Photo By Staff Sgt. Karen Sampson | Adam Jones speaks at the Fort Johnson Prayer Luncheon.... read more read more
FORT JOHNSON, La. — As a youngster, Adam Jones dreamed of becoming a Black Hawk helicopter pilot. As a 12-year-old, Jones took flying lessons to prepare himself for a career as a military pilot.
“When I was five or six years old, I saw Black Hawk Down, and I decided that was what I wanted to do,” Jones said. “There was just something about that movie. And I made all my decisions based on that one dream.”
That dream became a reality, but despite a successful military career, Jones soon found there was something missing, leaving him feeling frustrated, lost and empty.
It was at this time the concept of Weapons of Mass Deception entered his consciousness. In his book “Weapons of Mass Deception: The Silent Struggle Within Every High Performer,” Jones shares how he was able to detect and defeat these weapons every high performer faces, and is committed to bringing the message of freedom to high-capacity leaders – both military and civilian.
Jones was the guest speaker at the Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Johnson’s annual National Prayer Luncheon, held in conjunction with JRTC and Fort Johnson’s Spiritual Resiliency Week. He shared his story of how he defeated weapons of mass deception throughout the week with Soldiers, family members, Department of the Army civilians and contractors.
“That desire to become a helicopter pilot led to me joining the Civil Air Patrol and those were my first steps to forming a belief system — I call it a Field of Formation in my book,” Jones said.
Jones said everything he did in his teenage years was geared to becoming a Black Hawk pilot.
“I just kept being a high achiever and performer because I thought that’s what would get me satisfaction,” he said. “I eventually joined the Army.”
Jones plan was to attend the Military Academy at West Point or a college Reserve Officer Training Program. He said the West Point cadre was “a little grumpy,” but the ROTC cadre at Penn State University convinced him his bet shot at becoming a pilot would be the ROTC route.
While at Penn State the Army National Guard convinced him the Guard would get him there faster, as well as getting him a head start on his military career — just what a high achiever/performer was looking for.
So what happened? He was commissioned as an MP.
“I thought, ‘My life is over,’” he said. “That’s not what little Adam wanted, or why I made all of those decisions. I only did those things because I knew Army aviation was what I wanted.”
Jones said he sees the same things he was feeling in the faces of Soldiers today.
“Sometimes we get so addicted to what we think is going to fill us and give us everything we want,” Jones said. “Then maybe you don’t get it, or you do and it’s not all you think it was going to be.”
Eventually Jones did make it to helicopter school and spent seven years on active duty with the National Guard.
“I really enjoyed living out that dream, but there were lessons I learned the hard way that have led me to what I do today,” he said. “I want to share some of those lessons.”
One of those lessons is learning to be present in the moments a person is given.
“We’re thinking, ‘What’s next? Where’s the next break?’” he said. “We’re missing the day we’ve been given, and that was how I lived my life for a long time, even as a pilot. I know it’s corny to say, but living in the present is a gift.”
Jones said he was finding his identity in his performance; if he underperformed, he beat himself up.
“I began to see it was the same thing when I was an entrepreneur— or worse, a husband,” Jones said. “I saw that my confidence would ebb and flow based on how well I did. Sometimes it’s great, some days not so great. Being a high performer, like most in the military are, is challenging work. If you do hard things in life, you will drift — meaning losing track of your priorities.
“We all drift in life; I started to drift as a company commander; I started to drift as a husband and a father; and I began to move away from who I thought I was,” he said. “What’s really important about drift is you have to say, ‘This is what I want.’
Once you say, ‘This is what I want,’ everything else is drift.”
Jones said he come to the realization that he was drifting away from what he wanted to be: A present father, a great husband whose wife loved and appreciated him, and a commander that’s confident and clear minded.
“When you set those goals that are important, it’s so simple and freeing,” he said. “You have no guilt or shame. You just go on drifting and start to make those adjustments.”
Following his time at the podium, Jones met with those in attendance and shared more insights about “drift” and other lessons in his book.
| Date Taken: | 05.26.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 06.03.2025 15:47 |
| Story ID: | 499561 |
| Location: | FORT JOHNSON, LOUISIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 14 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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