The Army Mentality

Of all the things I've had to conform or get used to here the hardest has been the mentality of the Army. Mostly the enlisted Army that is. I'm curious about their boot-camp training. Do they train them to be intimidating towards others and each other? And of course they try to use that intimidation on me but I just look at them like their crazy. Example.

I had to give a PAO brief at the monthly commanders meeting (monthly is weird for me too). I was briefing on the events of the upcoming month and my moving to Kandahar after Christmas.

Unbeknownst to me, my Major was planning an under the table deal where he was sending me to Kandahar early so I could get settled in before the replacement command got in. That is not what the plan was in the Colonels mind because he wanted me to stay until everyone flew out in January. Like I said, I did not have this tidbit of information at my disposal so.....upon announcing my departure date the Command Sergeant Major (CSM) said, "Who told you you were going to Kandahar after Christmas?"

Before I could answer I hear a dominating voice behind me ask, "When did I tell you you were leaving? Remember, I came into your office and told you when you were leaving!" This came from another Sergeant Major (SM) who I had by now forgotten his less than a minute walk into my office, where he just flat out said that an order came out from higher headquarters and they were taking most of the IA billets and mine was one of them so I'd be moving right after the change of command. I don't remember much more than that. Very disappointing news for me because you know how much I love Kandahar.

After he leaves my Major comes in and tells me that he'll get me down there after Christmas so I can get settled in because he fears the relieving brigade will leave me high and dry. He did not inform me that this was against what was wanted by the big boss.

Back to my embarrassing moment.....
So I'm standing there in a room full of senior officers and senior enlisted staring at this intimidating angry Sergeant Major who's skin tone was turning from dark brown to bright red, if that's possible and I just smile at him and turn back to the Colonel and CSM when addressed by them and reply that I prefer Bagram to Kandahar and I'd rather stay here anyway so I look forward to working with the brigade until they leave.

My response lifted the mood in the room and the Colonel seemed satisfied with my answer and laughed to himself but I could feel the SM's eyes burning holes in the back of my neck. I had made him look bad so I couldn't exactly blame him.

It wasn't ALL my fault so I warned my Major that the beans were spilled about his plans for me leaving early because he hadn't made it clear that it was a drug deal and the angry red faced SM would be coming down here to yell at me about it.

He actually seemed scared at the thought of having to talk to the SM and I pointed at his gold oak leaf on his chest and said he can handle him but he didn't seem convinced. The big mean SM never came to see me but I think the back of my neck is scarred from his laser vision.

I really work hard at being dedicated, professional and highly skilled at my job and then I go and do something like this. Every once in a while I screw up but at least I can recover from this because next week I plan to impress everyone with the level of training I provide to the Afghan PAO and the soldiers. We have a good interpreter who is going to translate my brief into Dari, the local language. I'm kinda excited about the whole thing.

As far as other examples of intimidation there's the attitude from soldiers either junior, equal, or higher ranking who talk in a tone that is unfriendly and aggressive and they expect what? For me to shiver with fear or drop and give them 20 (I might do that one day just to get a reaction). Seriously, honey gets more bees than piss and vinegar. Makes me glad I didn't join the Army. I'm too nice for them and not every encounter is a pissing contest for me.

Don't get me wrong, maybe this attitude is what makes them successful warriors in the fight to keep America free and the terrorist threats at bay but I don't believe it needs to be a way of life for them. Oh well, I'm sure you're getting a good laugh at the Navy chick trying to operate in an Army world. Glad to oblige.