# Case Study:  Karma



## Marauder06 (Nov 29, 2011)

Case Study: Karma

This is the start of a new case study. For those of you unfamiliar with how this works, I start a story loosely based on personal experiences and develop it based on your responses. This is a complete work of fiction and none of the units, situations, or people mentioned are real. You should feel free to chime in with your suggestions, comments, observations and questions; that’s what really makes these fun for everyone. At the end of the case study, I’ll wrap it all up and talk briefly about how the case study compared to what happened (or didn’t happen) in real life. The purpose of these case studies is to provide an entertaining venue to discuss military leadership.

Edit (24JUL12): attached to this post is a summary of the now-completed case study in case you want to read it straight through instead of sorting through every post.

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The setting is still the fictional 2nd Special Forces Group, currently in stateside garrison after completing a rotation in Iraq. The events in this case study take place after* “The Good Wife”* and *“The Soul Plane Incident.”* For purposes of this case study, you are the commander of the MID (explained below).

The Group Support Company of 2nd Special Forces Group consists of a Headquarters Detachment (HQD), the Military Intelligence Detachment (MID), the Signal Detachment (SIGDET), the Support Operations Detachment (SUPDEP), and the Chemical Warfare Defense Detachment (CHEMDET). The HQD includes a robust admin section (15 personnel) and the major training elements, or “lockers,” the SCUBA Locker, the HALO Locker, the Sniper Locker, the Advanced Urban Combat Locker, and the Desert Mobility Locker. The Lockers are authorized 12 18-series personnel each, and while they are all extremely good at what they do, tend to consist of individuals who are injured or are awaiting retirement. The GSC headquarters element (the commander, first sergeant, armorer, XO, and company clerk) are also accounted for under the HQD. HQD consists of around 80 total personnel. 

The MID contains HUMINT, CI, and SIGINT collectors and analysts, a small terrain team (mapping engineers), IMINT and all-source analysts, and a section of 09L translators. Its strength is about 100 personnel. The SIGDET handles the Group-level communications equipment and is smaller, about 50 total people. The SUPDEP is huge, more than 250 men and women, and includes cooks, medics, transportation specialists, mechanics, riggers, and engineers. The CHEMDET consists of twelve personnel from the Chemical Corps branch, organized into chemical reconnaissance and chemical decontamination sections. All of the detachments are commanded by captains, and the overall GSC (which is large enough to be considered a battalion-size element in most other units) is commanded by major. Below is a rough organizational chart.



 The commander of 2nd Group’s GSC is MAJ Marcus Ripley. He has been in command about 18 months, and is probably going to rotate out soon. That is unfortunate, because he is a highly-competent commander and is well-liked by subordinates, peers, and superiors alike. The commander of the HQD was transferred out suddenly and the position is currently vacant. The commander of the MID (you) is CPT Scott Faith. You have been command for about the same amount of time as MAJ Ripley, and you too are probably going to be moved to a different position soon. SIGDET’s commander, CPT Tamara Beverly, is new and has only been in command for about 30 days. She seems to have her act together, though. The SUPDET commander is CPT Simon Criss, who has been in command slightly less time than you have. You and CPT Criss are very good friends, having been in the unit about the same amount of time and having worked closely together in Iraq. CPT Criss successfully assessed for a job with the 16th Special Aviation Element (the 16th SAVE- a special mission unit), and is planning on moving on to greener pastures in 90 days. Fortunately, SAVE is “across the airfield” on the same installation as 2nd Group, so you’ll still get to see each other from time to time. CPT Criss is also on the list for promotion to major.

 MAJ Ripley has been trying to fill the vacant HQD position for a while, but is having trouble getting someone to volunteer for the assignment. Part of the problem is the nature of the assignment. As a non-operational, 18-series-coded position, the commander of the HQ Det was usually put into that position for one of two reasons. He is either a) an SF all-star marking time in the HQD until a key position opened up for him or b) he’s a no-talent assclown that no one wants on a team, and got shuffled over into the GSC because no one could be bothered to do the paperwork to actually get the guy booted out of the unit altogether. Right now there are no “good” young SF captains who are not already gainfully employed elsewhere within the Group. That just leaves the “category b)” types. You’re dreading who you’re going to end up with.

 The HQD commander typically acts as the commander of the GSC when the commander is gone, which is frequent since there are GSC soldiers supporting both Iraq and Afghanistan. Technically, there is a an XO for the company, but it’s a warrant officer position and the Group commander insists on having a “real live officer” in charge at all times. Since there currently is no HQD commander, you're filling the role of XO. At this week’s company command and staff meeting, MAJ Ripley asks for suggestions on ways to avoid the potential leadership vacuum that would result from him, you, and the SUPDET commander potentially rotating out at the same time. There is also still the problem of the vacant HQD position. Any suggestions?


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## CDG (Nov 30, 2011)

Since CPT Criss is the only one of the three with solid orders, especially for an SMU, I would let him go and try and get myself and MAJ Ripley extended for say, 6 months, to find replacements and attempt to have a more gradual leadership transition. Does the Army have a process in place for filing for an extension of command?


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## Warchief (Nov 30, 2011)

Is Chief Rollins available to assist with the leadership vacuum? We all know the good Chief is wired tight and good to go.  I'm hoping the Chief is not up for rotation also.  The unit would really be in trouble then.


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## LimaOscarSierraTango (Nov 30, 2011)

I think CPT Beverly, Chief Rollins, and CPT Faith need to have a pow wow. 

If there is no one internal worth bringing up, why not try and recruit someone from another Group to fill in one position at a time?  It's a small world, I am sure someone has a squared away buddy in another Group they can convince to come over.  Fill in CPT Criss's slot first (90-days out... there would be some right seat/left seat time), then the HQD CO slot (gives a little more time to find someone that may be a little more high speed since they are acting GSC CO when the actual CO is out).  After that, Look to fill the GSC CO slot, then the MID CO slot.  6 months out is enough time where it isn't as much a priority as an empty slot and a short time slot.


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## LibraryLady (Nov 30, 2011)

CDG said:


> Since CPT Criss is the only one of the three with solid orders, especially for an SMU, I would let him go and try and get myself and MAJ Ripley extended for say, 6 months, to find replacements and attempt to have a more gradual leadership transition. Does the Army have a process in place for filing for an extension of command?


 
Second this comment, abrupt and extensive leadership changes can lead to turmoil that could affect missions.  Look to see if you know anyone in the Intel field that would be potential good material to slot in for yourself, whether they've served in SOF or not before.  Call your peers at the other Groups also to find someone.

Hook up with the, oh, what do ya call it, anyway, look and see if there isn't a convalescing type 18-series somewhere that can fill Major Riley's shoes.  

LL


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## pardus (Nov 30, 2011)

I edited your post for accuracy...



Marauder06 said:


> Case Study: Karma
> 
> This is the start of a new case study. For those of you unfamiliar with how this works, I start a story loosely based on personal experiences and develop it based on your responses. This is a complete work of fiction and I will reply and update it every 6 to 12 months or so. Expect this to last approx 3 years and be a source of constant irritation waiting for a response from me.


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## x SF med (Dec 1, 2011)

Some thoughts and questions:
How did the command rotation get into the situation it is in? 3-4 areas with concurrent/semi concurrent leadership changes for the same time period leaves a vacuum that could force an implosion in overall unit effectiveness. This could be considered an overall command failure in the Group Commander's Office, or higher.

MID and SUPDET are not required 18 Series command positions, but, some of the areas under these subordinate HQD areas are for example the "Lockers" and some OpsPlan/Ops Int areas.

The fact that the entire Group is on a post deployment stand down is a bit odd... but we'll let that go for now... 

Overall mission effectiveness will be impacted by the situation if command does not address staggering the changes in the support detatchments, rendering the unit red for command/control/coordination capability.

This is a soup sammich of epic proportions for the 2nd SFG(A).


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## TB1077 (Dec 1, 2011)

Hope I'm not intruding on a thread not meant for civilians, but I'd like to add a few cents...

As quite a few of you mentioned already, why is it that so many leadership changes are allowed to occur in such a short period of time?  Just seems as though there should be some form of procedure on regulating non-emergency changes of command.  As CDG offered the idea of extending individual's command by six months sounds good, but I would agree with xSFmed to take that a step further in this particular case and stagger MAJ Ripley and CPT Faith's departures to allow for some overlap of leadership to extend on to the incoming replacements. 

I also agree that looking outside of this Group for a replacement of the HQD Commander would be the best option as it sounds to be a position requires the "right guy" vs. the "whoever we can get" option.  Considering the fact that there are going to be quite a few brand new commanders, having someone from outside of their Group should not cause too much turbulence.  If the position has been vacant for a while, what is a little more time to find the best person for the job?

Lastly, it was brought up that CPT Criss is up for promotion to MAJ.  Would a promotion to replace MAJ Ripley be looked at as a positive move for CPT Criss in order to keep him with the Group?  That could also buy some time by keeping CPT Criss in his existing position until the HQD Commander is found so MAJ Ripley can rotate out with Criss as his replacement.  Then find SUDPET commander.  Lastly find CPT Faith's replacement prior to departure.


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## CDG (Dec 1, 2011)

TB1077 said:


> Lastly, it was brought up that CPT Criss is up for promotion to MAJ. Would a promotion to replace MAJ Ripley be looked at as a positive move for CPT Criss in order to keep him with the Group? That could also buy some time by keeping CPT Criss in his existing position until the HQD Commander is found so MAJ Ripley can rotate out with Criss as his replacement. Then find SUDPET commander. Lastly find CPT Faith's replacement prior to departure.



CPT Criss already has orders for an SMU across the airfield.  If I was him, I would be seeing red if I had passed an SMU Selection, gotten orders to that unit, and then had them yanked inside my 90-day window to take over a GSC just because somebody above my paygrade couldn't plan turnover better.  Pulling shit like that is a good way to lose officers like CPT Criss from the Army altogether.


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## Marauder06 (Dec 1, 2011)

TB1077 said:


> Hope I'm not intruding on a thread not meant for civilians, but I'd like to add a few cents...
> 
> As quite a few of you mentioned already, why is it that so many leadership changes are allowed to occur in such a short period of time? Just seems as though there should be some form of procedure on regulating non-emergency changes of command. As CDG offered the idea of extending individual's command by six months sounds good, but I would agree with xSFmed to take that a step further in this particular case and stagger MAJ Ripley and CPT Faith's departures to allow for some overlap of leadership to extend on to the incoming replacements.
> 
> ...


 

Your comments are welcome, some of the best input we get on these case studies is from our civilian membership.

Massive leadership turnover in units is unusual, but not unique.  Even worse than a high level of commanders rotating out at the same time is an exodus of good NCOs.  You may recall from a previous case study that the MID's first sergeant, MSG Reynolds, came out on the E9 list.  There may be some other personnel turbulence within the NCO corps as well.  So now the GSC could be looking at a "perfect storm" of key leader losses as it gets ready to go back to Iraq.  I'm sure nothing could slip through the cracks or go badly awry in a situation like that ;)


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## TB1077 (Dec 1, 2011)

CDG said:


> CPT Criss already has orders for an SMU across the airfield. If I was him, I would be seeing red if I had passed an SMU Selection, gotten orders to that unit, and then had them yanked inside my 90-day window to take over a GSC just because somebody above my paygrade couldn't plan turnover better. Pulling shit like that is a good way to lose officers like CPT Criss from the Army altogether.


I understand your point.  I asked the question as I was not sure what the heirarchy of the two positions was.  I would never offer that as an option unless the two positions were of similar value to the officer.


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## CDG (Dec 1, 2011)

TB1077 said:


> I understand your point. I asked the question as I was not sure what the heirarchy of the two positions was. I would never offer that as an option unless the two positions were of similar value to the officer.


 
The hierarchy doesn't really matter here.  Think of it like this, you work for a multi-national corporation and are a rising star in the executive ranks.  You recently beat out several other very qualified candidates for a prestigious overseas junior executive position in (insert city of your dreams).  At the last minute though, your boss tells you he has a better opportunity for you.  You're going to be a full executive, but the catch is that you will be running regional operations in Northern Canada.  Is it techincally a promotion? Sure.  But it sucks and you would much rather be the junior guy in the other place.


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## TB1077 (Dec 1, 2011)

Marauder06 said:


> Massive leadership turnover in units is unusual, but not unique. Even worse than a high level of commanders rotating out at the same time is an exodus of good NCOs. You may recall from a previous case study that the MID's first sergeant, MSG Reynolds, came out on the E9 list. There may be some other personnel turbulence within the NCO corps as well. So now the GSC could be looking at a "perfect storm" of key leader losses as it gets ready to go back to Iraq. I'm sure nothing could slip through the cracks or go badly awry in a situation like that ;)


 
When I brought up the idea about promoting CPT Criss, it was based mostly on the idea of keeping some cohesiveness for the NCOs, as well as anyone under the commanders, that are most likely going to take the brunt of this issue.  Obviously I did not understand the value of the SMU job.  Replacements will have to be found, so the commanding positions will be filled, I just wanted to propose an idea that might keep some leadership in place to lessen the burdon on the soldiers that are on the front line of the work (figuratively and literally in this case).  And yes, there might be an opportunity for something to go bad in this case...


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## TB1077 (Dec 1, 2011)

CDG said:


> The hierarchy doesn't really matter here. Think of it like this, you work for a multi-national corporation and are a rising star in the executive ranks. You recently beat out several other very qualified candidates for a prestigious overseas junior executive position in (insert city of your dreams). At the last minute though, your boss tells you he has a better opportunity for you. You're going to be a full executive, but the catch is that you will be running regional operations in Northern Canada. Is it techincally a promotion? Sure. But it sucks and you would much rather be the junior guy in the other place.


 
One thing I have learned in the business world is that very seldom do I know the heirarchy of wants/needs of anyone that has either worked with me or for me unless I ask them.  In the example you asked me, there could be a variety of reasons that I would accept either of the positions.  You and I might disagree on which is better, but if it is not offered, how do we know which is best for the individual?  I am going to make the assumption that in the military the same holds true.  The key to what I asked about would be if that promotion was offered or required.  If required without any discussion, that would suck and I see your point about how that could lose good officers (or soldiers period) from the military.


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## CDG (Dec 1, 2011)

TB1077 said:


> One thing I have learned in the business world is that very seldom do I know the heirarchy of wants/needs of anyone that has either worked with me or for me unless I ask them. In the example you asked me, there could be a variety of reasons that I would accept either of the positions. You and I might disagree on which is better, but if it is not offered, how do we know which is best for the individual? I am going to make the assumption that in the military the same holds true. The key to what I asked about would be if that promotion was offered or required. If required without any discussion, that would suck and I see your point about how that could lose good officers (or soldiers period) from the military.


 
I think it is safe to assume that for someone to endure the stress of a SMU Selection course they want to end up in that unit pretty badly.  What reasoning would you have for completing something like that and then turning it down?


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## TB1077 (Dec 1, 2011)

I leave that in your hands as you know what that process would be.  As I forewarned everyone, I have not been in the military (yet) so I don't understand a lot of the case study.  Just though I would add some outside opinions.  I was thinking to myself that the promotion to MAJ and being put in command of the GSC might be something that would be a positive for him in this case.  Now if this CPT has had a dream of being selected for this particular SMU then obviously my idea is crazy.  Then again, maybe his lifelong dream is a promotion that is one step beyond commanding the GSC and he undertands he will need to suck it up and miss out on the SMU selection in order to get one step closer.

I do see your points, I just like to be the devil's advocate sometimes.  I personally am not one that would take a promotion over something that I truly enjoy doing, so if it was me, I would probably turn down the promotion if offered.


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## Brill (Dec 1, 2011)

> The HQD includes a *robust* admin section


 
Not to sharpshoot Sir but you misspelled rotund.


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## Marauder06 (Dec 1, 2011)

lindy said:


> Not to sharpshoot Sir but you misspelled rotund.


 
Au contraire!  With the extremely thorough and rigorous process of selecting, assessing, and training enablers going to SF Groups, no unfit people make it into support jobs in an SF unit.  And if any somehow DO manage to slip through the cracks, the promptly get booted out, right?   Right?  ;)


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## Brill (Dec 1, 2011)

Marauder06 said:


> Au contraire! With the extremely thorough and rigorous process of selecting, assessing, and training enablers going to SF Groups, no unfit people make it into support jobs in an SF unit. And if any somehow DO manage to slip through the cracks, the promptly get booted out, right? Right? ;)


 
Exactly sir.  We'll get 2nd Group unfucked come hell or high water.  Those shitbags are just a delete key away!


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## x SF med (Dec 1, 2011)

Marauder06 said:


> Au contraire! With the extremely thorough and rigorous process of selecting, assessing, and training enablers going to SF Groups, no unfit people make it into support jobs in an SF unit. And if any somehow DO manage to slip through the cracks, the promptly get booted out, right? Right? ;)


 
Yes, sir, you are well rounded, and round IS a shape...  (you make comments like this too easy sometimes)


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## Marauder06 (Dec 1, 2011)

lindy said:


> Exactly sir. We'll get 2nd Group unfucked come hell or high water. Those shitbags are just a delete key away!


 
Lindy is on a roll tonight.


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## digrar (Dec 2, 2011)

Marauder06 said:


> Massive leadership turnover in units is unusual, but not unique. Even worse than a high level of commanders rotating out at the same time is an exodus of good NCOs.


 
It's par for the course down our way, although with a small Regiment, the people coming in are generally known entities. At any rate, regardless of who's running the show we have mass stability in our ORs and JNCOs and reasonable stability through our SNCO's, who are again, very well known to the other NCOs. The Battalions tend to keep their identity regardless of who is at the top of the food chain.

In a SF unit that is NCO heavy, how big an impact does an OC have? I imagine the NCO cadre is reasonably stable, are officers in SF units prone to re inventing the wheel, or are the units too stable to fuck with too much?


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## Marauder06 (Dec 4, 2011)

lindy said:


> Not to sharpshoot Sir but you misspelled rotund.





Marauder06 said:


> Au contraire! With the extremely thorough and rigorous process of selecting, assessing, and training enablers going to SF Groups, no unfit people make it into support jobs in an SF unit. And if any somehow DO manage to slip through the cracks, the promptly get booted out, right? Right? ;)





lindy said:


> Exactly sir. We'll get 2nd Group unfucked come hell or high water. Those shitbags are just a delete key away!





x SF med said:


> Yes, sir, you are well rounded, and round IS a shape... (you make comments like this too easy sometimes)


 
For everyone not in on the inside joke going on here between Lindy, xSF Med, and me: there no process for selecting, assessing, and training enablers going to SF Groups, so many unfit people manage to work there way into support jobs in SF units. And once they're in, it tends to be notoriously difficult to get them out again. If only it was as easy as pressing the "delete" key...


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## Marauder06 (Dec 4, 2011)

I was losing track of who was who so I did a little organizational chart to help me keep track . It includes the names of the current commanders and the breakdown of officer/warrant/enlisted in each unit. I color-coded it by branch- green for SF, oriental blue for MI, orange for signal, brown for multifunctional logistician, and cobalt blue for chemical corps. I edited it into the first post in this thread.

/////

At the staff meeting, several courses of action were discussed. MAJ Ripley states that he was asked by the Group commander to move into the Group S3 position at the end of the month, which probably means he is on the upcoming lieutenant colonel promotion list (which hasn’t yet been released). CPT Criss put forth the idea of sticking around in the unit to take over for MAJ Ripley as GSC commander, but it was shot down because Criss is not SF-qualified. CPT Criss looked relieved when that decision was made, since it meant he wouldn’t have to give up his shot at the 16th SAVE. That kind of leaves you as the leading candidate for taking over after MAJ Ripley, if there are no other options forthcoming. But at over 500 people, the Group Support Company is larger than any battalion you’re likely to command when you become a lieutenant colonel many years from now. The idea of being responsible for than many personnel and that much equipment, with such a varied and complicated mission, makes you feel a bit anxious.

MAJ Ripley wants the issue of command succession to be worked out immediately. After much animated but productive discussion, MAJ Ripley makes his decision. Both you and CPT Criss have been tasked to actively recruit your own backfills, with the guidance to try to “fill from inside the community” (i.e. someone who is already in a SOF unit) first. MAJ Ripley is beating the bushes for a backfill for his own position, and will continue to push for a backfill for the vacant HQD commander. MAJ Ripley gives a suspense date of next week’s command and staff meeting for at least a slate of three possible candidates for each position.

Towards the end of the command and staff meeting, the admin clerk announces that in the next couple of days, the Group will be receiving eight MI lieutenants. This is a bit of a surprise, because there are currently no positions anywhere in the Group for MI lieutenants. Each of the three SF battalions currently has two MI captains (a battalion S2 and a battalion MID commander). The Group S2 shop has an MI major as the S2 and two MI captains as the assistant S2s. There will be a meeting in the Group Chief of Staff’s office immediately following this command and staff meeting, so you can provide recommendations as to where these new lieutenants should be assigned. Annoyed about only finding out about this now, you cast a glance over to your detachment sergeant, MSG Reynolds. He raises his eyebrows and shrugs slightly in a “this is the first I’ve heard about it, boss” gesture. You chalk it up to the ineptitude of the Group S2 office that you’re only finding out now about the new arrivals and the meeting with the Chief of Staff. 

From both an administrative and command standpoint, the intel architecture within the Group is, in a word, crap. The Group S2 is responsible to the Group commander for everything intel-related within the Group, but he has no control over the assets to make the mission happen. The Group S2 shop consists of the three officers already mentioned, a couple of warrant officers, and a handful of enlisted men, most of whom perform administrative functions like inspecting arms rooms, dealing with security clearances, and handing out maps. The bulk of the Group’s intel assets belong to your MID. That is not really a problem in garrison; you do your thing and the Group S2 does his. But when you go forward to Iraq or Afghanistan, then everyone in the MID is farmed out directly in support of an SF battalion, or you’re rolled up under the Group S2. Predictably, this causes problems because the Group S2 shop and the MID personnel don’t work together in garrison and there are growing pains every time the Group deploys. In garrison, the Group S2 has absolutely no control over any of the intel assets in the Group. The battalion S2s report to their battalion XOs, and the battalion MID commanders report directly to the battalion commanders. As the MID commander you report to GSC commander. In garrison, the MID commander, battalion S2s, and battalion MID commanders can, and do, ignore the instructions from the Group S2 with impunity. The Group S2 has an awful lot of responsibility but very little authority; a recipe for disaster if ever there was one. A similar problem exists at the battalion level, for the same reasons listed above.


