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
