So I've been visiting this website for a while and only just recently decided to create an account. I've been an atheist since I was 14 or in other words smart enough to start thinking for myself. That being said I still joined the military after I graduated high school and now I am a cadet at the Air Force Academy.

Not gonna lie, going there has given me some of the best and worst experiences of my life but it I did go through a bit of culture shock when I arrived. I grew up in a socially liberal part of NY and have spent the last two years in one of the most conservative places in the country. Or in other words my views about the world don't exactly line up with the typical Air Force Academy cadet.

The only people at the Academy that know I'm an Atheist are a few close and open minded friends who while not sharing my beliefs about the world are at least respectful of them and because of that we're able to have civil discussions about their belief in God. However I still know more than a few . . . let's just call them fanatics or to phrase it differently believers with their heads shoved so far up their asses that can't see any other point of view besides their own and because of that are convinced they are right, everyone else is wrong and that that makes them somehow superior to everyone else.

These are the kinds of people at the Academy and in the military in general that I cannot stand. I've had to deal with people like this on multiple occasions and the minute they are given any sort of leadership responsibility the power goes straight to their heads and the develop a God complex. For example one of these individuals I have the displeasure of knowing became cadre for basic cadet training (it's essentially a 6 week long version of basic training we all have to go through the summer before our freshman year at the Academy). The dumbass predictably let the power go to his head and managed to get himself fired as basic cadre because of how he treated the basics he was responsible for. Yet this person is still here at the Academy and will still eventually commission. What scares me is that people like him are going to be officers one day and will actually be responsible for the lives of the people under them while still believing they are better than everyone else because of their faith.

So I guess the question to all of my fellow atheists or whoever bothers to actually read this is any advice for me, thoughts, suggestions, or even questions of your own about my experiences here?