You also find it irksome that there is a separate MID at the battalion level. The detachment consists of ten total personnel and the commander does not have a property book, vehicles, weapons, communications gear, NBC equipment, or UCMJ authority, but the captain in charge gets “command credit,” which is a big deal in the officer community. Where you come from, they call a man in charge of 10 people a squad leader, not a commander. You feel that the MID “commander” should be an assistant S2, and that the battalion S2 should be in charge of everything intel-related at the battalion level. You also think that there should be a reorganization at the Group level, in which all of the “operational” MI assets (HUMINT, CI, SIGINT, etc.) should be with you in the MID, and all of the “administration and analysis” (terrain team, all-source analysis, etc.) should belong to the Group S2. That idea went nowhere, however, in part because no one wants to work for the Group S2.

Things can work OK under the current organization when the Group S2 and the Group MID commanders get along and are willing to cooperate, but when they hate each other, as is the case right now, everyone suffers. Actually, the “hate” only goes one way. The Group MID commander is technically slated to be a major’s position, but it has only ever been filled with a senior captain. MAJ Dudley, who has been in the Group for three years, believes you “stole” the MID commander position from him, and he has hated you for it ever since. You don’t “hate” MAJ Dudley but you do think he’s a complete idiot, and that he fully lives up to his nickname, “The Dud.”

Your stomach has been growling for the last twenty minutes, and you had been planning on getting lunch immediately after command and staff. You had to skip breakfast this morning and now because of the Group S2’s inability to make a plan, you’re going to have to skip lunch too. When your blood sugar is low, you tend to get very grumpy. Someone is going to be on the receiving end of a verbal throat chop for this. As command and staff ends and you stomp over to the Chief of Staff’s office with MSG Reynolds, you ponder three things-

 -How should you go about looking for a backfill for you as the MID commander?
-Where do you recommend that the new MI lieutenants be assigned?
-Does the Group Commander’s secretary still keep that bowlful of chocolate on her desk?


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## Chopstick (Dec 4, 2011)

You did an organizational chart yourself?  You didnt delegate this task?  Dont your kids have colored pens?


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## Marauder06 (Dec 4, 2011)

Well, I told someone to do it for me, that's the same as doing it myself right?  ;)


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## Chopstick (Dec 4, 2011)

NO LOL.


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## Brill (Dec 4, 2011)

> orange for signal


 
Should that color have been for us? ;)



> The Group S2 shop consists of the three officers already mentioned, a couple of warrant officers, and a handful of enlisted men, most of whom perform administrative functions like inspecting arms rooms, dealing with security clearances, and handing out maps.


 
Sir, you forgot the ACT (Advanced Collection Team) led by a 35P5 and manned by three senior 35P4 (hopefully all with their V identifiers) in the GSC.  I actually DO agree that the MID at the GSC level should NOT have any control of the BSC's MIDs while in garrison.  They would just get in the way and the MID commander is there for a reason and the BN MID is operationally a Company asset.  We need the admin & all-source guys with us vice up one echelon.

Onto the exercise:  The first thing that "I" would do is look into the mirror and say "Stop being a pussy, take command, and LEAD for Christ's sake."  Next "I" would pull "the Dud" aside and fix the relationship once and for all.  (Explain to the shithead that it's not about us...it's about them.) After the Dud and I yelled, cried, and hugged each other, I would inform the Det SGT, the SOT-A TM SGTs, as well as the SOT-B NCOIC they will be responsible for teaching the new 1LTs about MI: if they succeed it will be because of them and same if they fail.  They will be held accountable.  My senior CWO would have the MID so I know it is in good hands unil Branch can perminantly fill it.

On a side note, that line and block chart sure is confusing!


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## Marauder06 (Dec 4, 2011)

lindy said:


> Should that color have been for us? ;)
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
At the time this story takes place, there is no ACT, all of the SOT-A types are in the Group MID.  The ACT came later, about 2005, IIRC.

I'm not sure what you meant by this:  


> I actually DO agree that the MID at the GSC level should NOT have any control of the BSC's MIDs while in garrison. They would just get in the way and the MID commander is there for a reason and the BN MID is operationally a Company asset. We need the admin & all-source guys with us vice up one echelon.


 could you clarify?


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## Brill (Dec 4, 2011)

The Group MID should support the Group commander with his overall big picture of what his forces are up against on the battlefield whereas the BN MID should support the Companies that make up the BN: even down to the ODA level.  I would not want to work for a Group commander how was that focused so far down.  If the GSC is "all up in my MI bid'nes", nothing would get done.  I'm going to re-read the entire scenario to make sure I'm picking up what you're putting down.

 WHOA!  SOT-As at the Group level?!? :ehh:


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## Marauder06 (Dec 4, 2011)

lindy said:


> The Group MID should support the Group commander with his overall big picture of what his forces are up against on the battlefield whereas the BN MID should support the Companies that make up the BN: even down to the ODA level. I would not want to work for a Group commander how was that focused so far down. If the GSC is "all up in my MI bid'nes", nothing would get done. I'm going to re-read the entire scenario to make sure I'm picking up what you're putting down.


 
The way 2nd Group is organized, almost all of the operational MI assets are at Group level (this is actually what was reflected on the Group MTOE when I was in Group). All of the SOT-As, most of the HUMINT collectors and CI types, a good portion of the all-source analysts, and all of the 09Ls are in the Group MID.  I'm not suggesting to take operational assets away from the Battalions, at the time this scenario takes place, they're at the Group not Battalion level.



lindy said:


> WHOA! SOT-As at the Group level?!? :ehh:


  Yes; that's one of the things we tried to get changed, pushing the majority of the assets out of the Group MID and down to the battalions (see page 25 of *this article*).  In retrospect, I'm not so sure it was a good idea.


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## dknob (Dec 7, 2011)

what the heck is all this
SF seems like a confusing world


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## Marauder06 (Dec 11, 2011)

The commander’s secretary is not at her desk when you walk in, but her candy jar is. Starbursts, yuck. You just can’t catch a break today. Reynolds happily scoops up a handful of the colorful candies and the two of you proceed down the hallway towards the Chief of Staff’s office. You hear voices as you pass the door to the Group conference room, and since it’s open, you can hear that there is a briefing going on. Standing in the hallway, you and MSG Reynolds can see into the room and hear quite clearly. You observe a middle-aged captain that you don’t recognize standing in front of a screen, onto which a PowerPoint presentation is projected. At this distance you can’t make out the name on his uniform shirt, but you can see that he is sporting the “long tab” designating him as Special Forces. You notice that all of the Group leadership and several battalion commanders are in the room to receive the briefing. Even though you’ve come in towards the tail end, you can tell that the briefing is about Pakistan.


            “…despite the differences in the policies interests of the US and Pakistan, there are areas of mutual interest, and areas in where the two countries can work together.  The chart below represents a few of the national interests of both the US (blue circle) and Pakistan (green circle).  In some areas, such as trade and drug control, the US and Pakistan have overlapping mutual interests and cooperate relatively effectively; those areas are contained within the areas of mutual interest and are not very controversial,” the captain says, gesturing to the slide.  

“Who is that?  I don’t recognize him,” you whisper to MSG Reynolds.  “That’s Al James, did his Team time with A/1/2,” he whispers back.  “I haven’t seen him around,” you respond, “What’s his story?”  “He got wounded by an errant airstrike during the uprising at Qala-i-Jangi when we captured John Walker Lindh,” replies Reynolds, “They let him go work on a master’s degree while he was recovering, I think he went to Yale or something.  Dude speaks like four different languages, including Pashto and Dari.  He spent some time in Pakistan before the war, and was part of the first wave in when we kicked things off, was one of the “horse soldiers” and even escorted Karzai around.  Dude is a rock star inside of SF.”      

Since you can see the Chief of Staff sitting in the briefing audience, you figure you might as well stick around and listen to the briefing.  As you and Reynolds speak quietly in the hallway, James continues:  “For example, the US is Pakistan’s largest trading partner, and the greatest source of foreign investment for Pakistan.[1]  The US benefits from imports of cheap Pakistani-made textiles and chemicals[2], and through outsourcing some service-based industries. Additionally, in the area of illegal narcotic control, the interests of both the US and Pakistan could also match up nicely.  Afghanistan, controlled by a US-led coalition, is the largest producer of opium-based narcotics in the world and Pakistan is a major consumer.[3]  There is also some overlap when it comes to both Afghanistan and combating Islamic fundamentalist terrorists, although there are policies on the part of both nations that cause those issues to stretch outside of the area of mutual interest,” he continues. 

Captain James pauses for a drink of water before continuing on.  “Gentlemen, if I could refer you to the central graphic on this slide.  Although the US and Pakistan can cooperate well in many areas, there are other areas in which their interests diverge.  The further that the issues get from the central overlapping areas of national interest shown in the figure above, the more difficult those issues are for the two nations to resolve.  For instance, the US and Pakistan are far apart when it comes to issues such as India and China.  An additional sticking point is the US use of drone strikes inside Pakistan, and Pakistani support for organizations that the US considers terrorist groups, such as the Haqqani network.  Nuclear proliferation continues to be a thorny issue, with Pakistan insisting that nuclear weapons are necessary for its national defense,[1] and the US concerned about the potential of terrorists to obtain a Pakistani nuclear weapon[2] and the export of Pakistani technological capability to countries such as North Korea.[3]  The interrelated issues of terrorism and Afghanistan are areas in which the US and Pakistan ostensibly cooperate, but conflicting national interests keep the two nations from being true partners.”
 
            James pressed a button and another slide popped up.  “In the high-stake international relations game, the US and Pakistan both have trump cards to play.  Pakistan has enormous influence over the ability of the US to achieve its national interests inside Afghanistan, especially since Pakistan controls the preferred land route into Afghanistan.[4]  For its part, the US has enormous leverage with Pakistan because of the huge foreign aid the US provides.[5]  Both sides are able to use their trump cards coercively to extract concessions from or to express dissatisfaction with each other.  These trump cards are key to understanding the overall relationship between the two nations; without US foreign aid, Pakistan would have little incentive to cooperate with the US, and if the US didn’t need Pakistan’s assistance to prosecute the war in Afghanistan, the US would likely be using more of a “stick” instead of a “carrot” in its relationship with Pakistan.”

James presses a button one more time and the screen went blank.  He faces the audience and crosses his hands behind him.  “Ladies and gentlemen, before I conclude my briefing I want to make one personal observation.  I have lived with and among the peoples of Afghanistan and Pakistan for significant portions of my adult life.  I studied the region extensively during my years at West Point and during my master’s degree at Yale.  If I learned anything from all that, it is this:  Afghanistan is not worth one more American’s blood.  That region is a shithole, it has always been a shithole, and it always will be a shithole.  No amount of money or effort we could ever put into it, short of bulldozing the entire country and starting over from scratch, will ever make it any better than it is right now.  Any efforts we put into “democratization” will completely fail.”  He paused a moment to let that sink in before he continues.

 “Afghanistan is bordered by Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, China, and Pakistan.  Not one of those countries wants to see a US-friendly democracy in their back yards.  Pakistan in particular will fight us every step of the way.  Oh, they’ll be happy to take our money, materiel, and political support, but they will undermine us every step of the way.  Exactly the same thing that happened to the Soviets will happen to us.  Pakistan, our erstwhile “ally,” is in fact not an ally.  They are not our friends, they are not “on our side.”  They are on their own side, and the sooner we recognize that, the better.”

“We made a huge mistake in invading Iraq.  We should have invaded Pakistan instead.  They’re the ones who ALREADY have nuclear weapons.  They’re the ones who exported the WMD capability to rogue regimes, and THEY are the ones who already have established ties to Islamic militants who attacked the US.  They will continue to support those militants, and I guarantee that Osama bin Laden is sitting in an ISI safehouse right now, sipping chai with his ISI handlers and laughing about how stupid the Americans are.  In short, for all the reasons we say we invaded Iraq, we should have invaded Pakistan instead.  We generated some bad karma by going into Iraq, and it’s going to bite us in the ass in the end.”

“That man is officially my new hero,” whispers Reynolds, a veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan, as the briefing concludes and the meeting breaks up.  “Yeah, that was a good briefing.  I wonder what they’re going to have him do now that he’s back at Group?”

[1] Bast, Andrew, “Why Does Pakistan Have the World’s Fastest Growing Nuclear Program?” 17 May 2011, The Christian Science Monitor, http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia...ld-s-fastest-growing-nuclear-program/(page)/3 (accessed 15 November 2011).
[2] Borger, Julian, “Pakistan Nuclear Weapons At Risk of Theft by Terrorists, US Study Warns,” 12 April 2010, The Guardian, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/12/pakistan-nuclear-weapons-security-fears (accessed 3 December 2011).
[3] Squaasoni, Sharon, “Weapons of Mass Destruction:  Trade Between North Korea and Pakistan,” 11 March 2004, Congressional Research Service, http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/30781.pdf (accessed 3 December 2011).
[4] Graham-Harrison, Emma, “Factbox:  NATO Supply Routes Into Afghanistan,” 26 November 2011, Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/26/us-afghanistan-pakistan-isaf-idUSTRE7AP0GV20111126 (accessed 4 December 2011).
[5] US Department of State, “Background Note:  Pakistan,” 6 October 2010,  http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/ bgn/3453.htm (accessed 16 November 2011).

[1] Anonymous, “U.S., Pakistan Trade,” 16 May 2006, Voice of America editorial,  http://www.voanews.com/policy/editorials/a-41-2006-05-18-voa1-83106242.html (accessed 14 November 2011).
[2] Economy Watch, December 2010, http://www.economywatch.com/world_economy/pakistan/export-import.html (accessed 5 December 2011).
[3] Adams, Jefferson, “Who Uses Most of the World’s Heroin?” 28 June 2010, The San Francisco Examiner, 28 June 2010, http://www.examiner.com/health-news-in-san-francisco/who-uses-most-of-the-world-s-heroin (accessed 10 November 2011).


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## alibi (Dec 11, 2011)

Reading through the briefing, I have a semi-off topic question:  Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan are countries that never recieve a lot of popular attention.  Do there interests overlap at all with US interests?  I know that Uzbekistan was a staging area in the inital thrust into Afghanistan, but has that dynamic changed?


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## Marauder06 (Dec 12, 2011)

Personal opinion:  Pretty much the only reason we care about any of those countries is because of their proximity to Afghanistan.  I don't think we have much trade with any of them, politically we tend to be far apart and I think we only cooperate a little bit on the military side.  I think all three are currently having problems with their own radical Islamist insurgencies; the IMU is a particuarly resilient organization.


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## CDG (Dec 16, 2011)

So what's happening with Al James and the rest of the 2nd Group crew?  Inquiring minds need to know.....


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## Marauder06 (Dec 18, 2011)

CDG said:


> So what's happening with Al James and the rest of the 2nd Group crew? Inquiring minds need to know.....


 
lol

I've been surging on my term paper, and I noticed a couple of plot discrepancies I have to work out. Expect another iteration within the next 24-36 hours.


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## CDG (Dec 26, 2011)

Marauder06 said:


> Expect another iteration within the next 24-36 hours.


 
You know what I wish, sir? I wish you weren't a liar.


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## Marauder06 (Dec 26, 2011)

CDG said:


> You know what I wish, sir? I wish you weren't a liar.


lol


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## x SF med (Dec 26, 2011)

CDG said:


> You know what I wish, sir? I wish you weren't a liar.


 
It's not that Mara is a liar, it's that the Army made him release his NCOs for leave since their accruals were getting into the 270 day territory...  and Mara has to have NCOs do the work so he can take the credit.


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## Marauder06 (Dec 26, 2011)

x SF med said:


> It's not that Mara is a liar, it's that the Army made him release his NCOs for leave since their accruals were getting into the 270 day territory... and Mara has to have NCOs do the work so he can take the credit.


 
Too true!  Next year I'll just cancel Christmas, that way everyone can work hard on making me look good 365 days a year ;)


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## LibraryLady (Dec 30, 2011)

Marauder06 said:


> Too true! Next year I'll just cancel Christmas, that way everyone can work hard on making me look good 365 days a year ;)


 

That's big talk for a lowly student... ;)

LL


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## Marauder06 (Dec 30, 2011)

LibraryLady said:


> That's big talk for a lowly student... ;)
> 
> LL


 
Tell me about it   But then again, what is college for if not for delusions of grandeur?


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## x SF med (Dec 30, 2011)

Marauder06 said:


> Tell me about it  But then again, what is college for if not for delusions of grandeur?


 
In your case, reliving your youth only to get an outsider's perspective this time...


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## Marauder06 (Dec 30, 2011)

x SF med said:


> In your case, reliving your youth only to get an outsider's perspective this time...


 
No kidding! Thankfully there's an Army fellow (he's at our school in lieu of the War College) so there is one person older than me in the program.  I'm even older than a lot of the professors :-/


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## 104TN (Dec 30, 2011)

Marauder06 said:


> No kidding! Thankfully there's an Army fellow (he's at our school in lieu of the War College) so there is one person older than me in the program. I'm even older than a lot of the professors :-/


 
That's because you haven't made a career out of being an academic.


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## Marauder06 (Dec 30, 2011)

rick said:


> That's because you haven't made a career out of being an academic.


 
Not yet, I'm working on it ;)


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## Marauder06 (Dec 30, 2011)

Thanks everyone for your patience, here's the newest installment in this case study.

After the meeting you make your way down the hallway to the Chief of Staff’s office. You can see the Group S2’s contingent is already seated around the table. You let out an audible sigh, mentally gearing up for what is probably going to be a contentious meeting. Just before you go in, MSG Reynolds places a hand on your arm. “Hey sir, there’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about. I know you and the S2 don’t get along, but it would be great if we could try to work something out. Guys like you and me are OK but the younger guys get caught in the middle. And they see the way you talk to the major and NCOIC, and they think they can get away with it too.” You think about this for a second, then respond, “Fair enough. I’ll try to play nice with the S2 from now on, at least in public. But if I’m going to make nice-nice with The Dud, I want you to do something for me. PLEASE stop antagonizing the DCO about his missing finger.” The DCO lost a part of his right index finger during an operation in Afghanistan, and for some reason Reynolds just can’t help but antagonize him about it. Both the missing finger and Reynolds’ making light of it make you inexplicably uncomfortable. Reynolds’ serious face melts away into a smile. “No promises, sir,” he says, entering the room and sliding into a seat.

You notice to your annoyance that one of the assistant S2s has occupied “your” usual seat at the table. There are no assigned seats per se, but by custom and common sense, the primary staff officers, the commanders, and the DCO sit at the main table, and the secondaries and NCOICs sit in the chairs along the wall, since there is not enough room for everyone at the table. You’re about to tell him to get his ass out of your seat when you remember your promise to Reynolds to play nice, and realize how ridiculous you’d sound telling him to vacate “your” seat. You drag a chair up to the table and ask the assistant S2- very nicely- if he could move over and give you room. As you ease your chair up under the table, the assistant S2 looks uncomfortable with the lack of space. Good.

Everyone in the room rises when the DCO enters the room. He looks uncharacteristically happy, which makes you relax a bit; normally when you’re in the DCO’s office, it’s to be on the receiving end of an ass chewing. Hopefully today doesn’t end that way. The DCO notices MSG Reynolds sitting behind you. “MSG Reynolds, your hair looks a bit long for someone who just came out on the E9 list,” says the DCO. From the smile on his face, it’s clear he’s kidding and this is his way of congratulating MSG Reynolds on his pending promotion. MSG Reynolds is ready to give it right back. “Thanks for ‘pointing’ that out, sir,” he replies with his right index finger pointed towards the ceiling. You groan inwardly; you don’t know how Reynolds gets away with making fun of the DCO for his war wound, you’re quite confident any officer who tried to joke about it would end up getting chopped in the throat. The DCO laughs and then turns to business.

“OK, as you all know, we are getting a group of intel lieutenants,” says the DCO. “We’re getting five second lieutenants straight out of the schoolhouse, and two first lieutenants who have just done a tour in Korea. The first order of business is to figure out where they’re going to be assigned.”

The Group S2 takes this as his cue to speak up. As soon as he starts talking, you feel yourself cringe. Just listening to The Dud speak is a painful experience. “So, um, we’ve got, ah, five 2LTs and, uh, 2 1LTs,” he says, as if he needed to repeat what the DCO just stated. “And, uh, the new Group MTOE, um, shows one 2LT as the assistant MID commander at, um, each battalion, and, um, one 1LT at the, um, Group S2, and, ah, one 1LT at the Group Support, um, company.” You glance back at Reynolds and see that he, like you, is counting the number of times that the Group S2 uses filler words like “um,” “ah,” and “uh.” Right now by your count he’s at 10, but the single-meeting record is well over 200.

You work through the Group S2’s ridiculous inability to speak coherently and decipher what he just said. “Wait a minute,” you interject, “you’re going to send a bunch of brand-new second lieutenants straight from the schoolhouse down to support an SF Battalion? A couple of problems with this. First of all, the lieutenants, God bless them, don’t know anything about anything. Their ability to contribute to the SF is zero. Less than zero, because the battalions are going to have to take time to train them up. And besides, what are you going to have them do, be assistant MID ‘commanders?’ Does a guy in charge of 12 people really need another officer to help him run things?”

"Additionally, if you send brand-new 2LTs down into an SF battalion, where they will be unsupervised and underutilized, around a bunch of people who by their very nature operate under a different set of rules than the rest of the Army, they will learn terrible habits and will be absolutely RUINED when they have to go to a Big Army unit. Your LT days are the days to make mistakes and learn leadership; after they leave here they won't be lieutenants anymore, they'll be capatains, and their future bosses will have captain-level expectations of them. We're setting them up by failure by sending them straight down to the Battalions." As you finish speaking, you see all of the other commanders nodding in agreement.

