Welcome one and all. AND LETS GET SQUARED AWAY!
TRANSFER
THE OLD SERGEANT SERIES
By Steve Newton (52)
The old sergeant was walking across the compound heading for his office when he noticed one of the men in the 3rd squad sitting up against the side of his building waiting for him. ?Sarge, you got a minute?? The soldier asked. ?Sure, why not. Come on in.? The sergeant took his seat and motioned the soldier to the other chair. ?What can I do for you son??
The soldier looked down at his feet and in a quiet voice, he said, ?Sarge I need a transfer.? The sergeant thought for a few seconds before he responded. ?Soldier, you know there?s a war going on and we need you. Why do you want a transfer? What, you don?t like us anymore??
?No sergeant, it?s not that. You see my wife is having a baby and she is very ill. She?s in the hospital at Ft. Leonard Wood and will be until the baby arrives. I don?t want out sergeant I just want to transfer to the base until she?s better.? ?Have you talked this over with your squad leader? The sergeant asked. ?Yes sergeant.? The sergeant sat for several minutes thinking of the best way to handle the situation.
Then he reached over and called the Platoon leader?s office and explained the situation. The sergeant began to sound angry and finally slammed the phone down. He then called the company CO where he apparently received the same answer. The soldier saw the sergeant was getting frustrated and said, ?That?s ok sarge. You tried and that means a lot to me.? With this he got up and slowly walked out the door.
Inside the old sergeant was fuming. He had a man with a family emergency and no one seemed to care about anything but filling duty roosters. Any leader would know in his heart that the man was not going to be any good for anything while he had so much on his mind. He would also be a good candidate for a body bag.
There was a knock on the door and the sergeant growled a ?COME.?
One of the goon squad came in like he owned the place, which was why he was ON the goon squad. ?Sarge, we have some more prisoners coming in and I need a place to put them. Sure wish we had a qualified M.P. to take care of all this crap. Not to mention the paperwork.? ?Sarge??
The sergeant?s eyes had glazed over and he was lost in thought. He finally looked up and said, ?Let me get this straight. We don?t have a cop in our platoon do we?? No sarge and I really wish we did. Someone should be qualified to handle things like this.? ?Correct me if I?m wrong soldier but isn?t Ft. Leonard Wood the only place that trains M.P?s?? ?Uh, yeah I think so sarge.?
Two days later the soldier with a sick wife was TDY on his way to Ft. Leonard Wood for M.P. training. He should be there just long enough for his wife to have that baby.
?Sure feels good when a plan comes together,? the old sergeant thought as he took a bottle of Jack out of his desk drawer.
Steve Newton
Epilogue:
The old sergeant was walking across the compound when the platoon leader called him over. ?Yes sir Lt. What can I do for you?? The Lt smiled and said, ?Well sergeant it?s not what you can do for me this time, it?s what I can do for you pappy.? With this the Lt handed the sergeant a letter from Missouri.
?Pappy?? Wonder what that?s about the sergeant thought. Slightly dumfounded that he had received a letter in the first place he tore it open and out fell a letter with a picture attached. The soldier that had been sent to Ft. Leonard Wood Missouri for M.P. training had finished and was on his way back to the platoon. His wife had had their baby and all was well.
Well, good news the sergeant thought. He looked at the picture of the kid and thought kids all looked alike at that age. He turned the picture over and read the small print. He almost dropped the picture. They had made him the godfather and had given the kid his first name. He turned the picture over and looked at the kid again. ?Pappy,? he thought.
Well, you know he is sort of a handsome young man he thought to himself as he walked off to his office whistling.
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