A feeling of overwhelming sadness

Multiple sources are reporting that former basketball star Lamar Odom was escorted off of a Delta flight from Los Angeles to New York City.  The reports claim that Odom was observed drinking heavily in an airport lounge before boarding the flight and that he vomited in the plane's galley and lavatory before being forced to leave the flight.

This incident comes in the wake of reports that Odom was forced out of the home that his estranged wife Khloe Kardashian had rented for him.  TMZ is reporting that Khloe kicked out her soon to be ex-husband after a crack pipe was found in the home.

It's been less than a year since Lamar Odom was found lying unconscious in a brothel bedroom following a three day binge of drugs and sex.  He was given only a 50/50 chance of survival after being airlifted to a hospital.  Drugs and alcohol put him in that bed and apparently he cannot break free of them.

Addictions are not easy to break.  But they are impossible to break when the addict has no desire to be helped.  All of the love, support and attempt at intervention cannot make someone want to save themselves from the demons of addiction.

I know this all too well.  I thought I'd written about this before but searching my past blog entries I can find no reference to "Jerry" and his problems.  He was a friend that was in my unit on two different occasions during my time in the Air Force.  He was an alcoholic.  The Air Force goes through an ebb and flow of how willing they are to tolerate alcoholism (and other problems) with personnel.  At times when reenlistment rates are high, the various types of "Quality Force Management" programs attempt to weed out the marginal performers or those with problems in other areas.  Weight, physical fitness, and certain forms of bad behavior are ignored when it becomes difficult to keep proper staffing levels, particularly in critical skill fields.  Jerry was a highly skilled aircraft maintenance technician.  So the first time his drinking became a problem, there was no question the military would attempt to help.  Usually, unless a serious transgression has taken place, a first time offender will be offered help.  He was sent to a facility to dry out.  When he returned he was required to attend AA meetings on a regular basis.  He was subjected to random urine tests to ensure he wasn't drinking.

Years later, he slipped and got drunk.  At this point, retention of aircraft maintenance troops was a real problem, particularly at the level of rank and responsibility that Jerry had reached.  So he got something the Air Force didn't normally get.  A second chance to go and dry out.  He was told before going and after completing the program, he was out of chances.  Any future incident involving drinking would end his career.

Jerry was a good guy.   Married with kids, although after the second session of drying him out, he was moved into the dorms where I had once lived.  I did my best to make sure he would succeed at staying dry.  I checked up on his constantly.  I made sure he had an active social life away from places where people would be drinking.

Then our unit was tasked to deploy some aircraft and personnel to Nellis AFB in Las Vegas.  I went to the commander and asked him not to send Jerry.  I felt it was too soon after his last trip to dry out.  The temptations would be too great.  My boss said that Jerry had to go on this deployment.  He told me "even if I keep him here this time, he'll have to go on a deployment like this eventually."

He showed up for work looking okay but he was drunk and he drove a maintenance van into the wing of an airplane.  That ended his career.

Now Lamar Odom's career appears to be over.  I like Lamar.  I'd like to see him survive.  I'm afraid he won't.  That makes me very sad.  But unless he has a change of heart and decides he wants to make a change, nothing anyone else does will make a difference in the long-term.