“That’s where the MTOE says they belong,” the S2 says defensively.

“Right, and SF is reknowned for always following the rules," you say, rolling your eyes. Before the S2 can reply, the DCO speaks up.

"You have a better idea, CPT Faith?" he asks.

"Roger sir. You take all of those lieutenants and you give them to me. I make the most senior one my XO, and the rest of them will be platoon leaders. That gets them some leadership experience and a chance to get their legs underneath them. Then, as we think they're ready, we rotate them down into the battalions. Sending brand new butter-bars straight into the battalions is a disaster waiting to happen."

The DCO considers this for a moment. "That's a really good idea," he says, "but there are some other MTOE changes that are coming as well that make that idea moot. We'll talk about them after this meeting. We were originally slated to get eight lieutenants but now we're only getting seven," he says. Continuing, he adds: "The lieutenants will be split up as follows: one each to the three battalions. Scratch that, I mean four battalions; each Group is getting another battalion on the new MTOE. Four go to the Battalions, two go to the Group S2 shop, one will go to the GSC, to serve as the GSC S2.”

“An S2? For the GSC?” you ask, incredulous. You know from the DCO’s tone that the decision has been made and no further discussion is desired, but you can’t help yourself. You glance over at the Group S2, who is grinning broadly; clearly he “won” the fight over the lieutenants. You’re about to say something to wipe that shit-eating grin off his face when you feel MSG Reynolds tapping your chair with his foot. You know what that signal means without even having to look back at him; “give it a rest.”

“OK fine,” you say sullenly, “Then I want the most senior lieutenant.”

“I bet you do,” says the Group S2, and he and the rest his minions snicker.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” you reply.

“Oh nothing, I’m sure the fact that you want the only female lieutenant never even crossed your mind.”

Now you’re REALLY pissed. “What the hell are you talking about? Not only do I not know anything about the lieutenants, I didn’t even know we were GETTING any lieutenants until about…” you look down at your watch, “20 minutes ago. Great job on sharing THAT information in advance.” MSG Reynolds’ the tapping on your chair has now turned into a gentle kick.

“1LT(P) Delano, being female, cannot go to either the battalions or to the GSC,” says the DCO, taking control of the meeting again. “Everything below Group level is coded male-only. Delano goes to the Group S2 shop. CPT Faith, the GSC will get the next-most-senior lieutenant. Looks like that is… 1LT Charles Castelli.”

This news stuns you into silence for a second. The GSC is getting Castelli? Things might not be so bad after all. “Yeah, OK sir, that will be fine,” you say.
“Well I’m glad you approve,” says the S2, snottily. That’s it, you think, game on…

Just before things really explode, CPT Criss leans forward and interjects, “Sir,” he says to the DCO, “As much as I enjoy a good catfight between MI weenies, might I suggest we move on to new business?”

“Yes, I think we will do that,” he replies, glaring at both you and the S2. “MAJ Dudley, CPT Faith, see me after this meeting.” Now you’re not only pissed off, you know you’re going to get an ass chewing from the DCO after the meeting. Great. “0h for seven” on the lieutenants, and an ass chewing on top of it to boot.

The next part of the meeting is routine Command and Staff, with commanders and staff primaries briefing their last week of training and projecting six weeks out. You’re only half-listening as the others talk; you’re hungry and pissed off an anxious about the ass chewing you are going to get from the DCO. When it’s his turn to talk again, the S2 says he’ll be taking leave for a week in the next month. Suspicious, you look at the training calendar and confirm that the week the S2 will be on leave is the date of the big quarterly intel inspection. The Group S2 has a reputation for skipping out on these inspections and leaving it to his assistants and NCOs. The inspections are a pain in the ass, to be sure, but the Group S2 seems to unnaturally fearful of them and takes any opportunity to be elsewhere when the inspectors arrive. It is your belief that everyone in Group secretly is happy with that arrangement.

Your turn to brief is last. Just before you start to talk, the door opens and CPT James walks in. Everyone looks at him in kind of stunned silence; to interrupt a meeting held by the DCO, there had better be a major emergency threatening life, limb, or eyesight. “Hey sir,” says James, “here is the copy of that Pakistan brief you wanted.” Unconcerned by all the sets of eyes staring at him, James walks over to the DCO, lays a CD and some papers on his desk, and turns to walk out. As he does no, he noticed a pile of Starbursts on the corner of the DCO’s desk and helps himself to a couple as he walks out. In your mind’s eye, you see the DCO drawing a commando dagger from some hidden recess in his desk and severing CPT James’ offending fingers. But he doesn’t, and CPT James manages to walk out of the room with his digits intact. No one says a word for a second, then CPT Criss chimes in, “Well, that was unexpected!” and everyone laughs. The incident, while bizarre, serves to lighten the mood.

Returning to business, you brief the DCO on last week’s training, talk him through next week’s, and start talking about plans for the upcoming weeks. You mention that 6 of your Soldiers are scheduled for Pathfinder training the same week as the upcoming inspection, and that their loss will leave you a bit short-handed during the inspection. You know MSG Reynolds has already talked it over with the Group S2 NCOIC to have their guys help cover the inspection, it’s not really a big deal.

“Sir,” you say to the DCO, “We’re losing 6 guys to Pathfinder training during that time period, we’re asking the Group S2 folks to help us out during the inspection.” You decide not to add, “even though it’s their damn job to do it in the first place, not ours.”
The S2 lets out an exasperated sigh. “If you don’t have enough people to cover down on the inspection, then why are you letting people go to Pathfinder School?” he says in his “gotcha” voice.

“This isn’t Pathfinder School you idiot, this is Pathfinder Database training, you know, admin intel work? The stuff that YOUR shop is supposed to be doing? Maybe if you weren’t so terrified of failing another inspection you could actually be here when the inspectors show up so the rest of us don’t get stuck doing YOUR job. Again.” You would have continued your little rant, but MSG Reynolds kicked the back of your chair so hard that it rocked you forward in your seat.

The S2, his face beet red, stammers ineffectively in response before managing to blurt out, “FUCK YOU!”

The DCO slams his hand on the desk. “That’s it, were done here. Everyone out,” he says firmly. “Not you two, he says, pointing at you and the S2.

As the rest of the commanders and staff file out, CPT Beverly catches your eye and offers a wan smile of support. CPT Criss, grinning, shakes his head as he walks out. MSG Reynolds claps you on your shoulder as he gets up to leave. “Good luck with that, sir,” he says, making a beeline for the door. As the door closes behind you, you feel a sinking sensation in the pit of your stomach. At least the DCO waited until his door was shut before he started yelling.


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## 0699 (Dec 30, 2011)

Damn, Captain.  Your MSgt is REALLY trying to keep you out of trouble and you aren't helping a bit.

If I was MSgt Reynolds, you & I would be having another discussion once the DCO is done with you...


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## Marauder06 (Dec 30, 2011)

Yeah, CPT Faith is a bit of a hothead.  Just think about how much trouble he'd be in if his NCOs weren't around to keep him straight- or worse yet, if they didn't have their support...:sick:


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## Brill (Dec 30, 2011)

Are you sure this is a case study and not a fricken Mexican soap opera?  Too much damn drama.



Marauder06 said:


> Yeah, CPT Faith is a bit of a hothead. Just think about how much trouble he'd be in if his NCOs weren't around to keep him straight- or worse yet, *if they didn't have their support*...:sick:


 
If he keeps up with the immature attitude, he's going to lose that support due to the fact that his enlisted guys will eventually get shit on by the S2.  I completely agree with 0699 and the MSG needs to have a direct one-way "chat" with the CPT.


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## x SF med (Dec 31, 2011)

What's really eating at the back of my brain is the way "Dud" bails for every S2 inspection, when he's the S2...  there has to be a reason this happens and it cannot be good...  the fact he will be have the only female 1LT, knew the staffing profiles first and knew that the only place she could be tasked was to his shop says something that bodes ill for the entire staff...

CPT Faith is blessed with a good MSG...  one who is going to kick his ass instead of his chair one of these days.  Oh, those 2LTs are going to be screwed for the rest of their careers if ther eare not good CPTs/MAJs in each of the BN S2 shops/SOTAs.


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## 0699 (Dec 31, 2011)

x SF med said:


> What's really eating at the back of my brain is *the way "Dud" bails for every S2 inspection, when he's the S2*... there has to be a reason this happens and it cannot be good... the fact he will be have the only female 1LT, knew the staffing profiles first and knew that the only place she could be tasked was to his shop says something that bodes ill for the entire staff...


 
Or maybe his section prefers it that way.  I've done it before.  "Hey LT, this would be a good week for you to be gone on leave." "Why Gunny?" "Because you don't have a clue about what's going on and if you're gone they can't ask you questions." :-"



> CPT Faith is blessed with a good MSG... one who is going to kick his ass instead of his chair one of these days. Oh, those 2LTs are going to be screwed for the rest of their careers if ther eare not *good CPTs/MAJs in each of the BN S2 shops/SOTAs*.


 
Or good SNCOs (cough, cough)


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## Mac_NZ (Dec 31, 2011)

Holy shit, this has become full on handbags at dawn material.

The only solution is to challenge "The Dud" to a knife fight.


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## Marauder06 (Jan 1, 2012)

When you eventually come out of the DCO’s office, you find MSG Reynolds casually leaning against a wall. “You’re still here?” you ask. “What, I was going to miss an ass chewing like that?” he replies. “Let’s go eat, you can tell me all about it.” Food is good, food will help bring you out of your funk.
The drive to lunch is short; a left turn out of the parking lot of the Group headquarters, and then a right turn into the parking lot of the Schabenhab Club. Named after a famous WWII veteran, the Schabenhab is an on-post club that serves lunch and dinner, and serves as a night spot for the junior enlisted. The potent combination of alcohol, young troops, and local women make for an explosive combination. The post provost marshall calls it the “Stab and Jab” because of the number of fights that break out in the club. While you have never been there at night except when you had Courtesy Patrol duty, they do serve a good lunch. MSG Reynolds tries to make small talk during the drive, but you’re in no mood to talk.

“Come on sir,” he says after he parks, “you’ve gotten your ass chewed MUCH worse than that before. Surely you’re not all butt-hurt over a couple of lieutenants? What’s the problem now, the DCO make you apologize to the S2 or something?” Although the DCO did, in fact, make you apologize to The Dud, that’s not really what is on your mind.

“They’re dissolving the MID,” you say slowly.

“What!?” exclaims MSG Reynolds, incredulously.

“That’s what the DCO wanted to talk to the S2 and me about after the meeting. Under the new MTOE, the company goes away; the SOTAs, SOTBs, HUMINTers and CI guys are all going down to the battalions. The All-Source guys and the terrain team are going to the S2 shop,” you explain.

“WTF, what are we going to be left with?” Reynolds inquires.

“The 09Ls and the other ash-and-trash no one else wanted,” you reply. “About twelve to twenty total. And the position is no longer captain-coded; it’s a 1LT “detachment command” billet now.”

“Wow,” Reynolds mutters. “When is this going to happen?”

“As soon as the Group S1 shop can cut orders, and the Group S4 PBO shop can do the property transfers,” you say.

“So, that will be… never?” Reynold’s joke about the glacial workspeed of the S1 and S4 shops is funny but you don’t laugh because you’ve become distracted by something. When you pulled into the parking lot, you noticed CPT James standing outside his car, door open, beret off, looking off into the distance as if he were waiting for someone. Throughout your conversation with Reynolds he continues to stand there, ignoring the salutes and salutations from the intermittent stream of young troops and NCOs who passed him. When a knot of field grade officers passes James and he ignores them as well, they look back at him disapprovingly but say nothing. You want to continue the conversation with Reynolds, but James is probably about to get jacked up by a passing colonel or sergeant major for not wearing his headgear outdoors and for not returning/rendering salutes. What, if anything, should you and MSG Reynolds do?


----------



## CDG (Jan 1, 2012)

Damn..... WAY outside my experience level so I can't comment except to say that I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes.


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## Brill (Jan 1, 2012)

I like where this is going but please don't tell me this is from your personal experience as the CO of the MID in the GSC.


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## x SF med (Jan 2, 2012)

lindy said:


> I like where this is going but please don't tell me this is from your personal experience as the CO of the MID in the GSC.


 
NO, NO, NO....  this is a fictionalized account of items that may or may not have ever happened, but are the product of a twisted officer mind without the mitigating effects of GOOD NCO editing, mentoringk and censoring....     and we still don't know what happened to Chief  and why she hasn't reappeared as a force for good in this story, maybe she'll come in to the story and assist the MSG in saving the young CPT Faith from himself at some point in the story...   this is TV, right?


----------



## Marauder06 (Jan 10, 2012)

Mac_NZ said:


> Holy shit, this has become full on handbags at dawn material.
> 
> The only solution is to challenge "The Dud" to a knife fight.


 
"Handbags at dawn," I think that's pretty clever.  That may have to work its way into the story.


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## Marauder06 (Jan 10, 2012)

Ok... so... my plan to have this story completed by Christmas obvious didn't happen :-/  A combination of me wanting to take the story in a completely different direction than what I had planned, and way more crap going on during the break than I had anticipated.  I think I'm just going to have to go with, "the story will be finished when it's finished" from now on, lol.

At any rate, here's the next installment:

You nod towards CPT James.  “I think we better go take care of that before the Group sergeant major drives by,” you tell Reynolds.  “Roger,” he replies.

As you walk towards CPT James, you intercept an angry-looking infantry lieutenant colonel who was part of the crowd of officers who had passed James earlier.  “We’ve got this, sir,” you say to him, snapping off your sharpest salute.  Somewhat mollified, he heads back to his car.

“Hey Al, I’d think that after all of the effort that went into earning that beret, you’d want to wear it every chance you got,” you say, trying to use humor.  He seems startled that you’re speaking to him.  “Hey,” he says, recognizing the two of you, “What are we doing here?” 

“Um, I think we’re all here to eat lunch,” MSG Reynolds replies.  “Why don’t you put your cover on and we’ll all get a table together.”

“My hat is on my head,” he says emphatically.  You and Reynolds look at each other.  CPT James’ green beret is rolled up and sticking out of the top of his right cargo pocket.  There is nothing on his head. 
You deftly reach across and retrieve his beret out of his pocket.  “Here you go, brother,” you say, putting it into his hands, “let’s go eat.”  At this, CPT James’ face turns bright red.  Snatching up his beret, he places it, crookedly, on his head.  “Don’t ever touch another man’s green beret!” he shouts, taking a step towards you and poking you in the chest with a thick finger.  “It’s bad karma!  If you wanted to touch a green beret, you could have stepped up and gone to the Q course.  But that’s why you’re wearing a red beret instead!”

Out of the corner of your eye, you see MSG Reynolds looking alarmed.  The last time someone poked you in the chest in a parking lot much like this one, a fistfight ensued. But there will be no such confrontation today, you don’t even feel angry.  You just feel so… defeated.  “Right,” is all you can think of to say.  James whirls around and stomps off towards the front door of the club.  You close his car door for him and follow a short distance behind.  With his hat now on, he seems to have remembered how to salute.  That’s good, at least.  You notice that James keeps going right past the front door, towards the side of the building.  Maybe he needs to use the ATM or something, you muse.

“Damn, sir, the way this day is going for you maybe we should just call it a day and go to the Cat West instead of Stab and Jab for lunch,” Reynolds says.  You smile; you know you’re very lucky to have a friend and co-worker like him.  “No, it’s all good, we’re already here and my wife would kill me if we went to Cat West,” you reply.  

“If you went to Cat West…again,” Reynolds corrects, giving you a conspiratorial look.

“We agreed we would never talk about that again,” you remind him, laughing.


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## CDG (Jan 10, 2012)

Seems as though CPT James may have some PTSD stuff going on.  What an odd encounter.  So what went down at Cat West?


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## x SF med (Jan 11, 2012)

I believe "Cat West" might be next to the "Boiling Cauldron"? N'est pas, Sir?  Or is it near "Nicks's"?
a possibility
CPT James has had a recent head trauma, or possibly picked up meningitis overseas.  Untreated stage 3 syphyllis presenting as neural symptomology is also a possibility.  Or he has long term low level mercury poisoning.

medically I went with the horse, then zebra then your gay unicorns with rainbows shooting out their asses....  I still have nightnmares over some of your clip art...


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## Marauder06 (Jan 11, 2012)

I mainly through that Cat West reference in for the benefit of rick, since he's from the area


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## 104TN (Jan 11, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> I mainly through that Cat West reference in for the benefit of rick, since he's from the area


You know I think the only times I've been there was to pick up dudes that outranked me. Just sayin'...


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## Marauder06 (Jan 12, 2012)

rick said:


> You know I think the only times I've been there was to pick up dudes that outranked me. Just sayin'...


 
:-/:sick:


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## x SF med (Jan 12, 2012)

rick said:


> You know I think the only times I've been there was to pick up dudes that outranked me. Just sayin'...


 
does Mrs. Mara know? ....  nice job Rick...  kick the officer has no rules!


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## Marauder06 (Jan 22, 2012)

Mac_NZ said:


> Holy shit, this has become full on handbags at dawn material.
> 
> The only solution is to challenge "The Dud" to a knife fight.


 
"handbags at dawn," I like that. That might have to work its way into the story.

The Stab and Jab is crowded and noisy, as it usually is this time of day. You recognize several people from Group as well as some of your friends from other units on the base. CPT James joins the line a few patrons behind you, still wearing his beret. While you’re mulling over the irony that he doesn’t seem to want to wear it outside, but inside he doesn’t want to take it off, you see a familiar face emerge from the bathroom. “Hi Chief Rollins!” MSG Reyolds says happily. Chief Andrea Rollins is the counterintelligence warrant officer for your detachment. Fit, pretty, and 25 years old, she turns heads wherever she goes.

“Join us for lunch?” Reynolds asks. “Love to,” she replies, “But I’m meeting someone.” “No problem, bring her along and we’ll make it a foursome,” Reynolds counters. You mentally cringe at the unintended double entendre, but Rollins just laughs.

“Hey sir, I hear you and the S2 got into another little catfight this afternoon,” Chief Rollins prods, “a real, ‘handbags at 20 paces’ thing.”

“That just happened!” you exclaim, “How the hell is it that you’ve already heard about this?” you exclaim.

“Hey sir, sources and methods,” she replies, meaning that she’s not going to give up who told her. But seeing CPT Criss emerge from the bathroom on the other side of the lobby, it’s not hard to put two and two together. CPT Criss sees you and smiles. You glare back at him, with what you hope is a menacing glare. CPT Criss never could keep his mouth shut about “interesting” things that went on in those meetings. Seeing CPT James in line behind you, Chief Rollins goes over to say hello.

“I just thought about the story you told about her out at Rota,” Reynolds whispers as she walks away.

“We are DEFINITELY not going to talk about THAT again,” you respond, mentally flashing back to the disaster that was* the Soul Plane Incident*.

“Hi, sir!” Chief Rollins says cheerily to CPT James. The two have a brief but animated conversation, during which time Chief Rollins gently reaches up and removes CPT James’ green beret and hands it over to him, without breaking the conversation. CPT James, smiling, returns the beret to his cargo pocket. Seeing her lunch date arrive outside, Chief Rollins breaks off from CPT James and exits the building.

“I guess all that ‘don’t touch my green hat’ stuff doesn’t apply to women,” MSG Reynolds mutters.

After paying for your meals and making your way through the buffet lines, you and MSG Reynolds are lucky enough to find a large, open table already occupied by CPT Criss. Chief Rollins joins you, as does her dinner date who is not another female as you assumed, but an actual “date” date- a man who looks vaguely familiar to you.

“Holy crap- hello Paul!” you say, standing up to shake his hand. “I didn’t recognize you without that beard.” Paul, a Special Forces NCO, was instrumental in helping to save your ass during the Soul Plane incident, something for which you will always be grateful.


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## policemedic (Jan 22, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> “Hey sir, I hear you and the S2 got into another little catfight this afternoon,” Chief Rollins prods, “a real, ‘handbags at 20 paces’ thing.”


 
Nice one


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## Marauder06 (Jan 22, 2012)

policemedic said:


> Nice one


 
Thanks to Mac_NZ ;)


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## Marauder06 (Jan 22, 2012)

More people join in and soon you’re pushing tables together to accommodate everyone. In addition to you, MSG Reynolds, Chief Rollins and Paul (whose last name, you now learn, is “Walden,”) CPT Criss and a friend of his sit down. CPT Criss is halfway through introducing his friend when you recognize him, as well. More accurately, MSG Reynolds recognizes him.

“Hey, it’s CPT Cho, good to see you again, sir,” says MSG Reynolds, standing up to shake CPT Cho’s hand. You recall that CPT Cho was the commander of (now-former) Specialist Jody Schum, *who had been fooling around with one of your Soldiers’ wives on your last deployment*. As the introductions are made, you notice that instead of the “Screaming Eagle” patch that adorned CPT Cho’s left sleeve the last time you saw him, he now sports an arrowhead patch with a black embroidered dagger.

“So, did you cross over the airfield and into the dark side?” you ask him. The 16th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SAVE) is located on the far side of the airfield from the various co-located conventional forces, and “crossing the airfield” is often used as a euphemism for joining the unit.

“Yes,” responds CPT Cho, smiling. “I got picked up for the unit shortly after we met. Now I get to be the sponsor for Simon,” he adds, gesturing towards CPT Criss.

“Hey, you have any more room over there?” asks Chief Rollins.

“You need a new job, Chief?” inquires CPT Cho.

“Oh, no, not at all,” Chief Rollins replies. “But the way I hear it, my commander is going to need a new job soon if he keeps pissing off the Group S2.” Everyone at the table seems to think that this joke at your expense is pretty funny.

“We’re always looking for good intel types,” says CPT Cho.

“That’s cool, I have a job I like in the unit I’m with,” you reply. “Besides, the unit is about to go through a major transition and I’m going to stick around and help them through it.”

