Mating Rituals - Military Style

Ah, the joy of youth!  Boy meets Girl.  Boy talks to Girl.  Girl plays with Boy.  Boy avoids Girl like the plague.  SOMETIMES, it doesn't end that way.  Most of the time, it does.  Especially when it involves a Uniform.  Of course, there is often the reversal of roles.  Either way, the show is there for the whole squadron to see.  That first assignment of ours was absolutely overflowing with relationship drama among the CGOs.  At the time, I thought it was completely ludicrous that people would set themselves up to become such public spectacles.  Then it dawned on me!  I was witnessing the ever entertaining mating rituals of our young military officers.

I am a full believer that there is nothing new under the sun.  Of course, our young people believe that everything that they deal with is unique, dramatic, and, therefore, must be shouted from the rooftops.  When my engineer and I first started noticing the odd behavior of some of the CGOs, we were first perplexed, then disturbed, and, finally, completely entertained.  I know, that is cruel.  There we were, a married couple, a few years older than our "peers," watching these younger officers' lives twist and turn in the wind of love sought and, typically, lost.

Like most civilian Americans, I had always felt that the workplace was NOT the place to look for love.  The OBVIOUS "what if things go wrong?" is always at the forefront of my mind.  You can imagine my surprise when I started seeing some of the officers date within the shop.  Now, those of you who have been in a while have witnessed this phenomena as well.  A perky, pretty new Lt in-processes, and the males go wild.  They start using their 10 cent words and walk a little straighter.  It reminds me a bit of a shark feeding frenzy near a fishing boat.  They swarm her, circle, and try to take a bite.  All the while, she is flattered and thrilled to be in such a friendly work environment.  Then the games really begin.

It is normally a cocky 1st Lt. who will step forward and ask her out first.  If she isn't entangled in a long distance relationship already, she will agree to go out with him.  I don't have to go into the relationship progression from here.  We are adults.  Most of the time, this first time meeting doesn't go well, and they part ways.  But they can't, really.  They are in the same squadron.  They have to work together.  Because a squadron is very much like a very nosy extended family crossed with a small town, everyone else has already made it the item of interest for the next couple months.  These two unfortunate officers just made their lives water cooler fodder.  While they may have moved on from their casual few dates, everyone else is creating amazing tales of anger, jealousy, and passion. While, sadly, some of the tales are quite true (hello...don't kiss & tell & take pictures if you don't want everyone knowing about it!), most are not.

Then, there is the reversal.  A handsome, young, single, kind Captain who finds himself the unwitting target of two female Lieutenants.  To be completely honest, women do not play fair when it comes to a shared interest.  Things get really catty and underhanded fast.  Just as the males made fools of themselves, the women are often no better.  Sadly, one of the two often genuinely catches his eye.  They try to quietly keep their relationship under the radar.    But just as those few casual dates sparked a whirlwind of storytelling for our first subjects, so does the mystery of the chemistry of these two.

I think the thing that pains me the most is what the rejected Lt tends to do after this.  Rejection is never a good thing to face.  But a rejection paired with a work environment as close knit as a squadron has to be brutal.  Sadly, she will throw herself at whoever seems like a close second, whether she has genuine feelings for him or not, with hopes that it will stop the speculation concerning her unrequited love.  Unfortunately, most see it for what it is.

While all this, and more, is going on, my engineer and I sat and watched.  Yes, at times, I voiced concern over the erratic behavior of our young CGOs.  Some of it was mind blowing. Now, however, I sit back and watch...enjoying the show.  Over the years I have discovered that such mating rituals take place throughout the military, regardless of rank.  Colonel or Airman First Class, it doesn't matter.  Within our little pressure cooker society, the uniform has an interesting way of going about looking for a mate, regardless of the very public display for all to see.