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To: Night Hides Not

Nothing more ADORABLE than a ROTC ‘Butter Bar’ Lieutenant, fresh out of college and newly assigned to my unit. :)

As a Platoon Sergeant, I was in charge of showing them the ropes, how things worked, the Chain of Command, what their duties would be, what our mission currently was, who they were in charge of, etc. I always loved the ‘deer in the headlights’ stare they initially had, LOL!

Those assignments made for some life-long friendships, and a few great future assignment opportunities too, as we both moved up the ranks.


16 posted on 07/10/2020 10:34:01 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have 'hobbies.' I'm developing a robust post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

I heard our top brass is in favor of renaming bases over trumps objection. Wow.


18 posted on 07/10/2020 10:38:52 AM PDT by Mouton (The media is the enemy of the people.)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin
My bond with my first Platoon Sergeant began on my first day on the job. One of our squad leaders came in to complain about one of his troops, how he didn't follow orders, going so far to say he wanted to give him an Article 15. Seemed a bit harsh, considering there were no counseling statements to be found.

About an hour later, we had our meeting with all 4 squad leaders (Chaparral platoon). After receiving his orders from my platoon sergeant, he gave excuse after excuse as to why he couldn't accomplish those orders...same old stuff, one's at the medic's, another's on KP, etc.

After the meeting, I asked my PSG, "let me see if I get this straight...he wanted us to bust his soldier for not following orders, while telling you he can't follow your orders."

With a broad grin, he said, "LT, you and I are going to get along just fine."

I had 3 platoon sergeants during the 18 months I served as a Platoon Leader: two Chaparral, one towed Vulcan, we were a composite battery whose mission was airbase defense. We worked together well. I let them run the platoons until it was time for field training/alerts/evaluations. I had enough extra duties to keep me busy.

Didn't have too many discipline problems. The "final solution" was to let them know that one more foul up, we'll transfer you to our sister battalion that's attached to the Big Red One. They spent 8 months out of the year in the red mud at Grafenwohr, as opposed to getting your omelets made to order in the Hahn AB mess hall.

Being a Platoon Leader was probably the most fun I had in the Army.

31 posted on 07/10/2020 11:27:45 AM PDT by Night Hides Not (Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad! Remember Gonzales! Come and Take It!)
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