A tough decision

Today started out with a bit of a bummer.  At 0730 I was standing in front of the XO, together with one of my division officers, a chief, and a first class petty officer, each of us an element of the chain of command between the XO and a certain young airman who found himself at XOI.  XOI is Executive Officer's Inquiry.  This particular airman had written several checks on base before we left, knowing full well that the account had been closed.  He is working to pay back his debt, but this incident coupled with some attitude problems with other members of his workcenter, resulted in a report chit that brought him before the XO.  XOI often results in the accused continuing on to Captain's Mast, at which the CO may reduce a person in rank, take pay away, place them on restriction or in the brig (if we're on the ship, they can be placed on bread and water for three days in the brig!), or even administratively kick them out of the navy on an other-than-honorable discharge, depending on the severity of the offence.  I think it's safe to say that any person caught stealing at a civilian corporation would be fired to say the least, if not charged with a crime.  Granted, I'm sure most of us have written a bad check or two in our time.  But in this case, the kid had written many checks--on a closed account!  This places a tough decision before the XO.  Many young Americans join the military to get a start in life.  They often come from tough upbringings with little or even deleterious parental influence.  They look to their first Leading Petty Officer and Chief to fill in those "coming of age" gaps that they didn't get from a Dad who was never there.  And in turn, the Navy has a tradition of not giving up on a guy, just because he's rough around the edges.  In fact, we pride ourselves on turning boys into men and members of a world-class team.  Boot camp may break them in, but it takes being part of the family of a squadron or ship to build them up.  And yet… how long do give a guy to come around?  A chief can only influence a kid so much.  At some point, he must decide for himself what kind of man he will be and what he's going to do about it.  We are sailing west into unknown challenges--ready to face them as a team, but vitally dependent on each other as members of that team.  The time for training is past.  Is this young airman prepared to turn himself around and join the team?  Time will tell.  He will remain with us for the time being.  I have my doubts, but I've seen kids with worse records before make a 180.  I pray that we can count on the same recovery from him.