer, chief petty officer, and senior enlisted.
There is so much talent in the naval rotary wing community that junior officers – in particular – are always asking: How do I break out? What makes me pack-plus? What discriminators does my skipper use to help decide who advances in their career and who doesn’t? As Naval Aviators and leaders, we’re likely to focus on those two attributes – flying and leading. They are important. But look at it from your skipper’s perspective. Most pilots fly their missions well. Sure, if one pilot in the squadron is voted by his or her peers as pilot of the year, and another bangs up aircraft frequently, it’s easy for the skipper to use that as a discriminator. But let’s face it, most of us are under that bellshaped-curve and there’s not much to discriminate our flying skills. It’s a similar story with leadership. If one lieutenant gets his or her Sailors recognized with all kinds of awards and they excel on their advancement exams, while another lieutenant is on the frequent flier program with his Sailors at XOI or Captain’s Mast, then that gives the skipper a good way to rack and stack them. But most of us are somewhere in the middle of that yawning spectrum.
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