“Good man,” replies CPT Cho. “But keep us in mind if you change your mind.”

“Speak of the devil,” says MSG Reynolds abruptly, and you look up to see the Group S2, a handful of his staff, and a woman you do not know walk by and occupy a table a couple of rows away. Aftershe passes, CPT Criss sums up the sentiment of the men at the table, accurately if inappropriately:

“That is the hottest lieutenant of any branch, that I’ve ever seen,” he says loudly.

“I’ll drink to that,” adds CPT Cho, raising a glass of sweet tea.

“Well, I guess now you know what the Group S2 was keeping that 1LT for himself,” MSG Reynolds adds.
“That’s going to be nothing but trouble for the Group,” mutters Chief Reynolds.
“Come on Chief, you’re still the hottest warrant in the MID,” chides CPT Criss.
“I’m the ONLY female warrant in the Group,” she counters.

“I rest my case,” Criss replies. Everyone is amused by this exchange, but you can’t help but think that one day Simon Criss’s mouth is going to get him into deep trouble- trouble spelled “EO.”
You’re just about to dig into your plate of steaming food, when you hear a voice above you. “May I join you?” The word “sure” is almost out of your mouth before you look up and see CPT James. Stunned for a second, you say nothing. “Sure, sir, we’ll make room for you!” Chief Reynolds says, cheerily. CPT James scrounges a chair and pulls it right up next to you.

“This will be interesting,” whispers MSG Reynolds.

When CPT James sits down beside you, you notice he has made some strange food choices. It’s Chinese Food day at the Stab n Jab, and CPT James’ plate represents a wide variety of the menu. It looks like a slice of cheese pizza serves as a base, with egg rolls, rice, and maybe some broccoli piled on top. It’s hard to tell because everything is smothered with a generous helping of vanilla pudding. It seems an odd selection for someone who is reported to pride himself on physical fitness.


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## tigerstr (Jan 27, 2012)

Where is the next part Mara ? 

The fans are awaiting, even in far away Greece


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## Marauder06 (Feb 11, 2012)

Lunch lasts over an hour, mainly because everyone is having such a good time.  CPT Criss is a bonafide raconteur and soon had the entire table in stitches, laughing loudly at his stories.  He was even able to relate the Soul Train incident in a manner that even you found humorous.  Well, mildly humorous.  CPT James also chimed in, and you find yourself laughing at some of his stories in spite of yourself.  Your group is one of last ones to break up and head back to work, when someone finally notices the time.  As you get up to put your tray away, you notice CPT James hasn’t touched his plate.  The pudding he had spread over everything has settled and oozed across the plate, making it look like a plateful of puke.  “I probably wouldn’t eat that either,” you think as you set your tray in a large floor rack walk towards the exit. CPT James, now sitting alone at the table, looks confused for a second before he gets up and starts making his way towards the exit, leaving his tray, a cup, and an almost-empty pitcher of water behind on the table. 

As you and MSG Reyolds get into your car to go back to work, you notice that CPT James seemed to remember to at least put his beret back on his head when he exited the Stab n Jab.  “Looks like he’s trainable,” jokes MSG Reynolds.

It’s a short drive back to the Group compound, which is fortunate since you’re running a bit behind schedule.  “Hey,” you say to MSG Reynolds, “CPT James didn’t eat his lunch, but he drank the hell out of that pitcher of water.  What do you think is up with that?”  “Well, did you see what he picked to eat?” replied MSG Reynolds, “I wouldn’t  that shit either.  And as far as the water goes, well maybe being an asshole is thirsty work.”  It is hard to argue with logic like that.

The MID works out of what used to be the post stockade.  The downstairs belongs to two “specialty” teams staffed by Special Forces types, but the upstairs where the offices are is all yours.  Your boots make an eerie “pinging” noise as you climb the steel outdoor staircase to get into the building.  As soon as you get in, SPC DeSilva passes you a note.  “Sir, MAJ Ripley has been calling for you for you for over an hour.  The last time he called he said, “Tell Faith to get his ass over to the Group conference room- RIGHT NOW.”  It sounded important.”  “Thanks DeSilva,” you say as you and MSG Reynolds promptly turn around and head back down the steps towards your car.  “If it was so important, I wonder why he didn’t call me on my cell?” you wonder aloud.  Pulling out your cell phone, you see “3 Missed Calls.”  Oops.  Maybe you shouldn’t have had it set to “vibrate.”


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## Gypsy (Feb 11, 2012)

I'm worried about CPT James...


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## tigerstr (Feb 11, 2012)

Gypsy said:


> I'm worried about CPT James...


 
Yeah,  I get the feeling he is a good guy who sometimes behaves like an asshole cause he is disoriented by problems, something like depression, PTSD and the like...


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## Marauder06 (Feb 11, 2012)

Driving at a speed you think is fast enough  to get you to the Group conference room in a hurry, but hopefully not fast enough to get you a ticket from the overzealous installation police officers, you and MSG Reynolds arrive at the Group conference room just after a meeting of some sort was ending.  It must have been pretty important, because the Group commander, the battalion commanders, and most of the battalion staff were making their way out of the room as you were making your way in.  The Group S2, The Dud, gives you a smug look on his way out.  MAJ Ripley does not look pleased.  “Where the hell have you been?” he hisses, “I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for an hour!”  Without waiting for an answer, he adds, “Look, this new MTOE has everyone up in a tizzy.  The Group is getting a whole new battalion, and each battalion commander has to give up some of their best officers and NCOs to get the battalion up and running.   There are going to be a lot of people moving around.  That’s why I was trying to get a hold of you.”

“I’m going to be the XO for the new battalion,” he says, closing the door to the conference room, leaving only you, MSG Reynolds, and himself inside.  “I’m supposed to report on Monday.  The Group commander wanted to get my backfill situation sorted out immediately, and with CPT Criss on the way out the door, that leaves CPT James.“

“That’s fine sir, I think Al James is a good pick for that position, given our situation,” you answer.

“Even if he is a little weird,” adds MSG Reynolds.

“Yeah, I know,” replies MAJ Ripley.  “Something is wrong with CPT James.  He isn’t the same person he was since he left for his last tour in Afghanistan.  I’m telling you this and it’s NOT to be repeated.  He had a lot of problems after he got back from Afghanistan the last time. Weird shit, like he stole a gas mask from one of the guys on his team, and then insisted it was his, even though the other guy’s name was written on the inside.  Another time he didn’t show up for work for three straight days, the guys on his team covered for him until they got worried and went over to his place.  They found him sitting on the couch in his underwear, apparently where he had been that entire time.”

“Wow!”  exclaims MSG Reynolds

“Yeah, it gets worse.  After that last incident, Al let his team sergeant talk him into self-referring for a psych evaluation.  Everyone figured it was PTSD.  The thing was, after a week of tests, he came back clean.  No PTSD.  One of the medics on his team also surreptitiously tested him for drugs, that came back clean too.  And he was such a good guy for so long, no one wanted to see him flame out like that.  So they pulled some strings and got him sent away to school up north for a  couple of years, to give him a chance to pull his shit together.  It seems to have worked, so the Group commander is going to give him a shot.”

You and MSG Reynolds glance at each other but say nothing.

“Look,” says Ripley, focusing his attention on you, “I wanted you to take over for me as the GSC commander.  You’ve been here longer than any of the other commanders, except for Criss who is leaving, the Soldiers and the command group respect you, and you’re up for the job.  But the Group commander made it very clear that no support guys will be in charge of guys with long tabs.  So he decided to put James in as my backfill.”

“Sir, I’m flattered you would even consider me to take over the GSC,” you reply, “and the Group commander’s policy doesn’t make sense, because almost every primary staff officer has an NCOIC who is tabbed, and the SIGDET and SUPDETs have tabbed det sergeants working for untabbed OICs.  But that’s fine, I’m quite happy to be the MID commander, and being the GSC commander looks like a LOT of work.  I’ll be glad to work for CPT James to make sure the company keeps on going strong after you’re gone.”

MAJ Ripley takes a deep breath.  “Yeah, that’s kind of what we need to talk about next.”


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## policemedic (Feb 11, 2012)

tigerstr said:


> Yeah, I get the feeling he is a good guy who sometimes behaves like an asshole cause he is disoriented by problems, something like depression, PTSD and the like...


 
Or, y'know, hyperglycemia.


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## Gypsy (Feb 12, 2012)

Hmm, brain tumor?

Or some sort of brain disease. Who was the SF Soldier who went from being stellar to "disgraced" only to eventually be found to have an illness that killed him? I CRS...


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## tigerstr (Feb 12, 2012)

Gypsy said:


> Hmm, brain tumor?
> 
> Or some sort of brain disease. Who was the SF Soldier who went from being stellar to "disgraced" only to eventually be found to have an illness that killed him? I CRS...


 

You got a good memory! *Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease*. "An extremely rare and fatal degenerative brain disorder akin to "mad-cow" disease that causes rapid, progressive dementia."

It was a very unfortunate  incident as narrated here.


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## x SF med (Feb 12, 2012)

This could also be a case of undiagnosed low grade meningitis, stage 2 or 3 nerve end syphillis, stage 1 rabies, diabetes, nerve agent exposure, radiation exposure or a number of other undiagnosed infections.

There are also emotional and mental issues that would not come up on a PTSD screen, but cause similar secondary symptomology...


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## 104TN (Feb 12, 2012)

Could have a case of the gays.


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## AWP (Feb 12, 2012)

He probably saw that this thread is over 2 months old with no end in sight.


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## Marauder06 (Feb 12, 2012)

Freefalling said:


> He probably saw that this thread is *over 2 months* old with no end in sight.


 
Still not a record


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## Gypsy (Feb 12, 2012)

tigerstr said:


> You got a good memory! *Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease*. "An extremely rare and fatal degenerative brain disorder akin to "mad-cow" disease that causes rapid, progressive dementia."
> 
> It was a very unfortunate incident as narrated here.


 
That is it, thank you!


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## Marauder06 (Feb 12, 2012)

“Uh, what do you mean, sir?” you ask with trepidation.

“With you coming out on the promotion list that’s about to drop, and the MTOE showing the MID commander as a captain, the Group commander feels like you’ve been promoted out of a job. My very strong recommendation was that you stay on as commander of the MID, both to ease the transition and turnover within the GSC, and to keep you here in the Group until you actually pin on. He asked the S2 for his opinion, and the S2 said that he felt LT Delano was more than capable of commanding the MID.”

“Who?” you ask, incredulously.

“The hot new lieutenant,” replies MSG Reynolds, “The one that The Dud didn’t want you to have as the XO.”

“What? Her? Sir, she’s just a first lieutenant. She has no experience, no credibility, and no business being in the GSC, let alone in command of the MID. She will get eaten up trying to deal with the crap that goes on inside of the MID. Plus, the MTOE coded all those positions “male-only.” She doesn’t meet the requirement in any possible sense.”

“I know that, and I agree with you,” replies MAJ Ripley. “I’m going to continue to work this, but I’ve got to tell you, it doesn’t look good. The Dud has the commander convinced that this is a good course of action, and with everything else going on in the unit, what happens on the enabler side is kind of low priority for him.”

“OK then sir, where does this leave me?” you inquire.

“The DCO says he thinks you need some staff time. You’ve been in the Army for almost ten years now, and you’ve never had a “real” intel job. Most of the time you’ve been intel, you’ve been in command positions, doing very little intel work. There will be an assistant Group S2 position opening up, if you want it, it’s yours. Or you can find a job outside of Group.” MAJ Ripley pauses to let that set in for a second. “This meeting that just ended was a game of ‘Musical MI chairs,’ and you’re the only one left without a seat.”

There’s not much to say after that. As you file out of the room, MSG Reynolds asks, “Sir, WTF just happened?”

“What happened? I just got outmaneuvered by The Dud,” you reply, somewhat stunned. The Group S2 knows that you will never take a position subordinate to him, and since that is apparently the only option open for you to stay in Group, it looks like he has effectively pushed you out of the organization altogether. You never should have underestimated him…

“But hey sir, congratulations,” says MSG Reynolds.

“For what, getting kicked out of Group by the dumbest MI field grade on the planet?”

“No, for coming out on the major’s list… weren’t you paying attention to anything that MAJ Ripley just said?” replies MSG Reynolds, partly in jest. Actually, you hadn’t caught that at first. Well, at least now you have SOMETHING good to tell your wife when you get home tonight.


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## CDG (Feb 13, 2012)

And the plot thickens..... I have a feeling "you" aren't out of the game yet.


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## x SF med (Feb 13, 2012)

The infinite repercussions of the Dud's maneuvering  will cause mayhem - politically, from the command bench, and socially in the Group.  This could be a case of a single act axing multiple careers and the health of a Group...  One question, if a slot is coded male only (and possibly 18/180 only)  how is that going to get through SOCOM/USAJFKSWC for approval, true the 4th BN standup is straining the command ranks, but the ingrained trust of a fellow SF guy in the GSC/MID command desk will cause turmoil unseen since the Deluge.  IOW...  Noah, Noah....  How long can you tread water?

Carry on with your redoubtable tale, oh, MI author of renown!


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## Marauder06 (Feb 13, 2012)

x SF med said:


> The infinite repercussions of the Dud's maneuvering will cause mayhem - politically, from the command bench, and socially in the Group. This could be a case of a single act axing multiple careers and the health of a Group... One question, if a slot is coded male only (and possibly 18/180 only) how is that going to get through SOCOM/USAJFKSWC for approval, true the 4th BN standup is straining the command ranks, but the ingrained trust of a fellow SF guy in the GSC/MID command desk will cause turmoil unseen since the Deluge. IOW... Noah, Noah.... How long can you tread water?
> 
> Carry on with your redoubtable tale, oh, MI author of renown!


 
I made a mistake in my last post (since corrected).  I said that LT Delano was to command the MID, then I said it was the GSC.  I meant MID in both cases and the post now reflects that.  I'm sorry about the mistake and I appreciate The Troll catching it.  

To make clear what I was trying (unsuccessfully) to convey earlier, CPT James is earmarked to backfill MAJ Ripley as the GSC commander, and 1LT Delano is to take over command of the Group MID from CPT Faith.


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## x SF med (Feb 13, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> I made a mistake in my last post (since corrected). I said that LT Delano was to command the MID, then I said it was the GSC. I meant MID in both cases and the post now reflects that. I'm sorry about the mistake and I appreciate The Troll catching it.
> 
> To make clear what I was trying (unsuccessfully) to convey earlier, CPT James is earmarked to backfill MAJ Ripley as the GSC commander, and 1LT Delano is to take over command of the Group MID from CPT Faith.


 
It will still be a major case of caprine fornication from the ODC/ODB/ODA standpoint...  top level command at GSC will be a green light - from all levels (CPT J is a known/proven entity and appears to be trusted), but an IED is being placed into the already onerous morass of the MID by placing LT D (is she even  1LT(p)?) in charge of the SOT-As that need to be brought up to Victor standards; having no true knowledge of the interactions and demands of an SF Group; and finally the lack of trust from the all male SOT-A and 18 series guys...  All while the MTOE and manning/command of the Operational BNs is changing....   Thunderball, we need an Arclight on GSC/MID, Danger Close, immediate... Request Spooky as CAS for stragglers, over.


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## Marauder06 (Feb 13, 2012)

x SF med said:


> It will still be a major case of caprine fornication from the ODC/ODB/ODA standpoint... top level command at GSC will be a green light - from all levels (CPT J is a known/proven entity and appears to be trusted), but an IED is being placed into the already onerous morass of the MID by placing LT D (is she even 1LT(p)?) in charge of the SOT-As that need to be brought up to Victor standards; having no true knowledge of the interactions and demands of an SF Group; and finally the lack of trust from the all male SOT-A and 18 series guys... All while the MTOE and manning/command of the Operational BNs is changing.... Thunderball, we need an Arclight on GSC/MID, Danger Close, immediate... Request Spooky as CAS for stragglers, over.


 
Yes; that is a very accurate assessment of the situation.


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## x SF med (Feb 13, 2012)

This could be a case of the effluent going antigravitational...  true?


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## 0699 (Feb 13, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> Yes; that is a very accurate assessment of the situation.


 
Please don't encourage him; he'll just get worse...


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## x SF med (Feb 13, 2012)

You needed some hate returned...

discouragement gets hate...  you will remember this in the future.


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## tigerstr (Feb 13, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> I made a mistake in my last post (since corrected). I said that LT Delano was to command the MID, then I said it was the GSC. I meant MID in both cases and the post now reflects that. I'm sorry about the mistake and I appreciate The Troll catching it.
> 
> To make clear what I was trying (unsuccessfully) to convey earlier, CPT James is earmarked to backfill MAJ Ripley as the GSC commander, and 1LT Delano is to take over command of the Group MID from CPT Faith.


 
Think I need some help here, to understand the process.

If MID Commander is a "male only CPT" coded position, how likely is it in real life that the Group Commander would decide to move CPT Faith, even bfr he pins Major, and assign a female 1LT in his place?

What are the chances of higher ups (that would be USASFC right?) challenging his decision?

Does CPT Faith get at least the opportunity to speak to the Commander and try to convince him to keep his position?

On the other hand, if the Group Commander decides that he wants CPT Faith to be the new S2A, and there is widespread change in the Group, would it be acceptable  ( or proper so to speak) if the good CPT declines the new position and requests transfer?

Last but not least,  to get back to the story, is the DCO an idiot?

I understand from previouw itterations that the personality conflict between CPT Faith and the S-2 is well known not just to the DCO but to the whole Staff.

Or maybe he is actually taking the S-2 side and pushes to get Faith out of the Group?


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## Marauder06 (Feb 13, 2012)

AFAIK, in real life the Group MID commander is not male-only.  The SOT-As are, but not the commander.  In fact, 5th Group had a female Group MID commander not too long ago.  The battalion MID commanders are, I believe, male-only, as are (were) most jobs below the brigade level in combat arms units.  In this case, the Group MID commander is male-only to help drive the plot.

Commanders are normally given enormous latitude in making personnel decisions within their commands.  If he wanted it badly enough, I think a Group commander could put a female into a male-coded position at the Group level (if there are any) without too much fuss.  And it certainly wouldn't help CPT Faith if he complained about it; the Group commander would probably just say "fine," put some other male officer in the job and CPT Faith would be out on the street, so to speak. 

With regard to the personnel moves, it might be that the Group Commander and the DCO want CPT Faith in as the Group AS2 because they know The Dud sucks, and now that Faith is on the list for O4, they could move Dudley out and appoint Faith as the Group S2.  Or they want Faith in to help prop up the floundering Dud.  Or the DCO is looking out for Faith's professional development as an MI officer and thinks he needs some actual intel time instead of all this command time he has gotten so far.  Or maybe the Group Commander hates Faith's guts.

Or maybe karma (and the incidents in The Soul Plane and The Loyal Wife) finally caught up to CPT(P) Faith.    Or maybe none of the above?  Hmmm.... I wonder which it is.... 

So, if you're CPT Faith, what do you do now?


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## 104TN (Feb 13, 2012)

Open up your Roladex and call the CO of every cool guy unit around, let your branch manager know what your doing, and then tell the DCO to suck your butt when your by-name rolls down from G2. Go straight scorched earth. Do unto other before they do unto you - and whatnot.


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## x SF med (Feb 13, 2012)

Suck em up and drive on.


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## Marauder06 (Feb 14, 2012)

"Well sir, what's our next move?" asks MSG Reynolds as you walk out after your meeting with MAJ Ripley.

"'Our next move?" you reply, "you still have a job here."  You pause for a moment, and then add, "I guess I'll go see CPT Cho about that job in the 16th."

"Oh come on, don't go all 'pity party' on me," MSG Reynolds admonishes, "You know that you're the DCO's boy.  If he went along with this, it's for a good reason.  Go talk to him, find out what the deal is, and then make up your mind what you want to do."

"What do you mean I'm the DCO's boy?" you inquire, pausing in the hallway.  "That guy hates me.  Every time I'm in his office, I'm on the receiving end of the biggest ass chewing of my life.  If I dropped my pants and turned around, they could make a dental cast out of the imprint of his teeth.”

“Think about it, sir, all the times you’ve screwed something up in this unit, who is the one who controls the damage,  where does the pain train stop?  Right with the DCO.  Come down on the blotter after beating down some piece of shit in a parking lot?  DCO’s office.  Try to set a plane on fire combing back from Rota?  DCO.  Regularly disrespect a field grade officer?  Handled by the DCO…”

“Yeah, OK, I get it,” you reply curtly. “First of all, you were with me in that parking lot, and I didn’t try to set the plane on fire… but I kind of see your point.  Still though, if the DCO is such a great guy and he wants to look out for us, then why this arrangement, out of the blue like this?”

“Gee, I don’t know sir,” replies MSG Reynolds sarcastically, “maybe you should… maybe… ASK THE DCO!”  

“OK, fine, I’ll go see if he’s in the office,” you reply.  “But I’m NOT his boy.”

“Whatever, sir,” MSG Reynolds replies, smiling as he walks away.  “I’m going to go see the CSM, meet you at the car in 30 minutes?”


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## tigerstr (Feb 14, 2012)

So now we (almost) know. DCO wants to have someone capable in the S-2 shop to take up the slack from the "Dud" and hopefully fill his shoes soon enough. Not bad for a CPT(P) soon to be a Major and in need of some Intel Staff experience to get rounded.

It will also be an exercise in patience, which as most know, is the key to happiness, (and sometimes to advancement in the organisational hierarchy).

And if he screws up a little the DCO could turn a blind eye.

It actually happens a lot in the civilian world too.

But , I feel that CPT James could give another sudden twist to the story very soon...


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## tigerstr (Feb 14, 2012)

Just went back to previous posts to refresh my memory a bit. It seems that the DCO is a level headed practical man. And sooner or later the Group will have to deploy (as the basis for a JSOTF?- do correct me if I am wrong).

The "Dud" is already three years in the Group and hopefully he will be leaving, so most probably the DCO would like to have a known- even if a bit hotheaded and outspoken-commodity in place, to take charge of the S-2 shop, without taking chances with another new guy coming.

