Another One Down....

My second cycle is now on the books. It’s amazing how fast it seems to go after you’ve done the first one. Obviously the first three weeks just crawl. Once you pass the 18-hour day phase, as I like to call it, you’re so frickin’ busy that you hardly notice the days passing. In White Phase, or the second three-week period, you spend most of your time on one type of rifle range or another. For me, the time passed so quickly in part because I wasn’t staggering around clueless like I was last cycle. I felt a great deal more confident, not just in conducting the training events, but in making decisions that I agonized over last time.

The troops were a mixed basket this cycle. Of course I only have cycle frame of reference here, but it’s enough for this comparison. I recommended 4 Article 15 punishments this cycle, 2 more than last cycle. 3 of them actually went through, and amazingly, the guy that got the worst hit on punishment (E-3 to E-2, $300 gone for possession and use of a cell phone) took it like an man and actually stepped up for the last part of the cycle. He was kind of a dirtbag for the most part – but I think losing a stripe and a chunk of change for some dumb s**t really straightened out his priorities.

Sooooooo… we’re on cycle break now, and it appears as though I may be experiencing something I’ve only heard about before – the infamous “prolonged break.”

We were originally supposed to be picking up again on 6 April. The powers that be (the irony is thick there if you know what battalion I’m in) decided to move another company in front of us to take that class, and we would be bumped to the 13^th. Here’s the rub – that 6 April class is 99% a non-conduct – meaning there aren’t enough soldiers on hand to fill that class. So the other company would get pushed to the 13^th, which would shift us to the 25^th of MAY. Niiiiiiiiiice.

But wait, it gets better.

We have an “E” company in our battalion. They are generally there for reserve drill sergeants to come in during the summer and augment our battalion during the so-called “summer surge.” We seem to have decided at the upper levels to keep E Co. open full time, and take the number of cadre required to keep it open out of hide, so to speak. That’s not a problem right now, because we are so fat on drills at the moment. However, to keep it open legally, they have to be gainfully occupied for a certain number of cycles per fiscal year.

That being said, we may get bumped from that 25 May class by E Co. so they can stay certified or whatever, assuming the previously described chain of events occurs. That could mean that I won’t see another Joe until after the 4^th of July.

Woof.

Or, things could go completely opposite of what I said and we pick up on 13 April. This, in the grand scheme of things, wouldn’t be a bad thing. A long break is one thing – I mean I get to see my family at a reasonable hour every day, weekends off, free time out the wazoo – but there is a down side. Funeral details, menial work, painting, painting, and more painting – it gets old even with the bennies of time off. I hate to admit it –maybe because I’ve only got two cycles under my belt – but I would rather have a cycle in progress than sit on my butt. I think this DS thing is a perishable skill – you can “lose your edge” if you will without regular reinforcement of your skills. I really believe this – based on my observations of some of the other jokers in this battalion who’ve had prolonged periods of cycle break.

It’s going to be a different unit that picks up, though. We lost our most senior and experienced drill to a fit of temper – resulting in his relief and removal from the trail. Our company commander is on his way out in May and it appears as though the first sergeant’s retirement will take him out of the game pretty quick as well. So the whole face of our company could conceivably change by the next pick up. That’s not really a good thing, since it’s been due to the 1SG (in my opinion) that things run the way they do. The drills – no duh here – are the ones making everything happen, but I would submit that we put so much energy into what we do out of fear (not the best word to use but it’ll work) of the 1SG’s reactions.

So, without that invisible hammer hanging over the drill sergeant’s head, will he continue to perform at the same level, or will new leadership takes its toll on the well-oiled machine that is Delta Company? Stay tuned for more!