Staff Sergeant W's Turn

I had no like nor dislike for SSG W.  Much like his wife, he was a person I just didn't get.  I was polite and cordiale with him.  I mean, we did work together every day.  It wasn't like there was any tension between us.  He out ranked me and I respected his rank.  He was older than me, married and had two daughters.  At the time his daughters were in high school --or close to that age.  Outside of the office we had absolutely nothing in common.  To me he was just a person that I worked with.

I said I respected his rank, which I did to the utmost but as a person, I didn't have a lot of respect for him.  He was yet another male soldier that I encountered sexual harassment from but his was more covert --he'd make these comments under his breath and when I'd ask, "What did you say?"  He'd say, "Oh, it was nothing."  He gave me creepy looks and would use words like sexy, hot, nice, turn on --but in a creepy sexual harassment kind of way.  But he was slick and like I said, it was very covert and almost undetectable.  Even I'd be confused as to whether or not it was actually sexual harassment.  But it made me not respect him much as a person and I certainly did not trust him.  He was not an ugly man but to me personally, I saw nothing attractive about him.  He too had a gold tooth and you know, gold teeth just aren't my thing.  I find them unnatural, unnecessary and unattractive.  I mean, unless of course you're a pirate out at sea but other than that, they seem to clash with the natural beauty of God given pearly whites.

SSG W wasn't a very well educated man and I don't just mean he didn't have a college degree but even something in his basic education seemed lacking.  He was not a fast learner.  He did not read well and his grammar was very --poor (I'm trying my best to be nice here and not come off sounding like a snob).  Ordinarily, you probably could fit in well in the Army as such but in JAG you're constantly surrounded by lawyers and well --the law and its just a different environment than  --let's say --the motorpool.  What really drew the most attention to SSG W's lack of education and knowledge was the fact that he desperately tried to fit in often using big words but mispronouncing them or using them inappropriately.  For instance, he loved to use the word "rapport" a lot but would pronounce it, "rappert".  Once he did learn a big word he'd use it over and over and over again to the point you wanted to scream, "OKAY!  You learned a new word!  Good for you!  Now back off it a little bit, will ya?"  He'd especially try to pour it on when he was talking to an officer and I'd sit at my desk just feeling sorry for him and being embarrassed for him as he had no sense to be embarrassed for himself.  It's like the harder he tried to sound intelligent and educated the dumber he made him self out to be. 

But the good thing is, SSG W was not in my chain of command so other than affording him basic military respect, he wasn't in authority over me.  We worked in the same office but since he dealt with post trial and me with pre trial, we didn't even work together as much as just in the same space.  So I tried to be nice and friendly.  We got along well but I also knew to feed him with a long handled spoon, so to speak.  I was careful to never be alone with him and careful to keep our conversations professional.

SSG W didn't like me much, I could tell and honestly, I think it's because I didn't accept his advances.  I have no doubt in my mind if I was open to it, SSG would have entered into an extramarital relationship with me.   He would also at times refer to me as "Miss Big College Degree" and say it in the utmost snide fashion.  He only assumed I had a college degree, that was never something I told him.  One time he asked me, "Where did you go to college?"  I told him Illinois State University and he assumed the rest.  At those times he would call me Miss Big College Degree, I'd think to tell him I went  to college but never finished college but then I'd think to myself, "He doesn't deserve to know that."  But it did come up later and of course I will tell you about that --later.

I also lost some respect for SSG W after I learned that he had falsified government documents and ended up getting an Article 15.  When he first got to Germany and filled out the paperwork for family housing, he put down he was a higher rank than he really was because he was trying to get into Senior Enlisted housing as opposed to Lower Enlisted Housing.

So anyway, SSG W and I had issues and problems but I tried not to let them escalate and I did my best to respect his rank and postion.

But sometimes Sergeants just get besides themselves and they abuse their rank and/or position.