When the Smoke Clears

“Specialist!”

“Yessir!” I turned around. It was the colonel. I had stopped by to drop off a computer for one of my first sergeant buddies. I think his wife had spilled coffee on it so I was doing my best to recover and clean the keyboard.

“Where the hell you think you’re going?” The colonel said as his new Sergeant-Major poked his enormous head out of the office behind him.

“Dropping off equipment and then saying bye to everyone, sir,” I smiled at him.

“Have you had a chance to meet Sergeant-Major?”

“Yessir, I met up with him a couple of weeks ago.”

The Sergeant-Major chimed in, “He got all my email stuff straightened out then arranged for one of his folks to do some one-on-one training with me in a few weeks.”

“Good. Good,” the colonel responded. “What the hell are we gonna do without you around here?”

“Well I’ll be back in a couple of months and…”

“… yeah yeah, and we’ll manage. You just make everything work right so we don’t waste time on some of the stupid stuff.”

“Thanks for that, sir.”

“And you sure as hell had better have had in mind to see me before you left, there, Specialist.” I smiled, reached out to shake his hand. He gripped hard and pulled me into a hug with the obligatory 2 slaps on the back. I’m heading off and my colonel hugs me goodbye. Crazy. “I’m proud. I’m amazed. The hardest part about this for you is that it’s going to be humbling, and you’re used to being in charge.”

“Sir, I’m looking forward to not having to make big decisions and be in charge of things for a while.”

“True. Well they are going to yell at you for things you didn’t do wrong as if it’s your fault. Just keep your cool.”

“Yessir. Sounds kind of like my job in IT as it is.”

The colonel laughed, then behind him boomed the Sergeant Major’s guffaw. The new Sergeant Major is one of the more intimidating ones I have ever met, and that’s saying something. He’s been the non-commissioned officer in charge of a Ranger Battalion and Command Sergeant Major for many years, standing wider than most people stand tall. I knew I liked him the first time we talked.

“You got my number here, RSM, right?” the Sergeant Major asked.

“Yes I do.”

“And my address…”

“Yes, sergeant.”

“Good. You let me know if you need ANYTHING at all. I mean that. Anything. Any problems that come up.”

The colonel added in, “Yep, I expect to hear about it, too.”

I offered, “I really appreciate that. I do. I’m going to do my best to fly under the radar as much as possible. Something tells me calling in favors from my friends might make me stand out. Besides, there’s still a lot for me to learn.”

“Well, if anything happens there will be a colonel flying himself up there with the meanest Sergeant Major in the Army and we’ll get right up in their $#!t.”

“Yeah,” the Sergeant Major growled. “I’ll let ‘em know I’m coming hungry, and I got a taste for ass, ready to chew.”

I looked at him unable to completely hold back my smile successfully, eyes watering.

“You… like… eating… ass… Sergeant Major… sir… person…? You want to get a tossed salad for lunch?”

“Yeah, maybe I should have phrased that differently.”

The colonel saved me, “Well you be safe there, Specialist, and write to us to let us know you made it and all, and when you’re finishing up and getting back here. Hell I wouldn’t mind running you up there myself.”

I laughed. “Oh that’s the LAST thing I need, sir. I’d be sure to stand out if I arrived for Basic in my own bird-colonel-flown chopper.”

“Well I’ll miss ya, buddy. I still owe you a couple more lunches or dinners anyway when you get back.”

“Yes, sir, you do,” I grinned.

A couple more handshakes and one more hug and I had completed my goodbyes for that building.

I am looking forward to this.

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