Clint Morey - Big Sky Writer
Don't Play With Things That Go Boom
BOOM Episode 7 "Today you are a soldier ... sort of"
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BOOM Episode 7 "Today you are a soldier ... sort of"

Don't Play With Things That Go Boom

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Episode 07 - Today You Are a Soldier … sort of.

The time had finally come. 

We had completed all of our training sessions and passed all the required tests.

Finally we were going to move on from our designation as “recruits” and become “soldiers” — real soldiers.

There were just a couple of things that had to happen first.

GIVE IT BACK

Before we could leave what had been our home for two months at Fort Polk we had to turn in the things that the Army had given us for Basic Training. 

The most important of those things was the rifle.

And it was important that before you handed the rifle in, you had to make it spotless.

The men we handed the cleaned rifles would check our work.

They seemed to have much better vision than us recruits.

I was sure my rifle was spotless when I handed it in.

The guy who accepted it from me looked at the rifle, looked down the barrel, then shook his head and handed it back to me.

I could not see one speck of dirt on my M16 or in the barrel but I cleaned it again.

And I handed it in again.

He looked at it, shook his head and handed it back.

So I cleaned it again.

This went on several times and I was not alone.

I don’t know if these “inspectors” were on a power trip or if all of us recruits were just terrible rifle cleaners.

Finally they began accepting the rifles and we were able to move on to the next step.

SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE

The Drill Sergeant handed each of us some paperwork.

The document included a list of all the things the Army expected us to have done in Basic Training. I think they were just covering themselves so that if we got killed in battle they could say it wasn’t their fault because we had received training on what to do.

All we had to do was sign on the dotted line.

A simple task.

As I read through the list, however, I realized there were a couple of things on that list that I had not done.

For example, the list said I was to have completed the “live fire” training exercise. That’s where you crawled on the ground while they fired real bullets over your head.

Al least I think that’s what the live fire training was. I don’t really know because I wasn’t with my company on the day they did that training exercise. I was on KP — Kitchen Police.

Every day some of the soldiers were pulled out to serve on KP. And when you served on KP you didn’t do the training exercises for that day.

How could I sign a document stating that I had done live fire training when I hadn’t done the live fire training?

I knew everyone in the company must have had the same struggle I was having. At least I thought they should be having that struggle. But as I looked around, it didn’t seem like anyone else was bothered by the situation.

They just signed the document and handed it in.

How could I do that?

It wasn’t true.

Finally I steeled up my nerve and went to the Drill Sergeant. I explained the situation and told him I couldn’t sign the document because it wasn’t true.

I expected him to yell and scream at me.

Drill sergeants did have that reputation.

Instead, he smiled and said, “No problem. Don’t sign it and you’ll just have to repeat Basic Training.” 

Then he walked away.

Repeat Basic Training?

Two months? 

Do it over again? 

Was he serious?

I thought about it for a few minutes.

Repeat Basic Training?

I signed the document and turned it in.

It was now official. I was out of Basic.

… and I was a documented liar.

THE PARTY 

There was one little item that was not part of the regular Army training program.

Some of the guys in our company decided we should have a big celebration of our completing Basic. So they took donations from everyone to buy several cases of beer.

Since I wasn’t a beer drinker I persuaded them to get a couple of cases of sodas before I gave my contribution to the party.

They hid the cases in various places in the barracks.

It would be a surprise to our Drill Sergeants but we felt a party for us was well deserved, especially since we learned we wouldn’t be having the “normal” graduation ceremony.

In fact we weren’t going to have any graduation “ceremony” at all.

I don’t know if it was because most of us were from California and they didn’t expect many relatives would make the trip to Fort Polk, Louisiana, or if they had a different reason.

Whatever the reason, we would just have a company formation and be given our next assignment — the school where we would get our Advanced Individual Training (AIT) and get our Military Occupational Specialty (MOS).

In fact it was kind of exciting thinking about where you might be assigned. We had taken all kinds of written tests during Basic and those supposedly helped them to decide what each of us were most skilled at doing.

Would it be infantry? That’s where most of us thought we would be assigned.

Would it be military police? That sounded fun.

Would it be helicopter pilot training? That would be great but with my eyesight I knew it wasn’t a possibility.

Would it be language school? My brother had been in the Air Force and was assigned to the Defense Language Institute to learn Chinese. That sounded fascinating. Of course my brother was smarter than I was and probably did just a little better on the tests they gave.

I had one friend who didn’t have to wonder where he would be sent. He knew from the first day where he was going — West Point.

