Say it! I failed map reading!

I emerged from the wooded area to turn in my second try at the test and standing in a group were my classmates –not all of them but most of them. They had all completed the test and noticed I had not made it back to the classroom so they figured I was struggling and came to support me.

I was so touched. This, my friend, is what soldiering is all about. Don’t be misguided by my previous stories about the soldiers that couldn’t behave themselves –those are the exceptions because for every honorable thing your mind conjures up at the sight of a soldier in uniform, those things hold true. Here before me were real men, real soldiers and they cared about me because I was part of their team –and their team couldn’t “win” if I couldn’t succeed. We were in this together. Camaraderie. Esprit de Corps. These are the foundations of the Army.

Unfortunately, I did fail my second try. I only had one more chance and then I’d be out –out of the course. When I left the grading table I turned around and there my classmates stood in a group with a look of, “So? What? Did you pass?” I was in tears when I shook my head no.

They all gathered around me and encouraged me. They kept telling me how easy it was and that I just needed to shake off my nerves. They gave me some tips like, “If you get to the road you went too far, there are no points out that far . . . If you see a fence turn around . . . . sometimes the number signs are on the back side of the tree so if you think you find a point circle all around the tree for the sign . . . remember to keep your map oriented –if you move, move your map with you . . . “ And back out into the woods I went.

But this time it was different. There were instructors everywhere. There were only a few of us left out on the course –maybe 2 or 3. I was thinking the instructors were out there because it was getting dark. It was kind of eerie every time I looked up or took a turn an instructor would just be standing there with his arms folded. Sometimes one would call out to me. I only had one point left to find. I didn’t want to give up. My instructor saw me and asked to see my map. He asked what point I was still looking for and he gave me some tips –not telling me where it was but tips on how to use my map and find it. It was strange because I’d see the same instructor in different places but yet, never saw any of them walking around.

I finally got to what I thought was my final point and standing there at that tree was every single instructor –all just standing there in a group. I was uncertain this was the right one because I had found that much earlier in the day, second guessed myself (probably out of nerves) and change my answer. So the instructors were all standing there talking out loud to one another, “Boy, it sure would be sad if Sergeant Dodge missed this point, would it? . . . . This looks like a good point, doesn’t it? . . . . Hey, isn’t this point here on the test? I hope those soldiers can find it. . . “

So I took my crayon (we were writing on laminated maps with a black waxy crayon), I wrote the point number down and went back to the grading table. I was the last one to come in.

I passed.

I went back to the barracks, everyone else had already eaten dinner and they were getting ready for nightly cleaning. I went into my room, tired and exhausted and grimy from being out in the woods all day long. I walked in and “ring leader”, my roommate that just put in to hate me from the very beginning and tried to rally our other roommates against me, she was packing her bags. I just stood there watching because I knew exactly what happened. She failed map reading and she was going back to her unit. Despite how she treated me, I felt sorry for her. I didn’t want to see anyone fail. To me it wasn’t about her or me –which she seemed to think. It was about us –us as soldiers and us as females. I wished she rallied up with me to that end but sadly, she did not and sadly, now she was going back to her unit.

She was angrily shoving things into her duffle bag and said to me, “Okay, say it! Go ahead!! Say it! I failed map reading! Big deal! Who cares! It’s not like I can’t come back and do it again! SAY IT! I know you want to!!! I don’t even care anyway. I was getting sick of this course and my boyfriend just wants to have me back so I’d rather be with him than with you guys anyway. So SAY IT!”

Our other roommates were standing there listening and watching –waiting to see what I’d say or do. I looked at “ring leader” and said, “I’m sorry you have to go. I can’t imagine wanting to see anyone fail this course. We’ve been through too much.”

She gave me a sort of you gotta me kidding me look, grabbed her stuff, stormed out of the room and said to me, “You’re such a bitch!” Then she looked at the other roommates and told them good luck that she hoped they passed –and she was gone.

And for the remainder of the course, my roommates and I got along quite well.