More Platoon Sergeant Woes

After class and dinner I had to meet with my squad leaders to discuss the barracks duties. I think, though my memory is a bit fuzzy, that I was able to appoint my squad leaders myself. I may have done that or they might have already been assigned.

I spent the entire night running around like a chicken with her head cut off. All of my squad leaders were complaining about their assignments and trying to get out of doing work. Then I had soldiers coming up to me asking me to be relieved from duty for one (lame) reason or another. They were breaking the chain of command as they were supposed to go to their squad leader first --but I suspect they thought they could get over on me easier.

And they were right.

I spent the entire night taking this guy off of this task then assigning it to another guy, who would complain he didn't want to do that so I'd go on to the next guy --and so on and so on and so on. The bottom line is, hardly anything got done. Our assigned areas were a mess. I was a mess. The next day we failed inspection and of course I got called on it and got chewed out.

During our class time the Platoon Sergeants would occasionally be called out for meetings, which meant I'd have to try and make-up any classroom time. Any changes or announcements or information that needed to get disseminated the Instructors would tell the First Sergeant who would tell the Platoon Sergeants and down the chain it would go. Only I had idiots for Squad leaders and they may or may not have done what I told them. Our platoon was to PLDC what the Bad News Bears were to Little League Baseball.

Everything that was wrong or missed or not done properly I got in trouble for. I was always being called out for one thing or another. The other Platoon Sergeants would look at me as if to say, "Thank goodness I'm not as sorry as she is!" They were no help to me either.

My Instructor talked to me about the horrible marching job I did --because of course the Instructor that was grading me told. I did have to do some practice out in the court yard marching a small group of soldiers, 4-5 of them. But Drill & Ceremony was part of our training so we all had to do that. We got assigned into small groups and had to take turns marching and giving commands. We even were tested on it. The instructor would tell you what commands to give and you'd have to stand there and march 4-5 people around the courtyard --but I got to do extra marching and practice because I was so bad at it.

So one day during class just after a break my Instructor came up to me with a very serious look on his face and said, "Hey, Sergeant Major wants to see you." I knew it wasn't good. I knew Sergeant Major didn't want to just shoot the breeze with me. I figured I was either going to get relieved of Platoon Sergeant or asked to leave the course all together.

And my classmates all knew I had to go report to the Sergeant Major and they knew it didn't look good either. They tried to give me words of encouragment but we all knew whatever it was, it was going to be bad.

So off I marched my short little legs over to the Sergeant Major's office, the Commandant of the school --only this time I wasn't storming in with dripping wet hair and slamming my hands down on his desk to demand things.  No adrenaline was my driving force now --just fear as I desperately tried not to cry and to maintain composure.