Speedo66,
You should have been at my first meeting with my Senior NCOs as a brand new Battery XO of a 2LT.
Apparently concept of an O-1 with over six years of service was an alien concept and a shock.
Most fun was a week later when some still had not got the word and an E6 began ragging me about O1s being less valuable than and E6 and the proof was on the pay slip. He went so far as to bet me he made more......I was kind enough to ignore the bet as he had never heard of a maxed out for pay in grade O1.
Despite it being an artillery HQ battery (HHB DIVARTY) I had a few NCOs that caught on right away as I always wore my EIB (Expert Infantry Badge) My motor daddy was an E7 that had made the switch from Infantry at E6 and quietly caught on immediately and did not warn the others as he thought it would be a good joke. He guessed correctly that I got an age waiver because of the prior service and it turned out we knew some places and folks in common and we got along outstandingly.
Thank you so much for this !
About the closest I came to getting burned on unauthorized weaponry as an officer was during an alert that we thought might be real. We had to load up and be out the gate in 30 minutes from code word.....I lived 15km out so this was interesting. I really had to trust my junior NCOs that is the E5s and even the E4 in E5 slots that I called Acting Jacks as I had as an enlisted man. One who had the double job of driving a deuce and a half besides herding his little radio section from commo was complaining that we would be going to our first dispersal un armed. As he came to me from Bragg and a team he had a pretty good head on him and understood that if this was a for real go to war then Ivan might not wait for our supply trucks to drive 30 km BACK to the ammo dump and return. So it was that what the First shirt called "The El Tee's little box" came out of my jeep trailor and that ".50 can" got popped open and a 20 round mag with 18 rounds in it got placed in my little SF guy's field jacket pocket. Over the next few minutes other young troopers showed up and got the same or a 7 rough 1911A1 mag or a 25 round starter section as it where for an M-60 until my can was empty.
Well of course no Spetznaz troopers showed up to ambush our convoy. I got commo up with Division and Corps in half the allotted time and all was right with the world and then of course we got a stand down.
All was well and good until one of the Majors asked where on of his young leaders was going and said troopie replied "I need to give the XO back his ammo."
Interesting evening after that. Colonel put on a good show of dressing me down in front of the Major. After the Major left he told me to never bring that can out......of my trailer....until he told me to and then said I should let the Smadge know I had it as well.
DIfferent Major up on one of our go to war sights near the Czech boarder noticed the Pacmyer grips on my Series 70 and thought I was carrying one of those rubber training pistols. When I explained that it was a privately owned weapon and that the colonel authorized me to carry it. The Major insisted on seeing it. I had my driver load so I could hand the "battle Book" (Divarty copy of the divison battle plan which when out of the safe had be under armed guard) and drew and cleared. The Major was excited about my carrying locked and loaded and then more excited when he saw what ammo I was carrying, those Speer JHPs. There followed the whole Hauge and Geneva convention thing and then being escorted to the Colonel. There was another dressing down in front of a Major.
The major left happy to have been a PITA and the Colonel turned back to me and said "Did you tell him I said you could carry whatever the hell you want?"
"Sir, yes, sir"
"Then why did you argue with him instead of just telling him to come see me about it?" He then had to look at the ammo. I had to explain that most GI issue 1911A1s would not cycle the stuff worth a hoot. Eventually it turned out that anytime we were to go all warrior like that the Colonel , his driver and the Sarn't Major would each receive one round of "the good stuff" for carrying in the chamber of their own Cocked and Locked 1911A1s.
In both those cases I was just darn lucky to have a Mustang of a Colonel that made it to E5 before West point prep and West point. BTW my immediate boss the HHB Commander was also prior enlisted, E6, before going to Artillery OCS. I once heard an NCO comment to another that working for three Mustangs stacked one atop the other was a burden to much to bear.
-kBob
