Stepping Back in PLDC

I need to take a step back into PLDC for today.

The Mess Hall we ate in was on the same installation as the school but it was down the street so for every meal we had to march in formation to go eat. Every other weekend, the Mess Hall closed and so we’d have to leave our installation and go to another one across the street for our meals and again, we’d have to march in formation.

Remember my class was mostly composed of male soldiers that came from a CAV unit –an all male front-line unit of hard-core soldiers. They were used to being around just men and they were used to behaving like they were around just men.

So the first weekend we were at school we were marching across the street and our Platoon Sergeant was singing cadence. I normally loved cadence (especially when a certain former Drill Sergeant Newsome was singing. . .) but today I heard things I had never heard before.

Completely forgetting I was the only female in the Platoon, our dear leader began singing cadence such as –okay well, I can’t tell you exactly what the words were but I can tell you it was a lot about ---um –male body parts and what boy soldiers wanted to do --well, you get the idea.

When we got to the Mess Hall and broke formation, some of the guys came up to me and apologized saying, “I don’t think that guy realized you were here.” I was offended and these were cadences I had never heard before and I did appreciate the fact that some of the soldiers apologized and realized how inappropriate it all was.

The next day I mentioned it to my class instructor. I wasn’t upset or anything. It was more like, “Hey, BTW –I’d rather we not sing these cadences.” My instructor just shook his head and said something like, “Those guys know better than that.” Later he reminded the class that we were not in an all male setting and to be careful about cadences, language, etc. No one made a big deal over it. It was done.

Except that much later I would learn a certain Hispanic Instructor heard about it and he was none too happy.  I'm not sure how he found out or why but the news didn't sit well with him.  He commented that a soldier is a soldier and if the females can't cut it, they need to get out of HIS Army.  He didn't think the male soldiers should have to change their cadence simply because a female soldier was in their unit.  But this information I would learn much later but you get the inside scoop because it sets us up for Monday's post.