It ceases to amaze

INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey -- To watch our peers become dumber than a box of rocks was kind of fun. On our educational observation, Airmen Leadership School class 07-03 had an eye opening experience.

During our observation we witnessed what alcohol can do to common sense. We started the night off by watching our peers being carried through the gate. Amazingly, people seemed to be tripping over thin air. Not only would they just lay there on the cold ground laughing, but their Wingman would laugh at them too. As they stumbled back to their feet they always seemed to make their way to another bar on base. This made us wonder whether or not these people could control their drinking. Obviously, they had fallen asleep during the drinking in moderation part of the 0-1-3 briefings. I know we've been briefed numerous times.

As always, there was the ritual pushing contest and name calling of the male species. Now as for the person walking down the middle of the road with oncoming traffic --what's going on there?

Now let's think back to basic training, where we learned about drinking and driving. The subject was burned into our brains week after week during the safety briefings. When we see a person being carried onto base, we assume that they are not just going to walk in the middle of the road. However, our peers seemed to think it was a cool thing to do that night.

We actually saw a girl being carried onto base, climb into her car, and drive off. As for her wingman, well he was in the passenger seat. You know for only the cost of one alcoholic beverage you can catch a taxi, which by-the-way is located right at the entrance to the base, and they will take you anywhere on base. I guess sometimes it takes a sober mind to see the obvious.