Oakton and the Armed Forces

The words "Oakton" and "military" aren't routinely found in the same sentence.

Oakton has its share of retired military families but it's too upscale to typify American communities that offer up their sons and daughters to the uniformed services, right? All those troops we're busily supporting with our yellow ribbons and bumper stickers, those kids are not from around here, right?

Well, some of them are.

As an author on military topics—my current book is "Mission to Berlin," about B-17 Flying Fortress bomber crews in World War II— I lived in Oakton for thirty-plus years without knowing about the armed forces recruiting office at 11240 Waples Mill Road just across the border in Fairfax City and adjacent to National Rifle Association headquarters.

If anyone had asked, I'd have guessed this is a difficult region in which to attract recruits, right? But Air Force Lt. Col. Ravi Chaudhary, commander of the local recruiting squadron, told me I need to get a life. "We have been filling the positions we have," Chaudhary said in an interview Oct. 6. "People around here are taking advantage of what the military offers."

OK, well maybe the economy has something to do with it. But Oakton isn't supposed to typify American communities that are reeling under the recession, right?

Wrong. Some people are hurting around here. There's a symbol of the pain near the recruiting station—an empty shell of a big-box bookstore that doesn't exist any longer because Borders went bankrupt. Yes, we are touched by the economy, even in a government town. And yes, you can still buy "Mission to Berlin" directly from the author—me—if not from Borders.

I discovered and visited the center because Air Force chief of staff Gen. Norton Schwartz graciously agreed to travel out this way from the Pentagon and to sit down at the Waples Mill location for an interview.

The interview is in the December issue of the British magazine Combat Aircraft. It's about planes and includes Schwartz talking about the need for a new air refueling tanker and a new bomber, even while confronting soaring personnel costs and a looming fiscal crisis of epic proportions. With less than a year to go on his four-year stint as the nation's top airman and the Air Force's member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Schwartz, who reaches age 60 on Dec. 14, is noticeably aged on the job. He hinted he and his wife Suzy might like to settle in Oakton when he retires next summer.

If you're still reading this, I have two purposes here. The first is to debunk the idea that zip code 22124 is too hoity-toity to have a stake in our armed forces and our wars. The second is to introduce myself.

I'm Bob Dorr. You've seen me on Valewood Drive being dragged along by my Labrador retriever, Autumn. My wife Young Soon has a real job. I'm an author.

I'd like to offer comments once in awhile to fellow Oakton residents. Some will be about my thoughts on war, military affairs and veterans. Some may cover other subjects, like the speed-demon, bullet-helmeted cyclist who can't read the word "STOP" posted on signs at the intersection of Wayland and Valewood. Next time you see me here, I'll be writing about you and not about me. If you'd like to help, ring me at 703-264-8950.