AND the MID is getting disolved with most assets going to the Battalions with the rest (all source and terrain team) going to the... S-2. So why not have a female 1LT in charge of the new "small" MID.


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## 0699 (Feb 14, 2012)

My God, finish it.

This is like that good movie that's 3 hours long.  I'm enjoying it, but I REALLY have to piss...


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## x SF med (Feb 14, 2012)

0699 said:


> My God, finish it.
> 
> This is like that good movie that's 3 hours long. I'm enjoying it, but I REALLY have to piss...


 
and that movie is in 4 parts on TV with a ton of commercials.


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## 0699 (Feb 14, 2012)

x SF med said:


> and that movie is in 4 parts on TV with a ton of commercials.


 
Spread out over a month, so you have to DVR it and rewatch last week's episode just to remember what our hero is up to, because your memory isn't what it used to be and neither is your eyesight, and when did they start making the print on the prescription medicine bottles so small, I have to get my glasses and read through the bottom lens just to figure out what medicine I'm taking, and I don't even really remember why I'm taking it because my memory isn't what it used to be and neither is my hearing, I can only hear weird noises that no one else seems to hear, or that damn music that's just being played too damn loud, but I can hear it when my wife snores in her sleep and I'm surprised I can even remember that because my memory isn't what it used to be.


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## SpitfireV (Feb 15, 2012)

0699 said:


> Spread out over a month, so you have to DVR it and rewatch last week's episode just to remember what our hero is up to, because your memory isn't what it used to be and neither is your eyesight, and when did they start making the print on the prescription medicine bottles so small, I have to get my glasses and read through the bottom lens just to figure out what medicine I'm taking, and I don't even really remember why I'm taking it because my memory isn't what it used to be and neither is my hearing, I can only hear weird noises that no one else seems to hear, or that damn music that's just being played too damn loud, but I can hear it when my wife snores in her sleep and I'm surprised I can even remember that because my memory isn't what it used to be.


 
You need gainful employment!


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## Marauder06 (Feb 15, 2012)

45 minutes later, you come out of the DCO’s office and find MSG Reynolds seated in a chair in the Group orderly room, reading a magazine while he waits for you.

“Must have gone OK, I didn’t hear any yelling,” says MSG Reynolds.  "Hm, and it looks as if your ass is still attached," he adds, checking out your backside as you walk past.  You say nothing, but from the look on your face, MSG Reynolds can tell that it was a good meeting.  He rises and follows you out to the parking lot and you both get into your car.

After the door closes and he gets buckled in, MSG Reynolds looks over and says, “So, are you the DCO’s boy?”

“Apparently,” you reply.

Grinning, MSG Reynolds says, “You know what, sir, life would be a whole lot easier for you if you would listen to me every once in a while.”

“Apparently,” you say again, also grinning, and then you fill him in on what happened.


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## TB1077 (Feb 15, 2012)

I took the DVR idea on catching up on the case studies and being able to zip through all of the "Mara sucks" posts because things are drug out so long .  The suspense of waiting for your updates is brutal to say the least, so going back and reading through them after the fact makes things a little easier.  With that said, it is amazing to realize how unproductive I was yesterday catching up on "The Soul Plane Incident" and "The Loyal Wife".  So thanks Mara.


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## Marauder06 (Feb 15, 2012)

TB1077 said:


> I took the DVR idea on catching up on the case studies and being able to zip through all of the "Mara sucks" posts because things are drug out so long . The suspense of waiting for your updates is brutal to say the least, so going back and reading through them after the fact makes things a little easier. With that said, it is amazing to realize how unproductive I was yesterday catching up on "The Soul Plane Incident" and "The Loyal Wife". So thanks Mara.


 
I'm glad you liked the stories 

My plan (when I have time) is to take all of the related case studies and put them together as a novel. I even have a title in mind: *Bolts and Blade- The MID*. (bolts and blade is an allusion to the USASFC patch). It's about time someone put out a decent book that focuses on the enabler side of the house, right? ;)

If it works out, maybe I'll turn it into a series of books. At least I'll something to occupy my time after these defense cuts force me out of the Army.

/////

The DCO's plan is fairly simple. You will fill the vacant AS2 position, under The Dud, for a couple of weeks. This is long enough for you to do a transition with him, as MAJ Dudley moves on to... "bigger and better things" outside of Group. You will become the Group S2, and the DCO has challenged you to "put your money where your mouth is" and fix all the intel-related things that you think The Dud has been messing up lately. The DCO wants you in charge and The Dud out of there before the upcoming big inspection. That inspection will be your first major challenge as S2. The DCO cautioned you to not share this information with anyone, because The Dud doesn’t know about it yet and the Group Commander wants to sit him down and break the news to him, which he plans on doing later on this afternoon. The Group Commander pulled some strings and got The Dud a job on the Division G2 staff as the chief planner. This is technically another “branch qualifying” assignment and will look good on The Dud’s officer record brief (ORB), but this is clearly a demotion in terms of prestige, going from a Special Forces Group S2 to a nobody buried in a Division G2 shop. You think that something like this couldn’t have happened to a better guy.

1LT Delano will take over as Group MID commander, which you're still not happy with, but since the MID is about to be busted up anyway, it doesn't really matter. After the re-organization called for by the new MTOE, the Group MID will likely have a grand total of 12 people in it, and it doesn't take a whole lot to be in "command" of 12 troops- not when they're enablers, anyway. The new MTOE calls for the position to be filled by a 1LT (albeit a “male” 1LT), and now an 1LT will be in the job. So be it.

CPT James will become the new GSC commander, which you already knew. What you didn’t know until the DCO told you, is that James has a very low sequence number, meaning his promotion will occur in the very near future. You related your concerns about CPT James to the DCO, who listened intently but was non-committal about what action, if any, should be taken in that regard. The GSC change of command will take place as soon as the arrangements can be made. Although MAJ Ripley hasn’t said anything to you about it yet, you’re pretty sure that you’re going to be the “stuckee” for planning it out.

When you get back to the MID headquarters building (i.e. the old stockade), you notice The Dud’s vehicle parked outside. “I wonder what this is about?” you say out loud as you and MSG Reynolds walk up the steel staircase to your office.


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## 0699 (Feb 15, 2012)

Good news for you, but it sounds like there're more problems in store for our hero...


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## Marauder06 (Feb 15, 2012)

0699 said:


> Good news for you, but it sounds like there're more problems in store for our hero...


 
It wouldn't make a very interesting story if everything went well ;)


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## 0699 (Feb 15, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> It wouldn't make a very interesting story if everything went well ;)


 
But I like happy endings...

Probably why I hate country music.


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## 104TN (Feb 15, 2012)

You walk into your office to find The Dud waxing one out to the draft of a paper on F3EAD you're working on.


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## Marauder06 (Feb 15, 2012)

lol!  Well, that would certainly make things... interesting.  Props for crossthreading, but the events in this case study pre-date F3EAD.  And everyone knows that I wouldn't want inconsistencies in one of my case studies!  ;)


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## Marauder06 (Feb 16, 2012)

As you open the door to the detachment headquarters, the first thing you see is Chief Rollins.  She is standing in the orderly room, arms folded across her chest, clearly pissed off about something.  Then you see what it is.  Across the room, you see The Dud standing with 1LT Delano.  She is shaking hands with some of your Soldiers, who are clearly relishing the attention from the attractive woman.  Like most of the people in the building, 1LT Delano has shed her uniform top because of the heat in the building.  This is a pretty common practice in the summer months, when the heat and the unfortunate lack of central air in the building make things a bit uncomfortable.  In fact MSG Reynolds is shrugging out of his top almost as soon as he is in the door.  You think that's fine for the NCOs and troops, but you feel it's inappropriate for an officer to do the same.  Especially for officers like LT Delano, who have... "distracting" personal features, even when they are concealed beneath a brown t-shirt.

When Chief Rollins sees you, her face brightens a bit and she walks over to you and MSG Reynolds.  "Sir, Miss Twiggy over there," she jerks a thumb over her shoulder in the direction of LT Delano, "is going around telling everyone that she's the new commander of the MID.  What gives?"

"There are going to be some personnel moves," you inform her, "I'll update you after they're gone."

"OK.  But someone needs to tell the Princess that if she is going to be in charge, she needs to have the guys start thinking about her like an officer, not like a piece of meat.  She can start by not flouncing around here with her blouse off," she fumes.  With this, MSG Reynolds flicks a finger up a portion of Chief Rollins' bare bicep to remind her that she, too, has removed her uniform top.  Chief Rollins rolls her eyes and petulantly steps off into her office.


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## tigerstr (Feb 16, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> She is shaking hands with some of your Soldiers, who are clearly relishing the attention from the attractive woman. Like most of the people in the building, 1LT Delano has shed her uniform top because of the heat in the building. .


 
And the pay you to serve in this womans army?  Whats next?

Sunbathing without t-shirts and pouring Jojoba sunscreen to one another.? 

No wonder salty Rangers say what they say about life in SF


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## Marauder06 (Feb 16, 2012)

tigerstr said:


> And the pay you to serve in this womans army?  Whats next?
> 
> Sunbathing without t-shirts and pouring Jojoba sunscreen to one another.?
> 
> No wonder salty Rangers say what they say about life in SF


 
lol

Just to make sure everyone understands what is going on in the story- Soldiers wear brown t-shirts under their uniform tops.  When you "take off your top," you still have on a brown t-shirt underneath.  No no one is "topless" in the traditional sense, or walking around in a sports bra or whatever. 

In real life, our offices really were in the top floor of the old post stockade, and it really was hot as #$@& up there in the summer.  It was an unwritten policy that while you were inside the building, you could take off your top.  If you went outside, or if we were expecting visitors, it was tops-on.


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## x SF med (Feb 16, 2012)

0699 said:


> But I like happy endings...
> 
> Probably why I hate country music.


 
Just play them backwards, then country songs have happy endings...   and since you listen to death metal anyway, there are no happy songs...  but you do listen to show tunes and the Barney albums too...


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## 0699 (Feb 16, 2012)

x SF med said:


> Just play them backwards, then country songs have happy endings... and since you listen to death metal anyway, there are no happy songs... but you do listen to show tunes and the Barney albums too...


 
What's wrong with show tunes?!?  Next you'll be making fun of my Barry Manilow album collection...


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## Chopstick (Feb 16, 2012)

Mara wears a sports bra???


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## tigerstr (Feb 16, 2012)

Chopstick said:


> Mara wears a sports bra???


 
You never know how far a good man will go for his case study


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## x SF med (Feb 16, 2012)

0699 said:


> What's wrong with show tunes?!? Next you'll be making fun of my Barry Manilow album collection...


 
...that and your Freddy Mercury, David Cassidy, Elton John and Village People posters in your 'rec room' ... DADT is still in effect - don't worry, I won't tell anybody on ShadowSpear...


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## x SF med (Feb 16, 2012)

to get back to mara's story ....  it could be that the LT had a problem with her thermostat and was showing the troops what she thought of the temperature - and was either wearing a slinky Victoria's Secret undergarment or had forgetten to wear an undergarment...  Why's the Chief worried, she got a real SF hero...   Weapons and Medic and O&I and a TS to boot...  isn't he on the SGM list too?:-"


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## Marauder06 (Feb 17, 2012)

“Ah! CPT Faith,” calls The Dud from across the room. “I was just giving the troops here the good news about change to the MTOE and introducing them to their new commander.” Clearly, he is relishing the fact that you will no longer be the Group MID commander, and that you will soon be under his control. His presence here is to rub it in your face and to elicit an over-reaction from you. Normally, you would be more than happy to oblige, but this time you’re not falling for the bait.

“Roger sir, it was very nice of you to bring LT Delano over. I’m sure the troops were very glad to make her acquaintance. I’ll be glad to take it from here, sir, the lieutenant and I can handle things commander-to-future commander. We’ll handle things here and give LT Delano a ride back over when we’re done here. We’ll let you know if you we need anything.” The Dud doesn’t look pleased, but there’s nothing he can really say either. He wraps up what he was doing and starts to leave the office area. You grab your hat to walk him down to the office, more to make sure he actually leaves then our of courtesy. On the way to his car, you two have a conversation which on the surface seems pleasant, but is full of hidden meaning.

“So, you’re going to be my new AS2,” the Dud says idly, meaning _I am SO going to get you back for all those times you made me look bad._

“Looks that way, sir. I’m very much looking forward to the challenge.” _I’m not scared of you, _you reply_._

“That’s great. I’m expecting you to start immediately. I’ve got a whole list of important things that need to get done before the big inspection.” _There’s a whole lot of things I don’t feel like doing, which I’m going to dump onto you, because I can_.

“Roger sir, I’ll report the moment I’m released from the GSC and assigned to HHC.” _Which I will make sure is after that inspection, good luck with that_.

“OK then, it sounds like we understand each other. I think we’ll get along just fine.” _This is going to be a train wreck._“

I couldn’t agree more.”  _Yep._

“Have a nice day.”  _Fuck you._

“You too, sir.”  _Fuck you, too._


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## 0699 (Feb 18, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> “Have a nice day.” _Fuck you._
> 
> “You too, sir.” _Fuck you, too._


 
Hey!  We have the same translations in the Corps.


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## tigerstr (Feb 18, 2012)

0699 said:


> Hey! We have the same translations in the Corps.


 
In every clime and place


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## x SF med (Feb 18, 2012)

cue the John Williams soundtrack...  "Dud" gets the Darth Vader theme...    And I think Giorgio Moroder's Hero's theme from "Metropolis" for CPT(p) Faith....    and the scene gets the Good, the Bad and the Ugly theme....


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## Gypsy (Mar 12, 2012)

Anyone hear crickets?


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## pardus (Mar 12, 2012)

I refer you all to post #6 in this thread.


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## Salt USMC (Mar 15, 2012)

Im on the edge of my seat here!


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## Gypsy (Mar 15, 2012)

Deathy McDeath said:


> Im on the edge of my seat here!


 
Oh hell I've already fallen off.


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## tigerstr (Mar 15, 2012)

Gypsy said:


> Oh hell I've already fallen off.


 
X2 Mara wants us to beg for an update ;)


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## x SF med (Mar 15, 2012)

tigerstr said:


> X2 Mara wants us to beg for an update ;)


 
He's still in denial that there are no NCOs to finish this story that was started back when he actually had NCOs to write stores for him...  he's stalling until he can talk one of his fellow students into finishing ...  and proof reading... 

Begging would just feed his ego about taking credit for somebodyelse's stellar work...


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## Marauder06 (Mar 19, 2012)

After that pleasant exchange with your future/not really boss, you again tromp up the steel staircase into your company office.  You intend to have a nice long talk with LT Delano, but she is nowhere to be found.

“Where’s the lieutenant?” you ask SPD DeSilva, who happens to have orderly room duty for the day. 

“She’s in there sir,” he replies, gesturing towards a closed office door, “with Chief Rollins,” he adds ominously.  Just about the time you begin to wonder if you’re going to have to rescue LT Delano, the door opens and both she and Chief Rollins step out.  You have no idea what was discussed in the short period you were gone, but you notice that the lieutenant’s  uniform top is back on, and so is Chief Rollins’.  Both women have a neutral expression, and it’s impossible to tell what was discussed while the door was closed.

“LT Delano, if you want we can go back to my office and you and MSG Reynolds and I can chat about working out a schedule for the change of command inventories and schedule a date for me to hand over the guidon,” you say.

“Hey sir,” interjects Chief Rollins, “LT Delano has something she needs to take care of back at the Group headquarters.  I’m going to take her over and then I’ll be back and we can chat.”

That’s kind of strange, but whatever… “OK Chief, come see me when you get back.  You’re going to be the POC on our end for the change of command.”

Chief Rollins gives a thumbs up to acknowledge what you said, but after she and LT Delano turned around and began to walk out, you see Chief Rollins’ hand turn into an emphatic thumbs down.  You can’t help but laugh.

“Things are going to be pretty interesting around here after you leave,” says SPC DeSilva.  You think he’s kidding, but when you see his face, you can tell he didn’t mean it as a joke.
“Yeah, you may be right,” is all you can think of as a reply.


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## x SF med (Mar 19, 2012)

LT Delano is going to bail....  Dud did something, or she's smart enough to know (or was clued in to reality by Chief) that she doesn't have the strength of of the Chief in dealing with the Team guys and their personalities....

Closed door meeetings are bad, secret thumbs downs are worse...

(cue suspenseful music here)


----------



## Marauder06 (Jul 13, 2012)

“Well, this is a fine mess we’ve gotten ourselves into,” muttered Faith, settling into his chair behind his desk.

“What’s this ‘we,’ white man?” Reynolds responded, grinning. “I told you a long time ago that if you would listen to me more, we’d both be better off.”

“Yeah, right,” Faith responded, “If I listened to you, we’d both be in jail for kicking Jody Schum’s ass in that parking lot.”

“But you DID kick his ass,” Reynolds reminded Faith. “And look, we’re both still here,” he added, winking.

SPC Desilva suddenly appeared in the door. “Sir, you have a visitor, 1LT Castelli would like to speak with you.”

“Just what we need around here,” groused Reynolds, “another lieutenant.”

“No First Sergeant, this one is different. You’re going to like Charles Castelli,” and with that, Faith asked DeSilva to show Castelli in.

1LT Charles Castelli was tall, well-built, and showing early signs of baldness. He had an affable personality, and it wasn’t long before he had Reynolds laughing out loud with tales of the adventures that Castelli and Faith had together in Korea, where Castelli served as Faith’s company executive officer. 

“So, your boy there, Lieutenant Castelli…” Reynolds began after Castelli had departed.

“Yes?” Faith inquired.

“…what are they going to have him doing?” Reynolds finished.

“Well, the plan I worked out with MAJ Ridley was for Castelli to come to the MID, kind of like a consolation prize for not getting any of the other new LTs,” Faith responded.

“From what I’ve seen of them so far, I’m pretty glad they’re not coming here,” stated Reynolds. “But you’re right, your boy Castelli is different. And I’m not sure that the MID is the right place for him.”

“Why is that?” asked Faith, surprised.

“Well, for one thing, the MID is about to drop down to what, 12-20 guys? How many warrants and RLOs do you need to run something that size? And besides, are you really going to have one lieutenant working for another? You know that’s not going to work out.”

“So what are you suggesting? I should take him with me to the Group S2 shop? I could use a good officer there to back me up.” Faith mused.

“Sir, now you’re just being selfish,” Reynolds chided, grinning.

“What, then?

“Doesn’t the HQD still need a commander?”

“Yeah, sure does.”

“Do you think your boy Castelli can handle it?”

“Sure.”

“Would you rather have him or some no-talent assclown SF guy in that gig?”

“OK, I’m convinced,” said Faith with mock exasperation. Let me make a couple of calls. It was not a hard sell to win over MAJ Ridley, who was quite happy to finally have a name to put against that position, nor to the DCO, who was glad to have one less thing to worry about in the GSC. The last call Faith made was to Castelli himself.

“So, Charles,” Faith began, “How long have you wanted to have a command of your own?”

The whole process, from Reynolds’ recommendation to Castelli’s acceptance of the offer of command, took less than 30 minutes, but it was now about 5:30 PM.

“If only the rest of the issues we’re having could be sorted this quickly,” Faith mused.

“Tell me about it,” answered Reynolds. Glancing at his watch, he said, “Well, it looks like it’s about ‘FTS O’Clock,’ and I don’t think Chief Rollins is coming back. Want to go get a beer?”

“Sure,” replied Faith, grabbing his beret off the desk and heading for the door.


----------



## 0699 (Jul 14, 2012)

Holy fuck.  I'd written this off as the story that would never be told...


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## Marauder06 (Jul 14, 2012)

0699 said:


> Holy fuck. I'd written this off as the story that would never be told...


 
lol

Yeah, this was a classic case of "the perfect being the enemy of the sufficient."  I had a lot of conflicting storylines I wanted to work in, and I couldn't get it all to come out right.  So nothing got done at all.  I literally re-wrote the whole thing like four times, still not happy with it.  But then I thought that the best one of these that we did, "The Loyal Wife," was done without a whole lot of forethought, just a couple of lines of typing and some good input from the site.  So that's what I'm going to do from now on, not overthink it, just do it.


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## Marauder06 (Jul 14, 2012)

By the way, sorry for switching from present tense to past tense, etc., I think the story flows better by being the past tense.

Chief Rollins is waiting outside your office the next morning when you show up for PT. She apologized for not coming back last night, but explained that she and LT Delano actually ended up hitting it off quite well. “I think she’s going to be OK, sir,” she added enthusiastically. 

The offices of the MID are in the old post stockade, with the MID occupying the upstairs, and a “special” ODA and the sniper locker in the lower level where the cells are. There is limited phone access, and no Internet into the building. The only good thing about this arrangement is that there are very few uninvited guests to the area, since it’s a bit of a drive away from the main Group compound. And it has a very, very nice shower.

Being almost 6’6”, most showerheads get CPT Faith at chest level, right about where the name tags on his uniform would be. But with the showerheads in the MID offices being in the ceiling, and having near-scalding water and tremendous water pressure, it’s actually quite pleasant to shower there after a nice, long run.

Faith heard the phone in his office ringing as he shuffled back in flipflops, towel still draped around his waist. The answering machine kicked in, and he heard MAJ Ripley’s voice asking for Faith to come by the GSC headquarters building first chance he got. Faith closed the door to his office, got dressed, and called Ripley to let him know he was on the way. Because of the road closures for PT hours, and the large formations of running troops he had to dodge, it tool Faith a little longer than usual to get back over to Ripley’s office. When he arrived, Faith saw that his boss had a worried look on his face.

“Look, I hate to drop this on you, but I’m leaving for Iraq in a couple of days and I have something that can’t wait until I get back to get sorted out,” he began.

“OK sir,” Faith responded, cautiously. Ripley seemed unusually concerned.

“Here’s the deal. One of the riggers came to see me yesterday. He says his wife was fooling around with him while he was deployed.”

“OK…” Faith prompted, unsure what this had to do with him.

“He says it’s a guy in the unit,” Ripley said.

