Tuesday, April 15, 2025
TRUE STORY - U. S. ARMY SECOND LIEUTENANT (2LT) WITH A MAP AND A COMPASS
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The academy was located in the Georgia woods (and swamps) at a site called TAC-X which had been used for training during the Vietnam era. This was an isolated site about 20 miles from main garrison (i.e. civilization) and was surrounded by a dedicated training area... which other units could only use after prior coordination.
There was an access road, a mile or to long, among the thick pines from the main road to TAC-X.
One morning as I was driving in on the access road, I was surprised to see a jeep with two soldiers emerge from the woods... where no jeep was supposed to be.
The driver waved me down. He was a SP4 (Specialist 4th Class kind of like a corporal), and his red faced passenger was a 2LT.
I approached the jeep from the driver's side, saluting the LT. I had to move a bit in front of the vehicle as he was looking straight ahead and did not turn his head at my approach. The blazing red LT stiffly returned my salute without making eye contact.
The SP4 was very polite and apologetic, and asked, "Excuse me, Sergeant, but can you tell me where we are and how to get back to our unit?"
"Where are you supposed to be?"
He said, "I can show you on the map..." which happened to be in the LT's hand. Slowly, respectfully, he reached over and took the map from the LT's grip.
The bright red LT didn't make a move and continued to stare straight ahead.
The SP4 showed me where on the map they were SUPPOSED to be... several miles away, about half way between our training area and main garrison.
I gave him directions on how to get back to the main road and find the area they were supposed to be in.
He thanked me politely, handed the map back to the LT (who took it with as little movement as possible), gave me an almost despairing look, and drove off.
As they left, I gave the LT a proper salute... which he didn't see or return, since he was still facing forward, not having moved or said a word... and still bright red.
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Labels: army, compass, donovan baldwin, map, second lieutenant
Tuesday, March 04, 2025
ESSAY - MY LIFE WITH ADHD
BY DONOVAN BALDWIN
My life with adult (and childhood) ADD/ADHD.
I spent the first years of my life being told I was "lazy", or "not working to my potential"... and also my parents were told and they told me too. Most of the time I loved learning but was incredibly bored with how the material was presented... and I have no idea how many times I got in trouble for looking out of the window, especially when I had already grasped the meaning, context, or information.
Life in the U. S. Army (21 years), especially that time spent as a platoon sergeant was miserable, although I loved being in the army, but, if there was ever a person with an ongoing case of "imposter syndrome", it was me.
I was diagnosed with ADHD in my 60's, although I had long suspected that was the problem... one of them, at least. I first took medicine for it, Adderall, then, and was blown away. I never knew my mind was that capable.
I reveled in the feelings for a while. It was an unbelievable experience to hang onto a thought for longer than a few seconds (except when writing, as now). I was in awe of my newfound ability to actually look at a row of books and pick out individual titles and authors, and think about them as individual items and ideas, rather than a blur of unconnected inputs.
And, aside, part of being able to hang on to a thought while writing, is being able to go back, read what I have already said, and be able to "pick up" the train of thought. Also, the predictive nature of typing especially... my fingers and brain have already agreed on the next thoughts and words.
Anyway, after a while, I retired. The medicine was not good for my blood pressure, and, I wanted to let my creative brain play anyway... so I quit them.
I miss the meds sometimes.
Last night, for example, I read the same paragraph twice... simply because at the end of it, although I remembered the premise, I had forgotten the words. So, this morning, I went back and read it again... except... halfway through, I decided to write this... starting with some nebulous idea about having read the paragraph 2 1/2 times...
Wonder what it says...
Guess I'll go back and read it again. I really liked it... I think.
Wonder what I intended to say when I started this....
Guess I'll have to go back and read what I wrote to find out... if I said whatever it was I meant to say.
I was diagnosed with ADHD in my 60's, although I had long suspected that was the problem... one of them, at least. I first took medicine for it, Adderall, then, and was blown away. I never knew my mind was that capable.