Not as a cadet but as a trumpet player in the West Point band. He did an audition for them before going into the Army and they liked what they heard so they offered him the position.

Why didn’t I learn an instrument? Being at West Point might be fun.

But I couldn’t play any musical instruments.

All I could play was a record player. 

A record player. 

That was one of those things where … oh, never mind. If you aren’t my age you wouldn’t understand.

GRADUATION

Finally the day arrived.

We were arranged in company formation and waited to hear the news.

No banners.

No band.

No … well, let’s just say it wasn’t an impressive setting.

The Master Sergeant stepped forward and said he had heard some distressing news.

Oh. Oh.

What could that be?

The Master Sergeant said he heard some recruits had decided to hide contraband in the Army’s barracks.

How did they find out about that?

He ordered a group of men to go bring the contraband out and stack it in front of the company. 

It took awhile but eventually several cases of beer where stacked so all of us could see them. Whoever did the buying had planned on a very big party.

I didn’t see any cases of soda so I don’t know if they weren’t considered contraband or if the guys who took my money couldn’t see wasting it on Coke.

Then the Master Sergeant ordered that each can be opened and poured out on the ground. It took awhile but eventually the job was done. You could see the disappointment in many of the faces of our group as they watched our “party” absorbed by the ground.

Now my Dad was an alcoholic so I was used to the smell of alcohol but I have to admit I had never smelled anything quite as strong as the company ground that day.

I wonder how long the smell lasted.

I wonder if anyone got just a little buzz walking through our company grounds.

THE REAL GRADUATION

But now it was time for the real graduation.

Individual names were called out and they came forward to receive their orders for the next stage in the Army career. 

Some were happy.

Some seemed resigned.

One by one they received their orders and headed to the barracks to pack their stuff.

More names were called.

More orders were handed out.

And then the Master Sergeant stopped announcing names.

There was just one little thing.

My name hadn’t been called.

I walked up to the Master Sergeant and pointed out I hadn’t received my orders. Perhaps he missed my name when he was reading the list.

He looked at me and said, “You didn’t pass the security check.”

Security check? 

What security check? 

I never heard of a security check.

And if there really was a security check, how could I not pass it?

Did they interview people from my high school years who didn’t like me and said something bad about me? 

Did they ask a neighbor about something I said a decade ago?

How could I not pass a security check?

I’m me.

I’m the most secure person I know.

I’m a patriot.

I’m honest — except for signing that paper saying I had received all the required training. I volunteered my draft.

I wanted to be in the Army.

What do I tell my friends? The country considers me a security risk?

The sergeant explained, “If you don’t pass the security check, we’re not allowed to send you to any other post.”

Did that mean I was going to spend two years at Fort Polk, Louisiana? How could this be happening to me?

“What do I do now?” I asked.

“You’ll be assigned to temporary duty until the Army figures out what to do with you,” the sergeant explained.

He said I was going to live in a special barracks while I was on TDY — the Army even had a name for temporary duty — TDY.

So, while everyone else headed to the airport or got on busses to head to their Advanced Individual Training (AIT) assignment, I gathered my gear and headed to another barracks on the post.

A security risk?

I couldn’t believe it.

This was definitely not how I expected my graduation day from Basic Training to play out.

There were a couple of lessons I learned during this stage of my Army life.

LESSON 1 - Expect to be blindsided in life.

If you’re like me you like to plan. You like to know your options and arrange your future. It makes you feel like you’re in control. But life often brings events that you didn’t plan on or even consider.

God’s Word says “… for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

All things?

Even being a security risk?

Yep.

God is in control.

So don’t be surprised when you get “blindsided.” Look forward to what God has in store for you.

LESSON 2 - Tell the Truth

I signed that document to get out of Basic Training over half a century ago.

It still bothers me.

If you knew your way around the government’s record system, you could find that paper (or, more likely, a digital version of it) with my signature on it saying I had done the live fire drill.

It was a lie. 

Jesus said, “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” (Matthew 5:37)

Thanks for listening to this episode. 

If you enjoyed it, please share it with others.

In the next episode I’ll share with you how the Army chose to deal with a security risk, and I’ll share with you probably one of the more important lessons I learned in the Army.

In fact, it’s probably one of the more important lessons I learned in my life.

Now before I go, I'd like to share a blessing with you from the Old Testament.

“May the Lord bless and protect you; may the Lord’s face radiate with joy because of you; may he be gracious to you, show you his favor, and give you his peace.”

Numbers 6:24-26 (The Living Bible)

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Clint Morey - Big Sky Writer
Don't Play With Things That Go Boom
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