“Ah,” said Faith, still not sure why this would be such a concern to Ripley; this isn’t the first time that this kind of thing had happened in the GSC. Now that he thought about it, this wasn’t the first time that it happened amongst the rigger s in the GSC. This is a pretty standard thing that any officer could handle. It would be a great learning experience for a young officer… and now the Group has plenty of those wandering around. Maybe Ripley just wanted Faith’s help in determine which new “O” would have to pull the duty. LT Castelli might be a good one for that.

“He says it was an officer.”

“Oh, I see now.” Well, that kind of changes things.

“Look, Scott,” said Ripley, imploringly. “I need to you do the investigation on this.”

An adultery investigation? Now? With everything else going on? “Sir, I’ve got three changes of command I’m working on, the GSD, mine in the MID, and yours here with the GSC. On top of that, I’m supposed to be transitioning with The Dud, and we’ve got that big annual inspection coming up. Maybe we ought to give this to someone else.”

“I thought about that,” said Ripley, leaning back in his chair. “But let’s run through the list of available officers. First of all, it’s going to have to be a captain or above. I’m heading to Iraq for the PDSS,” this was news to Faith, he didn’t realize that Ripley was heading out to do a pre-deployment site survey, “Tamara Beverly is away on leave. Simon Criss is heading over to 2/16th,” he added, ticking off fingers. “That leaves you.”
“What about Al James?” Faith spouted, frustrated. “He doesn’t do shit around here right now anyway.”
Ripley paused and leaned back in his chair. “I think it might be him,” he said slowly.

“Wait, what?” Faith exclaimed, shocked.

“Look, Scott, I need this done, I need it done now, and I need it done right. If there is an officer sleeping with the wife of one of my Soldiers, I need to know that. Right now you’re the only one I have who can do it, and even if everyone else were available, I’d still want you on it, because I know it would be done right. Now are you going to do this for me or not?”

“Yes sir,” Faith said, a little more sullenly than he intended. One of the things that Faith liked about Ripley was the way he tended to lead by consent, rather than by dictate. It would have been a lot easier, and less time consuming, for Ripley to simply say, “STFU and do this investigation.” But taking the time to explain his reasoning, and to get Faith on board, provided a valuable learning experience for Faith, and helped ensure that Faith would be more motivated to do a good job on the investigation.

“Look sir, you know I’ll do anything that needs to be done for the Group,” Faith started, tentatively. “But are you sure about this? I mean, I don’t particularly like Al James, and he has been acting a little weird lately, but I have never heard about him being involved with anyone other than his wife. Al James is kind of the DCO’s boy, and I know from personal experience from company command in Korea, that in situations like this, unless you have a confession from BOTH parties, and/or pictures of them in the act, it’s very, very hard to get someone to prosecute an adultery case.”

Without speaking, Ripley opened a desk drawer, pulled out a thin manila envelope, and dropped it with a “smack!” on the top of his desk. Faith could see the edges of several photographs peeking out from the borders of the folder.

Faith looked at the close folder, and then up Ripley. “Sir, I’ll get started on this right away."


----------



## alibi (Jul 14, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> “Well, this is a fine mess we’ve gotten ourselves into,” muttered Faith, settling into his chair behind his desk.
> 
> “What’s this ‘we,’ white man?” Reynolds responded, grinning.


 
After that, here's my mental sketch of Faith and Reynolds:


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## Marauder06 (Jul 15, 2012)

So now CPT Faith has this adultery investigation dumped on him.  He is also responsible for his own change of command, overseeing the GSC change of command, and he wants to make sure that LT Castelli's assumption of command of the HQD goes smoothly.  Additionally, he is supposed to be easing into the position of Group S2, which he knows is in shambles, and there is a big annual inspection coming up.  Further complicating the situation, Faith's boss, MAJ Ripley, is now heading off to Iraq for God-knows-how-long, and the guy who is supposed to be taking over from him, CPT Al James, is not only a weirdo, but now might also be implicated in the adultery scandal.

What should CPT Faith do?  How should he prioritize, and what should he do about the investigation he has been given?


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## CDG (Jul 15, 2012)

Wow..... CPT Faith is definitely in the middle of a massive shitstorm.  I think he needs to focus on the investigation right now.  The changes of command could be handled with a more hands-off approach where he only steps in if something goes awry.  A less than stellar CoC would be far less damaging to the unit in the long run than a sloppy or incomplete investigation into an officer sleeping with an enlisted guy's wife.  That ticking time bomb has the potential to go very, very badly.  If the enlisted cats feel that the investigation was poorly done, it looks like an "O" trying to cover up for another "O", and even with CPT Faith leaving, could have serious ramifications as far as trust in the command structure goes.  Not too mention that if the enlisted guys decide the command isn't doing enough and they decide to take matters into their own hands, you could potentially end up with assault, or even murder, charges.  The command would be left in shambles with something like that going on.


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## Marauder06 (Jul 15, 2012)

Back in his office a short time later, Faith reviewed the contents of the envelope that MAJ Ripley had passed him.  Inside it were a handful of photos and a sworn statement, signed by a Sergeant Smalls in the HSD.  Faith didn’t recognize the name.  Nor did he immediately recognize anyone in the photos, which was a bit of a relief.  Reading through the statement, Faith saw that SGT Smalls, upon returning from a recent deployment from Iraq, found a handful of digital pictures on his home computer that included shots of his wife in… compromising situations with other men.  SGT Smalls identified two of the men by name, and said that they were other members of the riggers’ section.  SGT Smalls also said that when he confronted his wife, she first denied being unfaithful, but when pressed, defiantly admitted the affair(s) .  She also hinted that there was an officer involved, but she refused to name him and Smalls did not provide any additional information.

SGT Smalls’ wife was what Faith’s best friend, an Army nurse, would call a BMW- “Big Military Wife.”  Even if “the camera adds ten pounds,” the woman in the picture must be pushing close to 200 pounds.  Even more disgusting than Mrs. Small’s appearance was the various acts in which she was engaged.  In the photos were two young men and Mrs. Smalls.  Taking a closer look, Faith thought he vaguely recognized one of the men.  He was relieved to see that neither of the men even slightly resembled Al James.

About this time, First Sergeant Reynolds entered the office.  “Mornin’ sir,” he said, tossing his beret on the text and taking off his uniform blouse.  “It’s going to be another hot one.”  Seeing the papers and photos spread across Faith’s desk, he asked, “What’s this, then?”

“SGT Small’s wife has been fooling around on him, and MAJ Ripley wants me to investigate it,” Faith sighed, exasperated. 

“Why is having you do this?  We have a shitload of new LTs who can handle something like this,” he responded.

“That’s what I said too!” Faith exclaimed, “Except MAJ Ripley thinks there may be an officer involved.”

“Ah, well that changes things, let’s see what you’ve got,” said Reynolds, spreading out the photos and papers for a better look.

“Wow, not exactly a prom queen, was she?” Reynolds said, more a statement of fact than a question.  “OK, this guy right here, this is SPC Jones from the riggers’ shed. And this guy is…” he pondered for a second or two, “… this is SPC… no, PFC Neidermeyer.  Also from the rigger shed.

“Great, thanks,” said Faith, writing down the two names.  “I’m just glad that Al James wasn’t in those photos.”
“Why would you think that?” inquired Reynolds, perplexed.

“Ah, it’s just something that MAJ Ripley mentioned, it’s not important.  It’s clear he’s not in any of these pictures,” replied Faith, waving his hand dismissively over the photos.

“Well sir,” said Reynolds, “Look at these photos, the angles and stuff.  Someone had to be there, taking the pictures…” 

“Yeah,” said Faith deflatedly, after a second or two.  “You’re right about that.”

“This is bullshit,” Faith exclaimed, disappointed that he couldn’t immediately rule James out in this investigation.  “I don’t have time to do this stupid-ass investigation right now.  I’ve got three changes of command going on, Ripley’s leaving on a PDSS to Iraq for God-knows-how-long, and to top it off, the guy who is supposed to be taking over for him, Al James, is not only bat-shit crazy, but he’s possibly banging the fat-ass, heavy-drop wife of one of his own troops.  And I get left to sort out the details.  Plus, I’m supposed to be taking over for The Dud, and there’s that annual inspection coming up, that I KNOW is going to be all f’d up.  Bullshit,” Faith said with finality, tossing his pencil onto the desk and leaning back in his chair, hands behind his head.  “Plus it’s always so f-ing HOT in here.”

Reynolds laughed.  “Look sir, it’s not that bad.”  Responding to a quizzical look from Faith, Reynolds continues, “You’ve been in what, 10 years and you still haven’t figured out how to delegate?  What’s the most important thing on your plate?”

“Well, according to Ridley, it’s this investigation,” Faith answered.

“OK, then you concentrate on that.  You’ve got a whole admin and logistics section on the GSC.  They are good troops, and they can get the details of the GSC change of command worked out.  As far as the MID change of command, I’m fairly certain that between Chief Reynolds and LT Delano, that’s all going to come out just fime.  And as far as the HQD change of command, tell me why you’re involved in that at all?

“Well, it’s Castelli’s first command, and I want to make sure it all goes smoothly for him.”

“Didn’t you say that Castelli is a good O?”

“Yes,” Faith responded.

“And do you think you’re going to have to hold his hand all through his command?”

“No, of course not, or I wouldn’t have recommended him  for the job in the first place.”

“Then let him do his thing, sir, he’ll be fine.  So that’s off your plate.  That leaves you with the adultery investigation, which with the photos and all ought to be pretty open and shut, and then the inspection.  But you have to do that every year anyway, so it’s not like it’s going to be all that much work.”

“Yeah,” said Faith, feeling a bit less stressed, “But it’s still Africa hot in here,” he joked.

“Well, if you’d take off your uniform top every once in a while, maybe you’d be a little cooler,” offered Reynolds helpfully.

“I told you before, I think that’s unofficer-ly,” replied Faith.

At that moment, The Dud appeared at the door, with Chief Rollins and LT Delano in tow.  Not waiting to knock or to announce himself, he walked on in to the office.  “Keep your seats,” he announced to the room.  The Dud, red-faced and puffing from the walk across the parking lot and the ascent up the steel stairs, had already stripped off his uniform top.  Perspiration had begun to form under his armpits, and a “muffin top” blossomed unappealingly from where his belt met his t-shirt.  In short, he looked like a bag of crap.

“Point taken,” said Reynolds out loud, referring to Faith’s earlier “unofficer-ly” comment.


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## Mac_NZ (Jul 16, 2012)

So when are you going to change the name of this from "Karma" to "50 shades of green"?


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## Marauder06 (Jul 16, 2012)

Mac_NZ said:


> So when are you going to change the name of this from "Karma" to "50 shades of green"?


 
Unfortunately, the "50 shades" stuff that goes on in this case study, actually happened.  The whole "you can't really prove adultery without photos" thing is almost exactly how it went down between my boss and me.

And then there's the thumb drive that was found in the parking lot... :sick:


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## Chopstick (Jul 16, 2012)




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## Mac_NZ (Jul 16, 2012)

Fuck me sideways...


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## Marauder06 (Jul 16, 2012)

Mac_NZ said:


> Fuck me sideways...


 
That's a good way to summarize the contents of that thumbdrive.  Which by the way were unrelated to the adultery case.

I sent Chopstick a PM detailing exactly what happened, as well as a short description of what my detachment sergeant found when we went to one of my guy's houses to get his deployment gear for him (he was under a restraining order, and his girlfriend was still living at his house).

But that's all kind of getting away from what this case study is about, which is leadership and professional development.  I'm sure there are people on the site who are much more adept than I when it comes to writing about more prurient topics ;)


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## Chopstick (Jul 16, 2012)

Chopstick is making the popcorn....


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## LimaOscarSierraTango (Jul 16, 2012)

So obviously a reflection of the camera man was in a mirror or the sweaty rump of the cow that was being shagged, no?  Maybe a letter was found?  Shit, I was hoping the dirty deeds was between Delano and Rollins. LOL!


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## Marauder06 (Jul 19, 2012)

LimaOscarSierraTango said:


> So obviously a reflection of the camera man was in a mirror or the sweaty rump of the cow that was being shagged, no? Maybe a letter was found? Shit, *I was hoping the dirty deeds was between Delano and Rollins*. LOL!


 
There will be none of that, lol.  I already feel the storyline drifting a bit from what it is supposed to be about, which is leadership.  I'll try to get it back on track with the next couple of posts.


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## Marauder06 (Jul 19, 2012)

“Good morning sir,” Faith said pleasantly to The Dud.  “What can I do for you today?”

“Oh, Mary here,” he began, indicating LT Delano, “said she was coming over here to do some change of command stuff, and I thought I’d come too, you know, to help out.”

Faith saw Chief Rollins inconspicuously roll her eyes towards the ceiling.  Thinking back, you can recall a grand total of three times that The Dud has ever bothered to take the time to bring his fat ass all the way over to the MID.  Two have those three times have been with LT Delano.  Interesting.

“Well sir, you know, I think the lieutenant, the chief, and First Sergeant have that under control,” Faith stated evenly, “But I’ve been wanting to talk to you about the upcoming inspection anyway.  Did you drive or ride with Chief and LT Delano?”

“Uh, we all rode over together in Chief’s car,” he replied dully.  Outside of The Dud’s field of view, Chief Rollins made a pistol sign out of her index finger and thumb, put it to her head, and “fired.”  Clearly, she was not pleased with having him come along for the ride.

“Perfect.  Tell you what, I’ll grab my hat and we’ll take my truck back over to the Group headquarters, I have some people I need to talk to and I’m working on something I need your advice on,” Faith stated, gathering the papers and photos together and putting them back into the file.

“Great idea, sir!” exclaimed Chief Rollins, quickly exiting the room.

“See you later, Major Dudley,” said LT Delano, departing just as rapidly.


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## x SF med (Jul 20, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> ...
> What should CPT Faith do? How should he prioritize, and what should he do about the investigation he has been given?


 
my answers:
Drink heavily.
Start with beer, move to scotch, then moonshine.
Shoot Al James and the Dud for GP.


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## Marauder06 (Jul 20, 2012)

x SF med said:


> my answers:
> Drink heavily.
> Start with beer, move to scotch, then moonshine.
> *Shoot Al James and the Dud for GP*.


 
Well, some of that might sort itself out on its own before too much longer.


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## CDG (Jul 20, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> before too much longer.


 
Yeah, sure.  Whatever you say, sir.


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## Marauder06 (Jul 20, 2012)

CDG said:


> Yeah, sure. Whatever you say, sir.


 
lol

I really do think that I'm going to have this one finished, if not posted, NLT tomorrow night.  I need to get this done and off my "shit I haven't done but said I would do" list.


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## Marauder06 (Jul 20, 2012)

Any conversation with The Dud tends to be mindnumbingly irritating, and the talk that took place during the ride back over to the Group headquarters building proved to be no exception.  The Dud spent most of the time talking about (well, stammering through) a lengthy and confusing train of reasoning why it was good he was leaving Group, and how his next job at Division is a promotion.  Faith stopped listening shortly after The Dud started talking, and was grateful that the drive only lasted 20 minutes.  Faith had intended to talk with The Dud a bit about their pending turnover, but even after this little bit of time with him, Faith felt himself getting irritated.  So it was a with a bit of relief that when they pulled into the parking lot, he saw MAJ Ripley standing outside with a duffle bag and stuffed kit bag at his feet.

“Hey sir,” said Faith, “hate to cut you off, but I need to see MAJ Ripley real quick.  Can I come see you in your office later?”

“Uh, sure,” said the Dud as Faith parked the car and the two parted company.

“Hey sir!” said Faith enthusiastically as he approached Ripley.  As he got closer, Faith noticed that Al James was standing beside Ridley.

“Scott!” exclaimed Ripley, “I’m glad I got to see you before I had to take off.”

“I didn’t know you were leaving so soon,” replied Faith.

“Yeah, I didn’t either, but the CJSOTF says they need me as soon as possible, and there’s a Task Force C-17 leaving this afternoon.  I’m just waiting for my ride to get here to take me to the airfield.”

“Well, sir, I’m not doing anything right now,” said Faith, “I’ll be glad to run you down to the airfield.”

“I think I’ve given you enough to do already,” Ripley stated with a wink.  “My wife is on her way here, thanks for the offer.”

Ripley paused and looked at Faith for a moment.  “I know you have a lot on your plate right now, but I wouldn’t have put it all on you if I didn’t think you could handle it.  Knowing that you’re going to be here when I’m gone is a load off my mind.  Especially with the most recent thing I gave you to do,” he added, meaning the investigation.  Faith, feeling a bit awkward, involuntarily glanced over at Al James, who did not seem to be paying the slightest bit of attention to the conversation.

“Uh, roger, sir,” mumbled Faith.

“OK, here’s my ride,” said Ridley.  “Scott, you’re a fine officer and I’m very pleased to have known you.”  He shook Faith’s hand, and then James’, and then tossed his bags into the car’s trunk.

“See you when you get back, sir,” said Faith, optimistically.

Ripley pauued for a moment, both hands on the top of the open truck lid.  “Right,” he replied with a sigh.  With that, the slammed the trunk shut, got into the car, and was gone.

Faith looked over at James; throughout this whole time, Al James had said nothing.  He shook hands with Ripley before he left, but it was without warmth, almost… mechanical.  

“Hey Al, how are things going?” Faith asked.

“My wife is divorcing me,” he said, without emotion.  And then he turned and walked away.

“What weirdo,” Faith said out loud to himself after James was safely out of earshot.


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## Marauder06 (Jul 20, 2012)

Since he was already in the area, Faith decided to go over to the HQD to see if he could arrange an appointment with SGT Small to talk about the investigation.  His intention was to speak with both CPT Castelli, who was shortly to assume command of the HQD, and the HQD’s detachment sergeant, Master Sergeant Horner.  However, he found that both men were out doing change of command inventories, and probably wouldn’t be back until much later that afternoon.  SGT Small, however, was there.

Faith decided to break protocol a bit and not inform either the commander or the detachment sergeant about the investigation before talking to SGT Smalls.  Smalls is a tough-looking man with a bushy moustache and rough hands.  He seemed dejected and resigned about his wife cheating on him with other Soldiers.

“This isn’t the first time this has happened, sir,” he said when Faith explained about the investigation.  “I already filed the divorce papers.  It’s time for me to finally DX her and get on with my life.”

Faith and Small talked for about 30 minutes, during which time Small explained how he came to discover the photos and thereby uncover his wife’s latest infidelity.  He said his wife readily enough provided details about the two Soldiers in the pictures, but flatly refused to give up any details about the “officer” she claimed had also been there.
“Do you have any idea who it might be?” inquired Faith.

“No sir, and I’m not even sure if she’s telling the truth about that in the first place.  She was probably just trying to start trouble.”

“Does your wife know any of the officers in the Group?”  Faith prompted.

“Not as far as I know,” Small replied.

“Not even CPT James?” Faith prodded.

Small was silent for a second.  “Sir, I’ve known CPT James for a long time.  He and I served together in both Afghanistan and Iraq.  He is an officer of the highest integrity, and no I don’t believe for a second he had anything to do with this.”

Faith, wishing he had been a bit more subtle, said nothing.

Small leaned back in his chair.  “Look, sir, I just want this to be over.  It’s embarrassing enough that it happened, and that everyone knows about it.  I’m divorcing my wife, and I just want it to be over with.  I don’t want to press charges or whatever.”

“You don’t want the people who did this to be punished?”  Faith inquired, incredulously.

“That has already been taken care of, sir,” Small said evenly.

Faith didn’t exactly know what that meant, but he could imagine.

“OK, well listen, I have your sworn statements, I am going to talk to the other guys involved, and the commander finds them guilty, then I’m sure he’ll mete out appropriate punishment.  And I’m going to see if I can find out who the other person involved was, if there was one.”

“Whatever you want to do, sir, I’m done with her and I don’t care anymore.”



Given this information, how should Faith proceed with the investigation?


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## Chopstick (Jul 20, 2012)

Yes, Faith should proceed.  While I make more popcorn.


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## Marauder06 (Jul 20, 2012)

Chopstick said:


> Yes, Faith should proceed. While I make more popcorn.


 
Well of course he "*should*" proceed, ;) but *how*?


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## Chopstick (Jul 20, 2012)

I dont even understand what all the three initial things stand for.  IDK.  Just proceed!


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## Marauder06 (Jul 20, 2012)

Chopstick said:


> I dont even understand what all the three initial things stand for. IDK. Just proceed!


Fine.  But you're even more of a slave driver than MAJ Ripley!  ;)

Over the next couple of days, Faith interviewed the two Soldiers who had been seen with Small’s wife.  Both of them showed very conspicuous signed of having recently been in a fight, but neither of them would discuss it when Faith asked them about the scuffs and scars.  They also refused to say who the third person involved in the affair was, both of them invoking their right against self-incrimination.  Faith found this a bit strange, since they were willing to admit to the affair, but not willing to rat out their third compatriot.  Both seemed genuinely remorseful. 

With the confessions in hand, and getting nowhere with figuring out who the third person was, the investigation didn’t take much time.  Faith completed his report, recommending a relatively light punishment in part due to the “barracks justice” he perceived had already been delivered.  He recommended extra duty, a fine, and a transfer out of the Group as punishment for both men.  Of the three, transfer out of Group was the worst punishment.
Faith was not pleased that he was unable to find out anything else about this mysterious “officer” that Small’s wife mentioned, but MAJ Ripley told him to forget it, and the case was closed.

So, was a fine, extra duty, and getting PNG’d from Group sufficient punishment?  What would you have recommended in this situation? And would you have continued to pursue the unknown “third cheater?”


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## HoosierAnnie (Jul 20, 2012)

Damn too bad I'm writing about Marines :-"


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## LimaOscarSierraTango (Jul 20, 2012)

<sarcasm>Like other commands and brush it under the rug.... </sarcasm>

SGT Smalls has come to terms with the issue. While he is "done", SGT Smalls may still come into contact with these cats at a later date. There is no guarantee he will keep his cool.

