wish I was at liberty to say, Pat.”
As I walked out of Pat’s office, I had only two weeks before I reported for duty. I was excited to start working with these young troopers. I wondered what they would be like. How would they take to me?
Chapter 1
It was a warm sunny day at Fort Benning, Georgia. I was a day early, wanting to see them before I reported for duty. In civilian clothes, I walked into the barracks area of the soldiers. There were four large three-story barracks. I didn’t expect to find so many troopers up at seven o’clock on a Sunday. I walked around, checking them out. No one seemed to pay me any attention. As I meandered through the area, I watched the troopers play a soccer game. There was another group playing volleyball. There was a group of twenty tables, with some troopers reading books or playing cards or chess.
A cute brunette was playing chess at a table with a tall slim young man.
“Queen to rooks four, sweetheart,” I said.
“She doesn’t need any help. Get lost,” the young man said.
“Well, white bishop to rooks four will work for you.”
He jumped up, grabbing me by the shirt, the table and chess game flying all over; the girl moved back to watch. I grabbed his left thumb to free his hand from my shirt. I shoved him back, preparing for his charge. He launched himself at me. I sidestepped him, tripping him as he passed. He crashed through several tables and chairs.
He shook it off and said, “I will rip you in half.”
He slowly closed with me, looking to smash me. He threw a right cross at me. I caught his hand, turned and threw him over my shoulder. He landed with a hard thud. “Attention!” sounded, and everyone went to attention, including me. A second girl walked up to me, 5'10" tall. Blonde, looking at me with smoldering blue eyes.
She looked me in the eyes. “What are you doing in our area? This area is off limits to everyone. I should let Jason take you apart. Now I suggest you leave.”
I asked her, “Who’s in charge here?”
“Battalion Commander Katharine A. Wilson, commanding officer.”
“Aren’t you a little young to be a battalion commander?”
Katharine replied, “It isn’t a matter of age but a matter of leadership.”
“I’m Colonel Francis J. Preston, reporting for duty.”
“Sorry, sir, I didn’t know who you were.”
“I came early to see who my troopers are. Why the cadet rank?”
“I came from the Point. After school, I was sent here.”
“Didn’t you get orders to second lieutenant?”
She just stared at me. Katharine said, “Come with me please.”
Katharine wheeled, and I followed her into a three-story barracks building. She led me through a large ground floor room at one end of the building and then into a small office with one small desk with an office chair and a locked five-drawer safe. I handed her a copy of my orders.
I asked, “So what is your position here?”
“Until now, I was the commander. Now, I’m not sure.”
“Who is the XO for the regiment?”
Katharine said, “We don’t have one.”
I looked at Katie. “Well, you’re it until you give me a reason to replace you. I want to call a staff meeting in about an hour.”
“A staff meeting?”
I closed my eyes for a second. “OK, let me explain what I mean. A staff meeting has the commander, the XO, S1 officer who handles personnel, S2 officer who handles intelligence, S3 officer is the operations officer who maneuvers the unit in combat, S4 officer who handles logistics, all three battalion commanders.”
Katharine looked lost. “Oh, I’m not sure who they are.”
“Well, then we need to appoint some and get the unit organized. OK, who knows everyone as good as you?”
Katie smiled. “That would be Candice S. Johnson.”
“Then get her in here now.”
“Yes, sir, going now.” Katie returned with the short brunette from the chess game.
I told them, “Katharine is the regiment XO as a lieutenant colonel, you will be a captain as the regiment S1 officer. Now for an S2 officer, we need someone who has an inquisitive mind.”
Candice spoke up, “Paul Gonzales has made friends with several soldiers outside of our unit.”
“I thought you were to avoid contact with other soldiers.”
Katharine added, “We are, but Paul wanted to talk to other soldiers about the army.”
“How about an S3 officer? He needs to know strategy and tactics.”
Candice asked, “How about Davey Jones—I mean, David Jones?”
“Why the Davey Jones moniker?”
Katie spoke up, “He can’t be beat in hand-to-hand fighting. He organized and coached us for soccer games.”
“OK, he will do. And now the S4 officer.”
Candice was at a loss. Katie added, “Pam Sterling has been helping the mess hall with inventory every month.”
I looked at Candice. “Let’s get them in here to talk to them.”
Candice left to get the troopers.
“Now we need to get the companies organized for the First Battalion. For this, I want to split the soldiers into four groups tomorrow. They will be given assignments to do. I want to see who the leaders are.”
Monday morning, I had Katharine call physical training formation at 0545 hours in the morning. All the soldiers were arranged alphabetically by last name. I wanted everyone mixed up and off balance. We did forty-five minutes of stretching and exercises. After this, I put on a demonstration for the soldiers.
“I will demonstrate hand-to-hand combat. David will be my opponent.”
We faced off. David tried to explore my abilities. We traded a few jabs back and forth, the troopers cheering him on. Suddenly, David launched a roundhouse kick. I launched myself at him and knocked him down before the kick hit. We rolled on the ground, trying to grapple with each other. I rolled David onto his stomach with his arms pinned behind his back, sitting on him to hold him down. I looked at all the soldiers as they were silent. Letting David up, I sent everyone to the showers. I turned to David. “With some good training, you’ll be unbeatable.”
After breakfast, I called another formation. This one
