Round 3: This Old Hat

This is the third to last planned entry in the Round 3 series! I want to thank everyone for their continued interest and support. There are many more stories that I could tell, but in the interest of keeping the blog fresh and interesting, I will write those to be published in a different manner at a different time. If you are looking for some reading to catch up, check out last week’s entry here. Thanks again, and enjoy.

That hat looks rad as hell, I thought to myself in the summer of 2017. Except for my years playing baseball growing up, I wasn’t really a “hat guy,” so the draw I felt to the grey, Sota Clothing snapback was intriguing. Sota Clothing, and in particular their “Classic” hat has become a staple of Minnesotan Culture over the past several years. Chances are, if you have met a Minnesotan recently, they’re either wearing this hat or something from Duluth Trading Company. If you haven’t noticed them before, you’ll see them everywhere now, because that’s how this works. In this instance, the hat was on a long-time friend, Joe’s, head and after seeing it in person for the first time, I knew I needed one for an upcoming deployment.

It is likely that I thought the hat was rad in part because Joe “Big Joe” Hurlbut is rad (Mr. Hurlbut to his students). In fact I would bet on it. I ordered one anyway, as it never hurts to be a bit more like Joe, and it has accompanied on pretty much every deployment and trip since. This Old Hat has been covered in sweat and grime, washed, and worn again in a never-ending cycle.

First, the Hat accompanied me to Qatar, where I wore it pretty much every day. It was perfect for keeping the sun and sweat out of my eyes, and for hiding the receding hairline and bald spot that was ever growing on my noggin. I took the Hat with me to Kuwait for more sweating, Oman to see the Khareef, the United Arab Emirates to pretend (unsuccessfully) to be some sort of high-roller at a fancy hotel.

The Hat became my lucky hat, so of course I had to ensure that it was with me on this third deployment. I wore the Hat from Boston until I had to change into my uniform in the Baltimore Airport, at which point I fastened the Hat to the side of my worn-in rucksack.

I am sure the Hat wasn’t excited about seeing Qatar again, however briefly. Much of the accumulated sweat and grime is the result of many hot, humid days being worn around Al Udeid Air Base and Doha. Luckily enough for the hat, although not lucky for me and Jenny, my transportation to the 332d was arranged faster than normal, and the Hat accompanied me to yet another destination.

Whether the hat is lucky or not is a matter of debate. I have worn it through good times and bad times, easy times and hard times, and everything in between. It is doubtful that the Hat itself brings me luck, but what I do know is that the Hat reminds me of home, no matter how far away I have gotten.

Perhaps its not luck that the Hat brings me, but I know it draws other Minnesotans together while in the far flung reaches of the globe. The distinctive outline of our state serves as a small beacon to each other. Wearing the Hat while at the 332d, I learned that PADRE, the Catholic Chaplain on base, had spent some time in Minnesota and retained a certain fondness for the state. He always made sure to introduce me to other Minnesotans, especially those who frequented the smoke pit.

As humans we tend to hold onto talismans of all shapes and sizes. Tokens to remind ourselves of good times or hard-earned lessons. Many servicemembers carry with them a coin, a round metal object that was earned in some form or fashion. In Air Force tradition, if someone catches you without a coin, you owe them (or the whole bar) a drink. I too carry a coin with me, if only to avoid buying a round of drinks for some of the thirstiest sons (and daughters) of bitches on the planet, and I carry that Hat with me everywhere.

There was no hard-earned trial that brought me that hat. It was not earned in the way a coin may have been. The Hat, however, remains a good luck talisman. For me it is a reminder that I have somewhere to go back to. In the military, you can often feel more than a little nomadic, moving from place to place every few years. Keeping a cultural anchor in one place helps center my soul.

I have long considered Minnesota to be home. My family moved there when I was four years old, and I left fourteen years later to join the Air Force at the United States Air Force Academy. It strikes me as I write this that when you combine the time my family lived in Fargo, North Dakota with the twelve years I have spent since entering the Academy, I have lived outside my home state longer than I lived in it. A stark realization that I will dwell on another time, lest it spark an identity crisis mid-article.

At the time I bought the hat, I was in between my first and second “unless.” After my first deployment in 2016, I had decided that I would leave the Air Force for greener pastures “unless” the military tossed me a few bones. I would leave the Air Force unless they gave me an assignment outside of one of the major Acquisitions Centers, and even if they did I would leave the Air Force unless they accepted my application to Graduate School. Well the Air Force met my two criteria with a bargain, take a year long assignment back at Al Udeid and “They” would pinky-swear that I could go to Naval Postgraduate School.

Even though I didn’t really trust Them, those omnipotent puppet masters behind the scenes who lie, steal, and cheat to make the needs of the Air Force happen, I took the assignment in Qatar. The way I figured it, it would get me closer to my five year commitment, and if I didn’t get into graduate school, I could try to get sent somewhere close to home and then separate from there. I didn’t know what I wanted to do after, I just knew that I didn’t want to do Air Force contracting anymore, and there was nowhere else to run to but back home.

Except the Air Force met my “unless” and sent me to grad school. It would be there I met Jenny and together we would take the Hat on new adventures. The Hat accompanied us to many wineries, dog parks, beaches, and National Parks. Recently, I wore the Hat to the Virgin Islands where we held our wedding, then Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam for our honeymoon. The Air Force even met my next “unless” when I got picked up for a dream assignment in Hawaii. Perhaps the Hat is lucky after all.