- Major Jon Thompson, MA in Philosophy, Texas A&M

I remember sitting in a graduate philosophy seminar at Texas A&M, and Jon casually mentioned that before entering the philosophy program, he flew Blackhawk helicopters as an Army Aviator. Everyone in the seminar just stopped and stared.

Why would a Blackhawk helicopter pilot with years of military experience drop everything and do a master's in philosophy?

Here's his story:

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On a personal note, this episode is one of my favorites, for a couple reasons. I hadn't connected with Jon since he graduated with his master's and went on to teach philosophy at The United States Military Academy (aka West Point). He's just a really good guy whose personality does not betray the greatness of his academic or military achievements.

But I didn't expect this episode to be so meaningful to many of Jon's family and friends, including his military buddies. When he shared the episode on Facebook, I saw some nice comments from people he had flown with, from others who had been to Afghanistan with him, from a former professor of ours, and from many who simply enjoyed hearing their friend tell his story. For me, that makes the episode a win.

In the next couple weeks, I'll have a Christmas present for you. Stay tuned. Now that the semester has just about closed out, I'll be thinking about how to tell you what's coming up in 2026. I'm pumped for what's already in the works.

Until next time.

Jared

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