Cutting Corners
"It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, Than with a brawling woman in a wide house." Proverbs 21:9 KJV
DO NOT cut corners. Take short cuts. Go around robin hood’s back door. And lest not forget attention to detail.
Maybe you have heard one of or all of these terms before?
Forget to pick up the right thing at the store on the way home from work and the above bible verse may apply!
Guilty as charged.
The military. Especially the Marines have a poignant concern that attention to detail be followed, adhered to in the strictest of fashion. At boot camp, (I know, I know…here he goes with boot camp stories) we “recruits” were inundated with tasking that specifically addressed attention to detail. Cutting corners was usually met with punishment, verbal admonishment, and sometimes physical violence.
Like the day our “kill hat” demanded I report to him on the quarter deck. I ran up there trying to make it in a timely manner that would not be met with more punishment. I failed. I got to close to him and was met with a fist to my noise. Attention to detail was replaced trying to make up time. Time I never had. Time you never get back. I got to close and now I was drenched in my own blood.
If only that was the last time my blood would be spilt due to cutting corners.
Combat is HARSH to those who cut corners.
Pre-combat inspections (PCI), mission planning, Coarse of Action (COA) planning & analysis, Close Air Support (CAS) request, fires contingencies, medevac & casualty evacuation planning…. are just some of the aspects that go into mission planning. Before you even get into a helicopter to go find the enemy.
As a Special Operations Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC), my little piece of the puzzle was fire support, close air support (CAS) planning & integration and briefing of the air crew supporting the operation. This encompasses, pre-planned fires, to include preplanned strikes, illumination/ marking / spotting, coordinating insertion via helicopters, parachute or fast rope. Then controlling the stack of aircraft over head of the target to work seamless integration of movement of aircraft through the airspace, while often time the battle rages on.
During a mission in DIB, Afghanistan during a night extraction one of our MH-47 helicopters crashed due to brown out conditions, the pilot was unable to see coming off target. Loosing his position in the sky, and altitude, and realizing to late that he was about to hit the mountain in front of him, pulled pitch and lost all power. The MH-47 crashed below into the bazaar we just finished clearing of weapons and drugs.
I had called “HLZ BLACK”, which was a term used when an unplanned helicopter landing zone was being used for extraction. We typically had advanced planning, graphics with grids and elevations for all the available locations possible for that mission. But in this instance, we had taken so much enemy fire during the mission, and our target location was located at the base of a mountain inside a valley running north to south, the enemy had restricted our movement.
We had a decision to make.
Move 300 meters towards our HLZ extraction location and hope that it was not occupied by enemy forces. I had engaged enemy combatants 50 meters from that location during our clearing of the bazaar with A-10 warthogs. Their 30MM gatling guns doing the majority of the work.
We suspected there was still enemy close by.
OR I could call in “HLZ BLACK” and have the 160th SOAR land right next to the bazaar in the open area to the east, big enough to fit two MH-47’s.
Easy decision right?
After the crash…..the mission was just beginning. Read “Out of the Darkness: How a Special Operations Marine Found the Light.”
Farm life is a little less stressful than jumping out of an airplane at 18,000 feet with my ruck strapped between my legs, and weapon at my side. Now, I operate a tractor and on occasions an excavator as we shape this rocky place in Maine. Praying for Christs blessings to come over this land.
Or stacking on a door waiting for the breach and the justice to be dealt on the other side of the door. Now, I slide open the barn door in the morning to check on the chickens and feed them.
The dynamics are different.
I am no longer dropping bombs danger close to friendly positions in order to keep the enemy from over running our position. Instead, I patch fences, fill holes and cut trees.
I used to be attached to a Marine Special Operations Team (MSOT) with 18 warriors willing to do violence against the enemy. Now, I am in charge of 4 children with delegated authority from Christ and direct support from my loving wife.
Farm life is different. Christ keeps blessing us. We are forever grateful for the peace we now live with.
“Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.
Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.” Psalm 127 KJV
As for cutting corners. Farm life still presents all those options. There are still decisions that have to be made that could in turn get you killed or injured. Especially when dealing with cattle. Cattle handling is one of the most dangerous farm events if not done correctly or with the right equipment.
It took me about 36 years to figure out that my biggest issue with corner cutting was patiences. Or the lack of them. Really…I had zero patiences. Ive always been in a hurry, a rush to get on to the next project, thing, event. That has always been my biggest down fall.
Christ can help you with this. Pray to him and ask him for patience, discernment during those times when the right decision or corner needs to be negotiated.
What a great read!! The Holy Spirit convicted me of this just the other day. Thank you, I can defiantly attest that cutting corners is a lesson that can be taught over and over.