Be All That You Can Be!

About that POV ---

During my in processing my NCOIC suggested I study for and take the USAEUR driver's license test. Convinced this was not a good move, based on the advice I had been given, I acted very disinterested and kept putting it off. The other male private that got in country shortly after me was all too anxious to get his license! He jumped at the chance.

Turns out, as the sage sergeant knew, privates with a license to drive end up doing just that --driving! It's critical for career advancement that you work in areas that strengthen your MOS (Military Occupation Specialty --ie, your job). The female SP4 who helped me settle in had done nothing in regards to JAG --she basically was the Colonel's driver. Career wise, I don't think that worked out well for her. The male private that was eager to drive well --that's what he got to do --drive. Its a little different overseas than stateside since the brigades & battalions are so spread out. At first the private loved being a driver as he was out and about and got to see a lot of things, go places, etc. In the meantime, I was assigned to Admin Law which among other things I was in charge of the Division Law Library, Letters of Reprimand, Summary and Special Courts Martial (in some cases). For a private, this was a great assignment. In Admin Law we had two captains, a German civilian and myself. I was exposed to a lot of aspects of military law and when things were slow, I read some of the articles and publications in the library. This was in the 80's when the military first started cracking down on DUI's. At that time, the punishment being a Letter of Reprimand which stayed in your OMPF (Official Military Personnel File). The division general, General Leland, insisted he signed every DUI LOR. The higher ranking the LOR came from, the more severe the impact it was on your military career. Since I had to process all of the LOR's for the entire division, I quickly learned all of the units in the division. I came to recognize certain names and their positions. Later, this became very valuable knowledge for me.

Instead of spending my days driving, I was learning more about my MOS, the division and the Army. Having finally put all that training behind me, I began to take the Army seriously. Well, not that I didn't take the Army seriously before because I lived in fear EVERY DAY of being put out of the Army or going to jail. I don't know why --it's not like I was doing illegal things but I did grasp the concept the Army was much different from civilian life and in some ways, they did own me. I wanted to toe the line (with the exception of little things like hooking my rifle to my pistol belt). I didn't want to get sent home as I had seen happen to so many soldiers throughout basic training and AIT; some were put out for medical reasons, some females for being pregnant, some for failing to meet Army standards, some for coming up hot on a urinalysis --so many different reasons. As I began to absorb the Army life and JAG, I simply found that despite the miserable existence I had thus far found the Army to be, I was falling in love with being a soldier --and I wanted to be the very best I could be. Yeah, I wanted to Be All I Could Be!