Back Up

Let's back up.

Though I was an E5 and had been in the Army for a few years, I never signed into a unit on my own before.  I had either been in training in environments or went to Germany as a Private E-nothing and got shuffled around like cattle.  I was really nervous because Sergeants were supposed to know this stuff --I made rank pretty quickly and I didn't necessarily have the experience to back it up.

A class-A uniform was required was signing into a new unit so when I was just outside of Ft. Riley I stopped at a gas station and changed into my uniform.

Well, let's back up to Germany.

While stationed in Ansbach we had a Warrant Officer in  JAG.  I don't remember his name but that's okay because I normally don't use names but we called him Chief --because he was a Chief Warrant Officer.  I liked Chief.  He was a quiet man, an older gentleman.  He kept to himself a lot but when he had something to say it was usually pretty important.  He was like a grandfather figure to me though I suspect he was much younger than I thought him to be.  He just had that old sage soul about him --like a Yoda of sorts.

More importantly than me liking Chief, he liked me.  He thought I was smart and Chief liked smart people.   I first gained his respect when I went to the Legal Assistance course in Germany (when I illegally drove on the autobahn) and got a 97% on my Record of Trial.  The ROT is the final of the course.  You watched a mock trial on video (actually, it probably was a real trial that had been taped) and you have to do absolutely everything for that trial; court orders, court reporting, transcribing, compiling evidence, etc.  I say "etc" because 20 some years later, I'm not exactly sure all we did.  They allowed you a full two days for the test.  The first day you watch the video and the second day you have to put it all together.  Wait, I think it was two days; Thursday and Friday but if you did not finish you went back on Saturday.  Once you are done the ROT is huge -- I'd say it was about 7-9 inches of stacked papers.

Anyway, I heard the ROT was tough and it was unheard of to get a 97% but that's what I got and it really impressed Chief and ever since then he liked me.  It was good to be liked by higher ranking people in the Army.

I think one of the reasons I did so well on the ROT is because I could type fast.  You have to remember it was pre computer days so unless you specifically wanted to go into secretarial work, you didn't need to type.  Guys especially did not type so the ones in my class struggled just to get everything typed out.  They lost a lot of points simply for not finishing the work because they typed too slow.  In fact, in order to pass the course we had to take a typing test and the minimum typing speed was 35 wpm.

And all of that has absolutely nothing to do with anything.  I just got carried away in my own memories.

Chief left Germany before me and headed off to Ft. Riley so as soon as I came down on orders for Ft. Riley I contacted Chief to let him know I was coming.  He was glad I was coming.  I was glad to have at least one familiar face.

After changing into my class A uniform I did not go directly to sign into my unit but I found the JAG office and headed off to see Chief.  He gave me a big warm smile when he saw me which was significant to me for two reasons -- Chief was a serious man that hardly ever smiled so it was a rare treat for me.  Secondly, I was so nervous and out of place, I needed that reassuring smile.  After chatting for a few minutes and Chief introducing me around, he told me to go report in, get all in processed and he'd see to it I got assigned to the headquarters at JAG.  You see, I could have been stuck out in any unit and having worked at the Division level in Germany, that certainly would have seemed like a step down for me.  I did not want to be out in a Battalion or Brigade as the JAG clerk.  It was nice having Chief on my side.

I was absolutely shaking with fear when I went to sign into my unit.  I had no idea what to expect and I had never done this before so . . I just felt stupid.  Sergeants aren't supposed to be stupid.