Eric’s father, once a “decorated air force test pilot” who, as of the events of Columbine, had been retired from the military for twenty-three years. As a disciplinarian with his children, he was a typical military man—calculating and thoughtful—and he often kept lists or notes in his journal about Eric’s worrisome behavior, as well as the conversations and punishments that arose from Eric’s frequent troublemaking. Though he attempted to “put the fear of God” into his youngest son, he failed to see through Eric’s calculated mask of remorse to the ruthless, psychopathic interior behind it.