I reveled in the feelings for a while. It was an unbelievable experience to hang onto a thought for longer than a few seconds (except when writing, as now). I was in awe of my newfound ability to actually look at a row of books and pick out individual titles and authors, and think about them as individual items and ideas, rather than a blur of unconnected inputs.
And, aside, part of being able to hang on to a thought while writing, is being able to go back, read what I have already said, and be able to "pick up" the train of thought. Also, the predictive nature of typing especially... my fingers and brain have already agreed on the next thoughts and words.
Anyway, after a while, I retired. The medicine was not good for my blood pressure, and, I wanted to let my creative brain play anyway... so I quit them.
I miss the meds sometimes.
Last night, for example, I read the same paragraph twice... simply because at the end of it, although I remembered the premise, I had forgotten the words. So, this morning, I went back and read it again... except... halfway through, I decided to write this... starting with some nebulous idea about having read the paragraph 2 1/2 times...
Wonder what it says...
Guess I'll go back and read it again. I really liked it... I think.
Wonder what I intended to say when I started this....
Guess I'll have to go back and read what I wrote to find out... if I said whatever it was I meant to say.
Anyway, I've forgotten what the paragraph was about.
Oh well. Welcome to my world.
Oh well. Welcome to my world.
Is this where I'm supposed to say, "Look! A squirrel!!!"
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SPONSORED BY REVITOL SKINCARE PRODUCTS
Labels: Adderall, ADHD, army, donovan baldwin, essay, forgetting, imposter syndrome, platoon sergeant, remembering
Wednesday, January 29, 2025
ESSAY - COFFEE HERE, COFFEE THERE, COFFEE EVERYWHERE
Coffee's a big deal to me, as you might have guessed if you read what I write... non-poetry, that is.
I'm not a connoisseur of coffee. (Confession, I had to look up how to spell that.)I've gratefully quaffed (a favorite word of mine) many a cup of "what the hell is that?"
In fact, in the army, we used to get packets of "sort of" instant coffee (see picture). I would hoard them, and, on freezing cold (or burning hot) mornings, when starting the day exhausted, and no other source of coffee, I would pour the packet into my metal canteen cup, add just enough water to make a sludge, or coffee slurry, then add enough water from my canteen, swirling it to stir it, to have some cold, brown caffeinated water to drink.
Desperate stuff...
As Staff Duty NCO, at 2 AM, I have passed wearily through army mess halls, grabbing a cup of whatever was still kind of warm, willing to drink it "as is", rather than wait for sleepy cooks to brew a new pot. (A drink which tastes suspiciously like what they charge big bucks for at Starbucks.)
On other, more civilized mornings, I've dragged myself out of bed at 3 AM for duties and obligations, done my morning exercises (which I have done somewhat religiously for the last 50 years), and rewarded myself with a better brew... instant, perked, now Keurig, but, whatever was available.
Visiting non coffee drinkers (or like my sister, decaf drinkers), I have run to the nearest store to buy my own bottle of coffee, and sometimes wine (another confession).
Coffee to me IS more than just a hot drink. It's memories of overcoming obstacles. Yes, a magic potion of beans and water, turning nightmares into fairy tales.
SPONSORED BY REVITOL SKINCARE PRODUCTS
Labels: army, coffee, donovan baldwin, essay, humor, writing
Monday, February 05, 2018
Even Leaders Have To Learn
By: Donovan Baldwin
Even leaders have to learn.
In the army, an officer is a leader. A lieutenant is an officer...a very junior one, the first officer rank in the army A "butter bar", a 2nd Lieutenant, who wears a single gold bar to designate his rank, is the lowest of the low, among officers.
Enlisted men, not officers, love to tell stories about green 2LT's.
When I was beginning basic combat training, Fort Jackson, South Carolina, in 1967, I was assigned, one night, to buff an office floor.
There was a brand new 2LT still in the office, supervising us. I had never used a buffer before, and, despite his attempts to show me how to use it, I never quite got the hang of it.
By the time, after several attempts to demonstrate the technique of buffing a floor, he gave up in frustration, there was only a little bit left to do anyway, and he went ahead and did it....while I watched.
