Kris Kristofferson joined the US Army, earned his Ranger tab, earned a Rhodes Scholar (scholarship to Oxford University) and earned his wings as an Army Aviator, flying helicopters in Germany.

His dad was a Major General in the USAF, a brother was a Naval Aviator. Neither approved of his choice to leave the military and pursue a lifetime in the music business, not after he was offered a position as a Literature instructor at West Point. 

He got a job sweeping floors at Columbia Recording Studios in Nashville. He met June Carter there and asked her to give Johnny Cash a tape of his. She did, but Cash put it on a large pile with others.

 He also worked as a commercial helicopter pilot for south Louisiana firm Petroleum Helicopters International (PHI), based in Lafayette, Louisiana. Kristofferson recalled of his days as a pilot, “That was about the last three years before I started performing, before people started cutting my songs. I would work a week down here [in south Louisiana] for PHI, sitting on an oil platform and flying helicopters. Then I’d go back to Nashville at the end of the week and spend a week up there trying to pitch the songs, then come back down and write songs for another week. I can remember “Help Me Make It Through the Night” I wrote sitting on top of an oil platform. I wrote “Bobby McGee” down here, and a lot of them [in south Louisiana].

in a 1977 interview, Kristofferson said he had been fired from his Drilling Rig Helicopter job for flying drunk. So, wanting to be a songwriter he got a job as a janitor at Columbia Records in Nashville

One day in the studio he handed Johnny Cash a tape, which Johnny Promptly threw in the trash……….he didn’t give up……….he did in fact take the US Army helo and land in Johnny’s yard. Cash, not amused, ordered Kris to fly away and Kris refused to go until Cash hear ONE song…….finally Cash gave in and agreed to listen to one song…. Kris Played him “Sunday Morning Coming Down”

Cash melted and wanted to cut it immediately and in 1970 Kristofferson won Songwriter of the Year for the song at the Country Music Association Awards.

https://theaviationgeekclub.com/that-time-kris-kristofferson-stole-a-us-army-helicopter-and-landed-it-in-johnny-cashs-yard/

An aspiring writer, Kristofferson immediately enrolled in Pomona College. His early writing included prize-winning essays, and "The Rock" and "Gone Are the Days" were published in The Atlantic Monthly. These early stories reveal the roots of Kristofferson's passions and concerns. "The Rock" is about a geographical feature resembling the form of a woman, while the latter was about a racial incident.

At the age of 17, Kristofferson took a summer job with a dredging contractor on Wake Island in the western Pacific Ocean. He called it "the hardest job I ever had".

Kristofferson attended Pomona College, and experienced his first dose of fame in 1958, appearing in Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd" on March 31 for his achievements in collegiate rugby union, American football, and track and field.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kris_Kristofferson

Why doesn't the story mention how the Army reacted to a stolen helicopter, in 1970?