I think Faith has an obligation to investigate this matter to protect everyone involved (ie transfer or discharge the guilty and keep them away from Smalls... who I would want to protect the most in this situation). I also believe Faith has an obligation to find out who the cameraman is. That will send a message to others to not involve themselves in helping with the infidelity of a soldier or their spouse, even if they aren't an active participant in the sexual conduct. I also believe Faith needs to find out if there was in fact an officer involved.

Pull out the torches and pitch forks!

Edit:  Damn!  I type too slow. LOL


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## LimaOscarSierraTango (Jul 20, 2012)

I feel the punishment was just.  I think that would be par for the course in this type of situation.


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## 104TN (Jul 20, 2012)

Read the riot act to the two dudes confirmed to be in the photo and scare the identity of the 3rd out of them.

Then waterboard everyone involved for good measure.


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## CDG (Jul 21, 2012)

I have a feeling MAJ Ripley is more involved in this than we realize so far.


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## Marauder06 (Jul 21, 2012)

Happy to have the investigation behind him, Faith was now able to concentrate on the other major tasks on his list.  Faith scanned his completed investigation and emailed it to MAJ Ripley, who approved it without comment.  The two individuals who had cheated with SGT Smalls’ wife were transferred to Group headquarters, where they served out their extra duty on CQ and were then transferred down the street to Division.  Good riddance.

First Sergeant Reynolds and the rest of the MID had conducted a very thorough change of command inventory with 1LT Delano, and the Detachment seemed to have warmed up to her very nicely.  Faith knew that it was hard for a new commander, especially someone relatively unknown, to take over for a commander who was well-liked.  This was especially true when the departing commander doesn’t leave the overall unit.  Faith tried his best to start handing the reigns over to Delano piece by piece, subtly beginning the process of transferring the responsibility of command to her while ensuring the overall process went smoothly.   CPT Castelli’s assumption of command for the HQD was likewise going smoothly, with no involvement from Faith whatsoever. 

One thing that was not going so well, was CPT James’ assumption of command of the GSC.  Faith hadn’t seen James around in a few days, and had assumed he was doing change of command inventories.  But when the GSC supply sergeant called and asked Faith if he had seen James, Faith was able to piece together that no one in the Group had seen Al James in a couple of days.

“Hey sir,” said Staff Sergeant Clark, the GSC supply sergeant, “Have you seen CPT James?”

“Not since probably last Thursday, what’s up?” Faith replied.

“I’m doing his inventories, and I haven’t seen him around in a couple of days.  We’re missing a classified laptop, and the last person to have signed for it is him.  We’re also missing a couple of other things that were accounted for before MAJ Ripley left, but we can’t find now.  I just wanted to see if you knew where he was, so we can get this sorted out.”

“Well, did you call him?” Faith asked.

“Well, sir, I was kind of hoping you’d do that.  CPT James has been acting kind of strange lately, and I don’t want to risk pissing him off.”

Tell me about it, Faith thought.

“Yeah, that’s fine, I’ll give him a ring and find out what’s up.”

“Thanks, sir,” said SSG Clark as he hung up.



OK, so the situation is, Faith’s commander is in Iraq, and the guy who is supposed to take over for him (and who seems to be acting weirder and weirdOK, so the situation is, Faith’s commander is in Iraq, and the guy who is supposed to take over for him (and who seems to be acting weirder and weirder) hasn’t been seen in a couple of days. What do you do?


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## Chopstick (Jul 21, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> OK, so the situation is, Faith’s commander is in Iraq, and the guy who is supposed to take over for him (and who seems to be acting weirder and weirdOK, so the situation is, Faith’s commander is in Iraq, and the guy who is supposed to take over for him (and who seems to be acting weirder and weirder) hasn’t been seen in a couple of days.What do you do?


Weirder and weirder and weirder ok. 
As you know, all of these 3 letter abbreviations are hard for me to sort through but Id say if a classified laptop is missing and he is the guy who signed it out Faith HAS to find Al James and fairly quickly.   Id call Gibbs, NCIS.


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## Marauder06 (Jul 21, 2012)

1LT = first lieutenant
CPT = captain
MAJ = major
SGT = sergeant
HQD = Headquarters Detachment
GSC = Group Support Company
MID = Military Intelligence Detachment
CQ = charge of quarters


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## Chopstick (Jul 21, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> 1LT = first lieutenant
> CPT = captain
> MAJ = major
> SGT = sergeant
> ...


This should be a stickie somewhere....
The civilian chick thanks you!


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## Marauder06 (Jul 21, 2012)

We used to have an "acronym" thread, I wonder what happened to it.


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## Chopstick (Jul 21, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> We used to have an "acronym" thread, I wonder what happened to it.


Dont try to change the subject!  Where is the laptop???


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## Marauder06 (Jul 21, 2012)

Chopstick said:


> Dont try to change the subject! Where is the laptop???


 
lol


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## policemedic (Jul 21, 2012)

I wonder how much Big Military Wife porn is on the laptop :-"


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## 0699 (Jul 21, 2012)

CDG said:


> I have a feeling MAJ Ripley is more involved in this than we realize so far.


 
I'm starting to think Capt Faith is more involved in this then we know.  Like Kevin Costner's character in _No Way Out_.


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## LimaOscarSierraTango (Jul 21, 2012)

Time to take a trip to the soon-to-be ex Mrs. Smalls' place...  or maybe it is time to get CID involved?  That is probably an over reaction, but with the recent investigation and a classified laptop missing...  It might be worth it.

I would check CPT Jame's place, then her place.  If both are dry holes, I would call CID and wash my hands of it.


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## policemedic (Jul 21, 2012)

LimaOscarSierraTango said:


> I would check CPT Jame's place, then her place. If both are dry holes,


 
I don't think her hole is dry.  :-"


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## Marauder06 (Jul 21, 2012)

Chopstick said:


> Dont try to change the subject! Where is the laptop???


 
What laptop?



policemedic said:


> I wonder how much Big Military Wife porn is on the laptop :-"


 
Hmm... I guess we'll have to find that out.



0699 said:


> I'm starting to think Capt Faith is more involved in this then we know. Like Kevin Costner's character in _No Way Out_.


 
lol, I'm not that creative.  Faith is the hero of this story, remember?  Plus I have it on pretty good authority that he doesn't dig BMWs.


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## Marauder06 (Jul 21, 2012)

Faith let out a loud sigh as he pulled out the Group alert roster and started thumbing through it to find James’ phone number.

“What are you doing, sir?” inquired First Sergeant Reynolds.

“Cleaning up someone else’s messes, again.  Have you seen CPT James around in the last couple of days?”  Faith asked him.

“No, but that’s not unusual, there are lots of folks I rarely see,” Reynolds responded.

“Roger,” Faith countered, “but it seems like no one has seen him at all in a couple of days.  I’m going to get his number and give him a ring, to try to find out WTF is going on with him.”

Faith found James’ number and dialed it.  He was surprised to hear a woman’s voice answer, but then remembered that James is married.

“Hello?”

“Um, hi, this is CPT Faith from 2nd Group,” Faith stammered, then recovering: “I’m calling for CPT James, is he in?”

“Look,” said the woman, who Faith assumed was Mrs. James, “I called you guys a week ago and told you that I found out my husband had been cheating on me.  That’s a crime under Army law, right?”

“Yes, adultery is a crime under the UCMJ,” Faith answered.

“Well, I found out about it because there were a bunch of emails and pictures from his twiggly little blonde whore on this laptop he brought home and gave to my son.  I kicked him out of the house and haven’t seen or heard from him since.”

Concerned, Faith asked, “You haven’t seen your husband in a week?”

“No.”

“We haven’t seen him either.”

There was silence for a moment and both Faith and Mrs. James mulled this over.

“That computer, your husband didn’t bring it home from work, did he?”

“I think so, maybe, yeah,” replied Mrs. James.

“Listen, would it be OK for me to send someone over to pick it up?” Faith asked.

“It belongs to my son now,” said Mrs. James, defiantly.

Thinking quickly, Faith stated, “Sure, but how can we take any action against your husband for cheating if we don’t have any evidence?”  Before she could respond, Faith added, “Look, I have your address here, I’ll send someone over to get that laptop and we’ll see what we can do for you, OK?”

“Fine.”

When he hung up the phone, Faith saw Reynolds looking at him expectantly.  “First Sergeant, please go get Chief Rollins and bring her in here, the three of us need to have a talk.”  When Reynolds returned with Rollins, Faith explained the situation and dispatched Rollins and another Soldier to Mrs. James’ house to recover the laptop.  As she left, Rollins commented, “Sir, you might want to let the Group S2 know about this.”


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## Chopstick (Jul 21, 2012)

^^^^^^^ THAT laptop said Chopstick as she makes more popcorn!


Marauder06 said:


> What laptop?


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## LimaOscarSierraTango (Jul 22, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> “Look,” said the woman, who Faith assumed was Mrs. James, “I called you guys a week ago and told you that I found out my husband had been cheating on me. That’s a crime under Army law, right?”
> 
> “Yes, adultery is a crime under the UCMJ,” Faith answered.


 
Yes and no...?  I tried doing some research on this and I thought it kind of fell under a catch-all (Article 134), but is only applicable if it "embarrasses the military".  This scenario I believe falls under one of the three, but not all acts of adultery seem to from what I remember.

If someone could clarify, that would be great.

So if it IS that laptop, there are a hell of a lot of other issues at hand that Faith needs to be worried about than just adultery...  I think someone may be looking at a DD when this is all over?


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## Salt USMC (Jul 22, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> When Reynolds returned with Rollins, Faith explained the situation and dispatched Rollins and another Soldier to Mrs. James’ house to recover the laptop. As she left, Rollins commented, “Sir, you might want to let the Group S2 know about this.”


 
Im assuming that the plan is to have the contents of the laptop exploited by the S2.  Since you're dealing with American citizens, however, wouldn't this be an IO violation?


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## Marauder06 (Jul 22, 2012)

LimaOscarSierraTango said:


> Yes and no...? I tried doing some research on this and I thought it kind of fell under a catch-all (Article 134), but is only applicable if it "embarrasses the military". This scenario I believe falls under one of the three, but not all acts of adultery seem to from what I remember.
> 
> If someone could clarify, that would be great.


 
Yep; got to love good *ol' Article 134*.  The key phrase is "contrary to good order and discipline," which is subject to wide interpretation.



LimaOscarSierraTango said:


> So if it IS that laptop, there are a hell of a lot of other issues at hand that Faith needs to be worried about than just adultery... I think *someone may be looking at a DD when this is all over?*


 
Or something, yeah.  ;)



Deathy McDeath said:


> Im assuming that the plan is to have the contents of the laptop exploited by the S2. Since you're dealing with American citizens, however, wouldn't this be an IO violation?


 
IO (intel oversight) usually only kicks in when you're obtaining/retaining information for intelligence purposes.  Commanders, even intel commanders, are completely within their rights to conduct legit criminal investigations.

Now, the problem here is, James is not under Faith's command, and Faith has not been appointed to conduct an investigation.  He also obtained evidence (in this case the laptop) and has not maintained an effective chain of custody.  So who knows what might happen in all of this.


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## 0699 (Jul 22, 2012)

"Twiggly little blond whore" means it isn't Sgt Smalls wife.  Hope it's not the new LT...


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## Marauder06 (Jul 22, 2012)

Faith felt like he needed to tell someone about it, but he didn’t want to involve the inept Dud.  So he called the Group DCO.

“Hey sir,” Faith began, “I need to talk to you about something important.  Do you have a few minutes?”

“Yes, we were about to go to lunch, do you want to join us?”  the DCO replied.

“That would be fine sir, who else is going to be there?” Faith asked, not wanting to unnecessarily air dirty laundry.

“Just you, me, and Al James,” he answered.

“You’re meeting Al James for lunch, sir?” Faith asked, somewhat surprised.

“Actually, he’s already here, we’re walking over to the Stab and Jab for a quick bite,  Meet you over there?”

Not knowing what else to say, Faith replied, “Sure, sir, see you guys there.”

After placing the handset back in the receiver, Faith looked over to Reynolds and said, “First Sergeant, I think I need you to have lunch with me.”

Faith didn’t know exactly what to expect from this lunch with the DCO and Al James, but what happened was definitely not what he expected.  Throughout the entire lunch, Al James acted… normal. Absolutely.100%.Normal.  Unlike the last time they had lunch together, this time Al James heaped his plate with healthy food, and actually ate it.  Over the course of lunch, he told several lengthy and, Faith had to admit, very entertaining stories about his time in Pakistan and his later grad school experiences at Yale.  He acted every bit the engaging, intelligent, and interesting person that everyone seemed to think he was.

“So Scott,” said the DCO during a lull in the conversation, “What did you want to talk to me about?”

“Nothing important sir, it can wait until after lunch,” Faith replied.

“Oh come now,” James interrupted, “It’s bad karma to keep something inside like that, things need to be let out.”

“OK then, sir- I think CPT James here has been nailing an enlisted man’s wife, has been cheating on his own wife with someone else, he has been AWOL for at least three days, and it looks like he stole a classified laptop, took it home and gave it to his son.  And oh yeah, despite how he is acting right now, I’m pretty sure he has gone bat-shit crazy.”  At least, that’s what Faith wanted to say.

Instead, he said, irritably, “You know Al, you say that a lot.”

“What’s that?” James inquired, cheerfully.

“Karma.  It’s always ‘Karma this,’ and “Karma that’ with you.”

“Yeah, that’s something I picked up in Pakistan.  I’m a big believer in karma; people get what they deserve,everything happens for a reason, and everything evens out in the end.”

“Right,” said Faith, shifting his attention back to his lunch plate.

Just then, the DCO’s cell phone rang.  He answered it, then abruptly set his fork back down on his place.  “I see.  Well, I’ll be over there in just a few minutes.”  Hanging up, he looked at James, and then at Faith.

“That was the staff duty NCO.  They just got a call on the red line from the CJSOTF.  There was a mortar attack, MAJ Ripley is dead.  I need to get back to the office.” 

Not waiting for a response, he rose and left the restaurant.  The other three at the table, Faith, James, and Reynolds, said nothing for a long moment, trying to absorb the enormity of the DCO’s words.

“Well, I guess we better leave too,” said Reynolds eventually.


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## CDG (Jul 22, 2012)

Damn...... Didn't see that coming.


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## Salt USMC (Jul 22, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> IO (intel oversight) usually only kicks in when you're obtaining/retaining information for intelligence purposes. Commanders, even intel commanders, are completely within their rights to conduct legit criminal investigations.


 
Oh, rog. I was under the impression that EO 12333 prevented any collection by intelligence agencies on US citizens.

EDIT: I'm dumb.  I missed the whole part about it being a classified laptop.


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## Marauder06 (Jul 22, 2012)

Deathy McDeath said:


> Oh, rog. I was under the impression that EO 12333 prevented any collection by intelligence agencies on US citizens.
> 
> EDIT: I'm dumb. I missed the whole part about it being a classified laptop.


 
It's always worth it to ask your JAG.   In all the times I've been a commander, though, I've never done investigations where the EO on IO applied.


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## LimaOscarSierraTango (Jul 22, 2012)

Oh snap! 

Priority of effort...  I think once things settle down in a few hours, Faith needs to make the DCO's day a little worse.  You can't bring MAJ Ripley back.  There are other people working it (and he should be able to delegate most of the work).  Possible spillage/leakage trumps the mortar attack IMO.


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## Marauder06 (Jul 22, 2012)

“So, Al,” said Faith to James on the walk back from lunch, “I haven’t seen you around in a while.”

“Yeah, my old lady kicked me out of the house, so I’ve been staying out at Range 37,” he replied.

“You’re living out on the Back 40, at a small arms range?” Faith asked, incredulously.

“Yes, it’s pretty good living actually.  I sleep in my truck, there’s a hard stand bathroom out there with a hot water and a shower, and I can shoot pretty much whenever I want.  Life’s pretty good,” he said again.

Setting that somewhat bizarre revelation aside for a second, Faith stated, “Look, Al, I talked to your wife today, she told me about a computer she says you brought home from work, SSG Clark told me that the GSC is missing a classified laptop.  I’m concerned that the two might be related.”

James stopped walking and he faced Faith, his face purpling with rage.  “You called my WIFE?  Why the HELL did you do that?”

“Well, no one had seen you in a couple of days, and we were becoming concerned.”

“Look, you don’t ‘get concerned’ about me.  In two days I’m going to be your company commander, and if I need anyone to be ‘concerned’ about me, I’ll let you know!”

“And don’t ever, EVER, call my wife again,” he added, stomping off in a huff.

“Well, that could have gone better, I suppose,” said Reynolds, walking up behind the still-stationary Faith.


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## Marauder06 (Jul 22, 2012)

OK, almost done writing.  We're going to take a vote, majority rules.  Post all of it at once, or serialize it out?


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## Chopstick (Jul 22, 2012)

Maybe I shouldnt vote.......


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## 0699 (Jul 22, 2012)

All at once, seeing as we seem to be near the end.


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## Chopstick (Jul 22, 2012)

0699 said:


> All at once, seeing as we seem to be near the end.


Are we????  :-"


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## Marauder06 (Jul 22, 2012)

By the time Reynolds and Faith reached the DCO’s office, the details of what happened to MAJ Ripley had already been established. He was at Bagram, where the CJSTOF’s new headquarters was due to be constructed, when he ran out of shaving cream. There was a large PX on Bagram, so MAJ Ripley and a handful of others from 2nd Group traveled over together in a “gun truck” Toyota. Since the truck was armed, MAJ Ripley stayed in the parking lot while the others went in to shop. Three large rockets struck the parking lot, destroying the gun truck and killing three US troops who happened to be in the area, including MAJ Ripley.

Ripley was a veteran of repeated tours to both Iraq and Afghanistan. He had been decorated with the Silver Star for valor during the Pul-i-Charki prison uprising, and had also been awarded the Purple Heart on more than one occasion. He was universally well-loved by his troops, and was a highly effective commander. The fact that he got killed waiting to buy shaving cream seems… unfair somehow.

When Reynolds and Faith returned to the MID, they found Chief Rollins waiting for them.

“Hey sir, I went over and got that laptop,” she said, handing it over. 

Faith took the computer from her, thanked her, and indicated for her to have a seat. He then picked up the phone to call SSG Clark, the GSC supply sergeant.

“Sergeant Clark? Captain Faith here. I have a computer here that I think may be your missing laptop.”

“Oh, yeah, hey sir, we found the one that was missing. It was locked up in the safe in MAJ Ripley’s… I mean, CPT James’ office. So we’re all good now. In fact, this afternoon I’m taking Captain James over to the property book officer to sign for the GSC’s property.”

Considering this, Faith examined the laptop that Rollins had retrieved from Mrs. James. It was clearly a “military issue” style computer, and had several prominent “UNCLASSIFIED” stickers on it, as well as a property inventory tag. He described the model and read the serial number off to Clark. Faith could hear a computer keyboard clicking in the background as Clark entered the number into his computer.

“Well sir, that’s not one of mine. But if you want, I can check it against the Group property book this afternoon when I’m over there, and get back to you. If nobody claims it, we can FOI it and add it to the books that way.” FOI means “found on installation,” and is a way of re-establishing accountability of unclaimed military equipment.

“Thanks,” said Faith as he hung up.

“What would you like me to do with this computer now?” Rollins asked Faith.

“Just set it aside for now, we have more important things to worry about” he replied, and filled Rollins in about MAJ Ripley.


The reason Faith sent Rollins over to get the computer from Mrs. James is because he thought it might be the missing classified laptop. Now that he has established that this laptop is not the one he originally thought it was, what should he do about it? Give it back to Mrs. James? Give it to Al James? Or… something else?


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## LimaOscarSierraTango (Jul 22, 2012)

If it is .mil issue and has a property tag, a little research should tell people if the kid should be allowed to have it or not. Once that question is answered, the answer of what to do with it next should be obvious. 

I do think a little poking around on the hard drive in the mean time is warranted.  Then you will find out if there is FOUO or other possibly sensitive information is on there (PERSEC type info).  Not trying to dig shit up on James, but with what is known about the laptop and who "owns" it now, it needs to be looked at.


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## 0699 (Jul 22, 2012)

LimaOscarSierraTango said:


> If it is .mil issue and has a property tag, a little research should tell people if the kid should be allowed to have it or not. Once that question is answered, the answer of what to do with it next should be obvious.
> 
> I do think a little poking around on the hard drive in the mean time is warranted. Then you will find out if there is FOUO or other possibly sensitive information is on there (PERSEC type info). Not trying to dig shit up on James, but with what is known about the laptop and who "owns" it now, it needs to be looked at.


 
If the Army is like the Corps, there is no expectation of privacy on a government owned machine.  The unit commander can direct S-6 or other personnel to search it for any material that may be on it, all admissable in a CM.


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## Marauder06 (Jul 22, 2012)

LimaOscarSierraTango said:


> If it is .mil issue and has a property tag, a little research should tell people if the kid should be allowed to have it or not. Once that question is answered, the answer of what to do with it next should be obvious.
> 
> I do think a little poking around on the hard drive in the mean time is warranted. Then you will find out if there is FOUO or other possibly sensitive information is on there (PERSEC type info). Not trying to dig shit up on James, but with what is known about the laptop and who "owns" it now, it needs to be looked at.


 


0699 said:


> If the Army is like the Corps, there is no expectation of privacy on a government owned machine. The unit commander can direct S-6 or other personnel to search it for any material that may be on it, all admissable in a CM.


 
Roger.  I agree with both of those statements.

The next few days were a blur of activity; there was another Last Roll Ceremony, this time for MAJ Ripley.  The changes of command ceremonies for HQD, MID, and GSC took place, with Faith standing in as “outgoing commander” for all three ceremonies.  Al James seems to have done a complete turn-around; maybe he just needed some responsibility to motivate him to start acting right.  In all of the action, the laptop recovered from CPT James’ house was forgotten, or was at least de-prioritized, as was CPT James’ previous absence from work.