If he stayed in the army, and survived, as this was the Vietnam War era, and 2LT's did not have a good life expectancy, he may have wound up a General.
I hope he learned something that night.
I know I did.
If it has to be done and you won't or can't do it, maybe somebody else will. Husbands do this all the time.
I wonder if he learned that if you cannot teach, or encourage, or lead others to do something that needs to get done, you may end up doing it yourself.
Don't know if either of those lessons is valuable, but they are facts, and one of use learned something that night.
In the army, an officer is a leader. A lieutenant is an officer...a very junior one, the first officer rank in the army A "butter bar", a 2nd Lieutenant, who wears a single gold bar to designate his rank, is the lowest of the low, among officers.
Enlisted men, not officers, love to tell stories about green 2LT's.
When I was beginning basic combat training, Fort Jackson, South Carolina, in 1967, I was assigned, one night, to buff an office floor.
There was a brand new 2LT still in the office, supervising us. I had never used a buffer before, and, despite his attempts to show me how to use it, I never quite got the hang of it.
By the time, after several attempts to demonstrate the technique of buffing a floor, he gave up in frustration, there was only a little bit left to do anyway, and he went ahead and did it....while I watched.
If he stayed in the army, and survived, as this was the Vietnam War era, and 2LT's did not have a good life expectancy, he may have wound up a General.
I hope he learned something that night.
I know I did.
If it has to be done and you won't or can't do it, maybe somebody else will. Husbands do this all the time.
I wonder if he learned that if you cannot teach, or encourage, or lead others to do something that needs to get done, you may end up doing it yourself.
Don't know if either of those lessons is valuable, but they are facts, and one of use learned something that night.
Labels: army, basic training, donovan baldwin, Fort Jackson, lieutenant, South Carolina
Friday, October 20, 2017
Time With A Historical Figure
By: Donovan Baldwin
At one of the U.S. Army units I was stationed with in Germany, the commander would occasionally use my services as translator when he wanted someone to talk to the German Luftwaffe (Air Force) personnel who ran the base where we were co-located.
The first time I was sent with a message, it was because the person who normally did this refused. She refused because the request was stupid and arrogant. She was a civilian and could get away with that. I was a soldier, and, despite agreeing with her, had to go.
The German Noncommissioned Officer I spoke to, was roughly the equivalent of an American Army Sergeant Major.
He was a nice guy, and, after we agreed that the request was stupid and arrogant, and he helped me come up with a reasonably diplomatic way of saying "get lost" to my commander, he gave me a little history lesson.
In his unit, he was known as "der Spiess", or "the pike", or some might say, "spear". As he explained it, the title dated back a few centuries when it would have been conferred on the lead, or head pike man.
Centuries old.
"Old", historical stuff seems really "cool" to us Americans, even though we think "new" is best.
Still, each day, he moved among his troops, and was addressed by a title hundreds of years old.
One man, connected to history, on a line centuries long.
Maybe not the pope, or the Queen of England, still, interesting...or cool.
Take your pick. Felt very historical to me.
The first time I was sent with a message, it was because the person who normally did this refused. She refused because the request was stupid and arrogant. She was a civilian and could get away with that. I was a soldier, and, despite agreeing with her, had to go.
The German Noncommissioned Officer I spoke to, was roughly the equivalent of an American Army Sergeant Major.
He was a nice guy, and, after we agreed that the request was stupid and arrogant, and he helped me come up with a reasonably diplomatic way of saying "get lost" to my commander, he gave me a little history lesson.
In his unit, he was known as "der Spiess", or "the pike", or some might say, "spear". As he explained it, the title dated back a few centuries when it would have been conferred on the lead, or head pike man.
Centuries old.
"Old", historical stuff seems really "cool" to us Americans, even though we think "new" is best.
Still, each day, he moved among his troops, and was addressed by a title hundreds of years old.
One man, connected to history, on a line centuries long.
Maybe not the pope, or the Queen of England, still, interesting...or cool.
Take your pick. Felt very historical to me.
Labels: army, der Spiess, donovan baldwin, German army, historical figure, history
