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Musings on politics, COVID, the Constitution, history, the band Rush and who knows what else...
I’m typically not one to overshare on social media, which is why I have few, if any, photos or posts concerning my personal life. However, since I’m “putting myself out there” on my website, I figure it is only fair to divulge just a bit more about your host and blog author.
The Basics
I’m the oldest of three, with a sister and much younger brother. I just completed 57 laps around the sun in June of 2020, which was a wretched year, by the way. I have two grown daughters and a young granddaughter. I have the good fortune to have a fantastic relationship with the love of my life.
Dad was in the U.S. Army, so we moved around quite a bit when I was young – Augusta, GA; Miami, FL; Columbia, SC; Leavenworth, KS; Wurzburg, GE; and finally, Edgewood, MD – where dad eventually retired from the Army as a Master Sergeant. Dad passed away on August 9, 2015 at 80 years of age from complications relating to his handling of Agent Orange in Viet Nam.
Mom just celebrated her 80th birthday this past summer. She does past life readings and such, and you can read more about her on her website, gypsyet.com.
Young Mark
From a very young age, I had been interested in space exploration and got it in my head that I wanted to be an astronaut. I still recall watching the Apollo missions, live, and Star Trek (The Original Series) overdubbed in German. I watched with fascination the H-1 Huey helicopters when I would go to base at Leighton Barracks with dad. During high school, I also learned that a significant number of astronauts were Naval Aviators, so I also got it into my head that that was the route to go.
During high school, I was active in the student government, JV soccer for a year or two, and the theater each year. My senior year I was responsible for the lighting and sound on our production of Little Abner.
I also spent two or three summers with my uncle, who taught philosophy, rhetoric, etc., in eastern Tennessee, where we spent a good deal of time hiking the Smokies and other mountainous parks. His book, Values, Violence, And Our Future is available on Amazon.
Ultimately, I wound up attending DeVry Institute of Technology in Columbus, OH where I earned my BSEET in June of 1984. From there I cut my professional teeth as a Field Service Engineer with Applied Materials (AMAT) in Santa Clara, CA working on 7800 series epi reactors and other chemical vapor deposition (CVD) equipment. Both of these experiences would tie in nicely ten years later during my MSEE matriculation at Naval Postgraduate School (NPS).
A Young Naval Aviator
However, the urge to fly kept gnawing at me and in late 1986 I talked to the Navy Officer Recruiter. Confession…. I’ll admit that Top Gun got me thinking about it all even more so than I had been as a teen; however, I wonder how many other military aviators in year groups ’87 thru ’90 or so would make the same confession if pressed? With the blessing of my manager, John Lautenslager, rest his soul, I headed off to Aviation Officer Candidate School (AOCS) at NAS Pensacola, FL, in February 1987. Next it was onto Primary Flight Training with VT-2 NAS Whiting Field, FL, then onto NAS Meridian, MS for Intermediate Flight Training with VT-19, and ultimately, after carrier qualifying aboard the USS Lexington, earning my wings with VT-7.
Although my initial assignment was to F-14s with VF-101 at NAS Oceana, due to a minor medical issue, which disqualified me from flying the Tomcat, BUPERS reassigned me to VR-24 at Sigonella, Sicily flying the CT-39G Saberliner. VR-24 was a great first tour, the Saberliner was a blast to fly, and Jack Punches, rest his soul, was one of the best CO’s I ever had. I don’t recall the photographer’s name, but I am 99.9% certain that this photo of 159362 was take on April 22, 1992 when we put nearly the entire squadron in the air for a photo-X, three CT-39Gs and three C-2A Greyhounds. I flew as Skipper Punches’s copilot that day in 159361.
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Here’s the Resume
I can best summarize the rest of my professional career in my resume, however, I’m sure I’ll share some sea stories in future articles. The image is linked to a cleaner PDF file, for those who might be interested. Folks can also view my Indeed Profile.
Politics
Politically, I'm a Libertarian at heart, have always been registered as an Independent, and always voted at least in the general election. In 2009, I began writing to the president, federal senators, and congressman, mainly on issues of “climate change,” a subject which I’ll save the rant for a future article. However, in 2016, I could not bear to see HRC get elected, knowing full well that if I had done what she did with her email server, my ass would be back at Leavenworth, but this time in the federal prison, in a heartbeat! So, I volunteered for the Cabarrus County RNC during that summer, combing neighborhoods door to door taking a survey of independent and swing voters. I was fortunate enough to meet Eric and Lara Trump as a result, who I sensed both had very gracious souls. Over the last four years, I’ve continued to write elected officials, including now state and local representatives. However, given the flippant responses I’ve received of late, I’m beginning to doubt that it ever actually does any good…
Tidbits
I read extensively, trying to get thru at least a book a month, and I’m usually in the middle of several at any given time. Some years I get thru more than others. The high was 29 books in 2012; a few years during grad school, I didn’t finish any, too busy with my nose in the text books, I suppose. I will be adding a “Book Review” section later this weekend.
The Macallan, Sherry Oak Cask, is the drink of choice, although I’m partial to bourbon, Chardonnay, Malbec, and Chianti as well. 2014 Nissan 370Z ragtop. Yoga, Pilates, and hiking with my lady, as well as a session on my Bowflex Max Total three or four times a week as well. Mossberg for firearms. Californication guilty pleasure. Vinyl not CD, although I have both. Rush above all others, but also, Styx when Dennis DeYoung was with the band, Zeppelin, Evanescence, Lindsey Stirling, Jamie Mclean Band, etc., and I fucking miss live concerts….
I consider myself fortunate to have meet so many souls and visited so many places over the years I’ve been wandering the face of the earth. The last count (as of 2/13/21) is 41 U.S. states, five territories, and 49 countries.
Gratitude & Hope
I won’t divulge any about familial, personal, or professional relationships, past or present, nor “air dirty laundry publicly”, other than to say the following. Every soul who we meet has a spark of the Divine, and we are all truly performers and portrayers, each another’s audience, with something to teach, something to learn. It is easy to feel thankful for those relationships when everything goes smoothly. Some relationships are more difficult than others, of that we can be certain, but in that difficulty is where true leaning and growth occur. I am grateful for every relationship, every encounter with another human, no matter how brief, or how challenging, even those where I may have felt angry, upset, on not been at my most composed or not my best self. But it is for all those experiences and encounters that have brought me to the here and now.
Roxette teases that I’m the eternal optimist. Perhaps that is true, for despite the challenges of the past year, and those that confront the country and indeed the entire planet, I do retain hope that we will get through all of this and that better days lie ahead. Neil’s closing lines of The Garden state it perfectly:
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The future disappears into memory
With only a moment between
Forever dwells in that moment
Hope is what remains to be seen
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Namaste,
Mark Stansell
February 13, 2021
