On Point

Our field exercise consisted of A LOT of walking in the woods, A LOT.  In fact, it seems to me that's all we really did.  I was miserable on so many levels but much like running in formation with these long-legged men, I was having trouble keeping up with their pace.

We got a lunch break and all sat around (in the grass and dirt and rocks with only a tree or two to lean up against) eating our most delicious MRE’s. I sat with a few of my classmates and again as I was eating I felt someone’s eyes on me.

I was trying my best not to eat like I was at a royal tea party while still maintaining some level of femininity and dignity so I kept thinking, “What now???????????” I looked at the soldier that was watching me and he said in a kind of quiet big-brother way, “You’re miserable, aren’t you?”

Oh, is it that obvious?

I wanted to cry and not because of the misery but mostly because someone understood me – like tears of relief. YES! Yes I AM miserable. Fighting back the tears I just shook my head yes. He asked, “What do you need?”

Hmm well let’s see. What do I need? I’m not sure how deep you want to delve into this. I mean –if we go waaaay deep the answer would be, a plane ticket to Chicago. That would certainly make things better. But I mean, if you’re talking for right now, in the moment –I supposed crushing my knee caps so I can’t walk or run would make things better –then I could leave this stupid field exercise and not do the 5 mile run . . But oh, if you mean –what do I need in the realm of reality my answer is *shrugs*, “I don’t know. I’m just having a hard time keeping up and –there’s really nothing you can do. I’m okay. I’ll get through.”

On Point. I get really bored when I have to stop my story to explain something military –I’ve forgotten much of the military terminology and I struggle to make sense of it, partly because it probably never made much sense to me to begin with –but here we go. I’ll explain what it means to be on point.

When you’re walking through the woods, looking for the enemy you are in a V-shaped formation. You know, like a flock of birds flying through the air. You have to be spread apart in case you’re hit with a grenade or step on a mine or whatever –so you don’t take out the entire squad/platoon at once. The point man is the leader –the guy up front. He’s the one leading you through the woods. Its kind of an important job because he has to know where to go, stay very alert, look out for the enemy and give hand signals to those behind him as to what’s ahead, where you’re going, when to stop, what he sees, etc.

After we were done eating we were getting ready to get back out into the woods and the Sergeant came over to me and said:

Hey, before we go out I need you to tell the guys you’re going to be on point.

"But I don’t want to be on point. No, I’m not doing that."

"Yeah, I need you on point."

"Are you serious? I can’t do it, really and I don’t want to do it. Besides, all the guys will get mad at me as I’ll surely lead us the wrong way, get us lost or captured or –no, I’m not going to be the point man."

"You don’t have to worry about it. I’m going to be on point with you –I’ll be in the front too just 6 feet or so from you. All you have to do is watch me and follow my signal. That’s it. If you’re on point you won’t have to keep up and you won’t fall behind --you set the pace."

So I agreed to go on point and I was relieved to have someone understand my dilemas and look out for me.  When I told my platoon I'd be on point they all just looked like, "What the . . ????" 

It went mostly well --except when one of the guys from the rear came running up and said, "What's the problem? Why are we moving so slow?"

Uh, we're moving slow because I'm a little tired, is that going to be a problem?  So then my Sergeant came over to me and said we were going to have to pick the pace up a bit.

In all the things I learned in PLDC and especially about leadership, this was the greatest leasson I learned. 

I will explain tomorrow.