undercover broadcaster

Another day, another misappropriated government dollar. Day 6 ended with a whimper, and a small surprise. We’ve been trying to set the tone for the past almost-week, by showing no emotion, no smiles, and no mirth for these knuckleheads. I did that the last time and earned the sobriquet “Candy Drill” from my peers. No biggie – just a rookie mistake. So in the process of learning from that mistake, I decided to play it serious until it felt right to let my guard down.

I have not quite felt that yet, but apparently my battle buddies feel it already.

I came in from a marathon training meeting to find two of them teaching an Army Values class in the bay, all the Joes on their heinies around Ol’ Drill, seated in big black chairs – with Joe looking like an acolyte awaiting the wisdom of the cult leaders. An apropos comparison, if you think about it.

Anyway, I rolled my chair out and things got jokey talking about Army Values, especially after MOS’s entered the field. See, I made a point not to talk about my real job, as my three drills are all combat arms guys – 2 infantrymen and a cavalry scout. It kind of makes me pale in comparison in the eyes of a brand new troop coming in. Hmmmmm, who to listen to? The guy who shot people in the face in Iraq or the guy who shot TV stories in Iraq?

“Too easy, Drill Sergeant, too easy,” as they say.

Well, without giving away the farm, they now know I’m not a grunt – although I have the same little badges the grunts do – but when they kept asking me, I left them hanging.

Anyway, to tie this all together, I feel like I let a little control slip tonight by getting a little looser with them. Once you let it go, it’s gone forever.

So I guess I’ll have to smoke the balls off them tomorrow.

Too easy, Drill Sergeant, too easy.