With almost no responsibilities now, Faith was able to concentrate fully on his takeover of the Group S2 shop from The Dud.  But his heart wasn’t in it; going from the hustle and bustle and the responsibility of command to the doldrums of a staff job was a tough transition.  No one came to him for decisions, he had almost no responsibility at the moment, and he no longer felt the slightest bit important.  Nonetheless, he threw himself into the task of preparing for the upcoming inspection.  He found that there were actually some good Soldiers and NCOs in the Group S2 shop, and was slowly coming to realize that The Dud wasn’t the complete idiot that Faith always thought he was.  He was only “mostly” an idiot, Faith joked to himself.

The transition between Faith and The Dud was to take place a couple of days after the annual inspection, but Faith was eager to have responsibility again, and The Dud was certainly willing to dodge responsibility for the inspection, yet again this year.  So the two of them approached the DCO about conducting the transition a bit early.
“OK, you two can do that,” the DCO stated, “But listen, Faith, we’re getting a new Group Commander in the week before that inspection, and your annual inspection is going to be his first impression of you.  So make sure everything is wired tight and good to go.”  Faith nodded.  “Also,” he continued, “I just got my PCS orders and I’m heading out to join SOCOM at Fort Bragg.  I don’t want any complications on the way out.”

“Roger sir,” Faith replied.


----------



## LimaOscarSierraTango (Jul 22, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> I don’t want any complications on the way out.”


 
Is this the old, "brush the issues under the carpet" routine?


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## Marauder06 (Jul 22, 2012)

LimaOscarSierraTango said:


> Is this the old, "brush the issues under the carpet" routine?


 
Mmmm, could be.  Guess we'll just have to see.


On the walk back over to the Group S2 office, Faith’s cell phone rang.  It was Mrs. James.

“Did you do anything about my husband yet?” she demanded.

“What?” asked Faith, confused.

“That computer, the one he stole from the office, the one with all those photos of him and her on them, did you do something yet?”

To be honest, Faith had completely forgotten about that computer.

“Well, we haven’t finished looking into it yet,” was all he could think of to reply.

“Look, we’re selling the house and moving away.  Al keeps driving past the house late at night, I know it’s him because I recognize the sound his truck makes.  I’m also getting calls at all hours and the phone keeps hanging up.  I know it’s him.”

“I see,” replied Faith.

“I know you’re not going to do anything,” she said, “Ripley never did anything either.”

“Mrs, James,” said Faith, “I assure you I will do whatever I can, once we find out exactly what is going on.”  Mrs. James, sounding doubtful, thanked Faith and the call disconnected.

Faith then made a phone call of his own.

“Hey, Chief Rollins,” he said into the phone, “how’s it going?  Yes, fine here too.  Listen, what did you end up doing with that laptop you got from Mrs. James?  Yeah, that’s kind of what I figured, I had forgotten about it too, with everything that was going on.  Listen, I need you to fire it up and see what kinds of things are on it.  Because there might be an investigation.  Yes, another one.  Thanks.”

About two hours later, Chief Rollins arrived at the office where Faith was working until his transition with The Dud was complete.  Faith was surprised to see First Sergeant Reynolds with her.

“If it takes both of you to tell me about it, it must be pretty bad,” Faith joked.  Rollins said nothing, but closed the door to the office after she and Reynolds had entered.

“Sorry it took a while, I had to track down a power cable that would work,” Rollins began.  She turned the computer on, tapped some keys, and turned the laptop around so Faith could see the screen.  “We looked through the files, and found these.”

Faith looked at the screen and saw the same pictures that were in the investigation folder that MAJ Ripley had originally handed him.

“Yeah, these are the same pics that SGT Smalls found on his computer when he came home.  But it still only shows those two guys from HQD.  There is no evidence that Al James was involved…” suddenly understanding, Faith stopped himself.  Rollins finished the thought for him.

“But why else would he have these pictures on his computer at home?” she said.

“Shit,” said Faith, leaning back in the chair and putting his hands behind his head.
“You can say that again,” Reynolds replied.

OK, so now you have reason to believe that the guy who is technically your company commander (at least for a little while) may have somehow stolen a government laptop, and that he may have been involved in some kind of affair with an NCO’s wife.  What action do you take now?


----------



## LimaOscarSierraTango (Jul 22, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> OK, so now you have reason to believe that the guy who is technically your company commander (at least for a little while) may have somehow stolen a government laptop, and that he may have been involved in some kind of affair with an NCO’s wife. What action do you take now?


 
1). The upset wife could have taken the laptop after finding the pics and given it to their kid without James' permission.  She's upset and may be acting on impulse and not know the actual situation.

2). James could have the pics on the laptop because he could have been conducting his own investigation.

3). Bring James in and lay the cards on the table and see what he says. Or mention the pics only and see what he knows of the situation.

4). Hand off the investigation to CID to investigate the laptop and the pics. He's not supposed to have pornography on a gov't computer anyways, correct? At this point it should still be considered gov't property.


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## CDG (Jul 22, 2012)

At this point, I think CID needs to be called in to conduct an investigation.  Reports of CPT James harassing his wife, the affair, the gov't computer in the home, the pictures, and the instability of CPT James are enough to make this a little too big for an internal investigation.


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## Marauder06 (Jul 22, 2012)

CDG said:


> At this point, I think CID needs to be called in to conduct an investigation. Reports of CPT James harassing his wife, the affair, the gov't computer in the home, the pictures, and the instability of CPT James are enough to make this a little too big for an internal investigation.


 
You're right, that's probably what CPT Faith should have done.  But:

“Chief, thank you for your work on this, I’m going to take this to the DCO and see if we can get this mess sorted out,” Faith stated.

“Sir, there’s more,” Reynolds commented, “Show him, Chief.”

Rollins spun the laptop back towards her, and tapped a few more keys.  “Sir, Mrs. James said that her husband was cheating with a… I think she said “twiggy blonde?”  SGT Small’s wife doesn’t exactly fit that description.  But this woman kind of does,” she added, turning the screen back towards Faith.  The screen now showed a dark, grainy video of two people in a bedroom, under the covers.  It looked like “hidden camera” footage.  It was hard to tell exactly what was happening, but it didn’t take a lot of imagination. 

“What is this?”  Faith asked.  “Where is this?  Who are these people?”

“Well, sir, this is CPT James’ bedroom,” Chief Rollins began.

“How do you know what Al James’ bedroom looks like, Chief?” asked Faith, curiously.  Then, answering his own question, he added “Ah, right, from when you went to pick up the laptop from Mrs. James.
“Right,” said Chief Rollins, perhaps a bit too quickly.  Faith let it go.

“So who are these people?  I can hardly make out anything in this crappy video.”

“I think that one,” she said, pointing at the man, “Is Captain James.”

“OK that makes sense.  Then who’s the woman?  I’m guessing it’s not his wife.”

“Sir,” Rollins sighed, “I think it’s Lieutenant Delano.”

“What?”  Faith exclaimed.  “How can you possibly tell that?”  he asked, gesturing towards the computer screen. 

“It’s the voices mostly,” replied Rollins.

Faith squinted at the figures moving in the video.  If he looked hard enough, they did kind of look like Delano and James.  “When was this video made?” he asked.  

“We can’t tell for sure, but the date on the file is three months old.  So that is when

“OK,” he said with resignation, “I’ll take it from here.”


----------



## CDG (Jul 22, 2012)

I get the feeling Chief Rollins may have been involved as well and is about to throw the LT under the bus in an attempt to shift focus away from herself.


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## Marauder06 (Jul 22, 2012)

CDG said:


> I get the feeling Chief Rollins may have been involved as well and is about to throw the LT under the bus in an attempt to shift focus away from herself.


 
Hmmm... I wonder...  ;)

/////

Faith should have spent the next couple of hours down in the basement with the S2, helping prep for the big annual inspection, but instead he spent it compiling a summary of the facts in this situation.  When he was satisfied, he called up the DCO and asked for an office call.

“Hey, Scott,” the DCO said.  “Yeah, I’m glad to talk to you, but can it be tomorrow morning?  I’ve got to leave for a meeting across post and I probably won’t be back until pretty late.”

“Roger sir,” Faith responded, “this will keep.”

A short time later, Faith’s cell phone rang.  It was SSG Clark from the GSC supply room.

“Hey sir, I tracked down the info on that laptop like you wanted,” Clark said cheerfully.  “It was on the books as having been acquired by an ODA through their OPFUND, and was written off as a loss due to enemy action in Iraq about two… two and a half years ago.”

“Thanks Sergeant Clark,” Faith said, “Do you know which ODA it was?”  There was a brief pause.

“Looks like 237,” Clark answered.

“Thank you,” Faith said, wondering to himself what the chances were that ODA 237 was commanded by CPT Al James two and half years ago.

Faith was wrapping up his work and getting ready to head home when there was a knock at the door.

“Hey sir,” said Chief Rollins in  weak voice.  “Can we talk?”  She shut the door and was dragging a chair towards Faith’s desk before he could respond.

“I had a thing with Al James,” she said abruptly.  “It was years ago, before he was married,” she added hastily.  Back when he was a team leader on an ODA and I was a W1 in Division.  It lasted a couple of months, we broke it off when he left for Pakistan.  When he came back to the unit, he was married.  I don’t do married.”

She paused.  Faith made a “Well, continue…” gesture.

“That’s how I know what his bedroom looks like, because I’ve been in it.  And not when I went to get that laptop from his wife.  He bought that house when he was first in Group, and  then rented it out for the years he was in Pakistan and in grad school.  Even the furniture is still the same.”

Faith considered what she had told him.  “Well, I didn’t know any of those details, but I figured it was something like that when you mentioned earlier that you knew what his bedroom looks like.  But if you broke it off with him like you said, then I don’t see a problem.  Both of you were single, you were both officers, and you weren’t in his chain of command.”

Rollins looked enormously relieved.  “Well, it’s awkward,” she said, “I mean, I know there is going to be an investigation, and I know this will probably come out, so  I wanted you to hear it from me, first.”
“I appreciate that, Chief.”

“Also, I’m worried.  It is definitely Delano in that video, and she didn’t know she was being recorded.  So… I mean, what if James recorded the two of us… you know, in bed… as well?” she said worriedly.

“If he has anything with you in it, we’ll make sure to get it all destroyed,” Faith assured her.  “But you’re certain that it’s Delano?  And how do you know this is a surreptitious recording, and not something they were both into?”

“I talked to Delano,” Rollins confessed.  Noting Faith’s look of disapproval she added, “Just in general terms, nothing specific.  She doesn’t know about the laptop or anything.  Delano has a very identifiable tattoo on her hip.  So does the woman in the video.  The voices are the same.  And she told me she and James had a relationship for a while.”

“It started before she came to Group.  In fact, Al James is the reason that she got into Group, and probably the reason she’s taking over the MID.”

“Wait, I thought the S2 was behind all that?” Faith stated.

“No sir,” Rollins countered, “He just did what James told him to do.”

Faith sighed, “Just when I was starting to like her…”

“Delano is good people, sir,” Rollins said, “She says she didn’t know he was married.  He never mentioned it, and the times she was over at his place, there was no trace of a wife, no clothes, no photos, nothing.  She also said that she’s not into videotaping herself when she’s with a guy.”

Faith looked at Rollins incredulously, “How is it that you were able to find all of this out without tipping her off about the laptop and the video of her and James?”

Rollins gave Faith a look, “Sir, I am a highly skilled CI tech in the US Army, this is what I do!  Besides, girl talk in the showers after PT goes a long way sometimes.”

An image popped into Faith’s head, and he quickly shoved it out.

“OK look, this is good information and I appreciate it.  This thing between you and James, really isn’t relevant.  In short, I don’t care.  The past is the past, and as far as I can tell you didn’t do anything wrong in the first place.  Stop talking to Delano about James, it’s possible she’s not telling the truth, and she’s going to resent you enormously if she finds out you were eliciting information from her when you knew she was under suspicion of adultery.  I have an appointment with the DCO tomorrow and we’ll try to get this all sorted out.”

Rollins looked enormously relieved.  “I thought you would be mad at me.”

“Not for something like this,” Faith assured her.

“But look sir, you know that Al  James and the DCO are close, right?”

“Yes,” Faith replied.

“I mean, like ‘father/son’ close, like ‘saved my life in Afghanistan’ close,” Rollins pressed.

“Right,” Faith acknowledged.

“I mean, like ‘come home with me and meet my daughter’ close,” she persisted.

“Hey, Chief, I got it,” Faith laughed.  “Listen, I’ve got a good relationship with the DCO too, and I’m not asking him to choose between Al James and me.  I’ll give him all the information, and I’m confident he’ll do the right thing.
Rollins looked unconvinced as she got up to leave.

“Let me ask you one more thing,” said Faith.  “Why Al James?  That guy is a complete tool.”

Rollins sighed.  “Well, he certainly is now, but he wasn’t always this way.  When I first met him he was everything a woman would want: smart, successful, had some money, was a bit of a bad boy, living on the edge.  I was pretty young back then, and the idea of having a boyfriend in Special Forces appealed to me.” 

“And as for Al James specifically, I mean, what’s not to like?” she continued, “He’s good-looking, and he can be quite charming when he wants to be.  Plus he has an absolutely killer body.”

Faith smiled, “I think we’re about to move into the ‘too much information’ category, Chief.”

“Roger sir.”  And with that, she turned and left the room.


----------



## LimaOscarSierraTango (Jul 22, 2012)

Props to Chief Rollins for giving Faith the heads up about the prior relationship.  That way he isn't blindsided by it in case it comes up and he has a better chance of getting it dismissed, because it really isn't relevant.

Good info on how to prove it is Delano.

Why do I think the DCO is going to give James a verbal peepee slap, destroy the laptop (no one needs it... it is listed as a field loss, so it will end up a field loss), eventually have a talk with Delano and buy her silence with keeping her in her position for a year (after all, she seems to have made a decent impression so far), and dismiss the entire thing?

Since Faith is a professional, he will have washed his hands with it (any further issues will be on the hands of the DCO depending on how he handles the situation) and jumped back on the inspection, completing it with no issues, much to the appreciation of the new Group Commander.


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## Marauder06 (Jul 22, 2012)

LimaOscarSierraTango said:


> Props to Chief Rollins for giving Faith the heads up about the prior relationship. That way he isn't blindsided by it in case it comes up and he has a better chance of getting it dismissed, because it really isn't relevant.
> 
> Good info on how to prove it is Delano.
> 
> ...


 
The meeting with the DCO the next morning did not go as well as Faith thought it would.  The DCO seemed unconvinced that it was a “slam dunk” in the same way that Faith did.  Far from taking an objective view of evidence, it almost seemed as if the DCO were defending CPT James.

“Look, Scott,” the DCO said after Faith finished laying out the evidence, “I’m sure that there is a good explanation for all of this.  There are all kinds of reasons those pictures could be on that computer, and that video is way too grainy to make anything out.”

“Sir, it’s not just that.  Al has been acting weird- VERY weird- almost the whole time I’ve known him.  He’s erratic, he’s unreliable, and he has slept with at least one of his subordinates and maybe the wife of another, while he was himself married.  He stole a government-issue laptop, he disappears for days at a time, and he has anger-management issues,” Faith said emphatically.  “Sir, he’s got to go.”

The DCO sat back in his chair and considered Faith’s points.  With his left hand, he began subconsciously rubbing the stub of his right index finger.  Faith had noticed over time that the DOC did this whenever he was anxious, pissed off, or simply thinking deeply.  Faith couldn’t tell which of three it was this time.

“OK look,” the DCO said, looking directly at Faith, “Something needs to be done here.  Give me tonight to think it over, and come back to see me tomorrow after lunch.”

“Roger sir.”


----------



## LimaOscarSierraTango (Jul 22, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> “OK look,” the DCO said, looking directly at Faith, “Something needs to be done here. Give me tonight to think it over, and come back to see me tomorrow after lunch.”


 
Oh snap!  Faith better sleep with one eye open!  He's going to have a visitor tonight...

Oh dang...  too many movies lately.  Never mind.


----------



## Marauder06 (Jul 22, 2012)

It was still too early to go home, but Faith didn’t feel like going back to the office, either. But the HQD office was on the way, so he stopped in to see how LT Castelli was getting on.

“Hi sir!” said Castelli as Faith walked in, genuinely pleased to see him. “What can I do for you?”

“I just came by to chat, if you have a minute,” Faith responded. Castelli hesitated, and Faith noticed him glance briefly at the pile of paperwork on his desk. “You know what, I can see you’re busy, I can come by another time.”

“What? Me busy? I’m never to busy for you, sir. Want a Diet Coke?”

Faith shut the door and sat down on the couch in Castelli’s office as Castelli opened the refrigerator door and pulled out two Diet Cokes.

“So, how are things up at Group?” Castelli asked, in order to start the conversation.

“Charles, I’m telling you, there is twice as much drama in this Group than there ever was in the 2nd MI battalion back in Korea.”

Castelli’s eyes grew wide in mock disbelief. “I don’t believe that for a minute, sir,” he replied, “There was more drama in 2nd MI than there was in the first four seasons of ‘The Real World.’”

Faith laughed. “No, really, I think it’s worse here. In Korea, only “almost” everyone was sleeping with everyone else, but here “everyone” is sleeping with everyone else.”

“This thing with Smalls?” Castelli inquired.

“Not just that. We have all kinds of officers doing all kinds of shady, silly, and/or stupid shit too.”

Castelli looked at Faith evenly. “Are you talking about CPT James?”

Faith trusted Castelli completely and wanted to tell him his suspicions, but hesitated. James was officially Castelli’s company commander, and if James found out that Faith and Castelli were talking about him behind his back, he might consider Castelli disloyal.

“Let me tell you why I asked,” said Castelli, sensing Faith’s hesitation. “It happened yesterday at the rifle range…”

Castelli went on to explain how at the rifle range yesterday, CPT James was involved in a very peculiar incident with one of the Soldiers in the HQD, Specialist Jones. The mission was to train under NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) conditions, so all of the Soldiers had brought their gas masks with them. When it came time to leave, CPT James got into an argument with one of the young specialists over a gas mask. James insisted it was his, even though afterwards witnesses said they didn’t remember seeing James with a mask. Then Jones pointed out the strip of green duct tape with “JONES” written on it that was affixed to the gas mask’s cover,

“James lost it, sir, he accused Jones of lying, and when I tried to get involved, he said we were all in it together. He was insistent that the gas mask was his, and it almost got violent.”

“What did you do?” asked Faith.

“What could I do? I told Jones to let him have it, and we’d sort it out later. We have a half-dozen or so masks that aren’t on the books in our arms room, I figured I could give Jones one of those if I can’t get it back from Captain James.”

Faith put his head against the palms of his hands and leaned forward in his chair. Looking up at Castelli, he said, “This doesn’t surprise me one bit. Let me tell you what else has been going on,” and with that, Faith laid it all out for Castelli.

Castelli listened intently, nodding at appropriate times and asking follow-up questions when there was something that he didn’t understand, but mostly let Faith vent, which is what he really needed. When he was done talking, Faith leaned back in the couch with a chuckle.

“What’s so funny, sir?” Castelli inquired.

“I was just thinking how this is total role reversal, me coming to you with my problems and asking you for advice. It made me think of all those times in Korea when you’d come into my office, sit on that big couch, and we’d talk about what was going on in YOUR life.”

Castelli smiled. “Yes, I was kind of thinking that too. I remember petting that big, fat cat that was always hanging out in there. I’ve grown a bit since then, it makes me feel good that now I can help you out a little with stuff like this.”

“Yeah, me too,” Faith replied, “You turned out to be a really good officer, after all.”

“Thanks sir, that means a lot to me.”

Faith and Castelli talked for probably another 30 minutes or so, about a variety of different topics. They discussed mutual friends from the 2nd MI, the vagaries of the 2nd Special Forces Group, and their respective family lives. Faith felt MUCH better when they were done. Faith thanked Castelli for his time, and then exited the HQD building. As he walked towards his car to go home, he observed Al James heading towards the Group headquarters building, most likely, Faith surmised, to the DCO’s office.


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## LimaOscarSierraTango (Jul 22, 2012)

No need to follow...  Faith knows the DCO is going to call James a cunt for being so stupid.  Anything on top of that is gravy.  He will get filled in soon anyways.  Maybe even get to see a copy of some paperwork the DCO filled out.

BTW, did the DCO know James was living on the Range?


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## SkrewzLoose (Jul 22, 2012)

Oh shit...car bomb upcoming!!!  

"As he clicked the unlock button on his remote fob...KABOOM!"


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## Marauder06 (Jul 22, 2012)

No matter how bad a day was at the office, CPT Faith always had a good home to go back to.  Driving back down the Interstate to his house, Faith felt the stress of the day melt away.  He could smell dinner cooking when he walked in the door, and it always warmed his heart to see the way his daughter reacted to see him after a long day away at work.

Over dinner, Faith explained to his wife what happened during the day, what his concerns about it were, and what he planned on doing about it in the future.  He also expressed his gratitude for his wife’s fidelity, “Honey, seeing all this shit going on at work just makes me that much more grateful to be married to you.”

After they put the baby to bed, Faith and his wife relaxed on the couch, watching their favorite TV series, “Lost.”  The phone rang, annoying Faith because he had left the cordless in the kitchen, and there was about to be an important piece of the plot explained.  “I’ll get it,” he said as he saw his wife start to rise.  He went into the kitchen and looked at the caller ID, it was a local number but not one he recognized.  He thought about letting the answering machine get it, then decided to answer it.

“Hello?” he said into the handset.

Silence.

“Hello?” he said, a little louder, irritated now.

He was about to hang up when he heard a sharp intake of breath on the other end, like someone about to start talking.  This happened once or twice more, and then the phone went dead.  On a hunch, Faith looked through the Family Support Group phone roster his wife had posted on the refrigerator door until he found Al James’ cell phone number.  He glanced back at the caller ID… just as he had thought.

“Who was it, honey?” his wife asked when Faith came back into the living room.

“Wrong number,” he mumbled.


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## LimaOscarSierraTango (Jul 22, 2012)

Oh boy...  Is James super pissed at Faith, or did he just get hammered by the DCO and needs an ACE card....


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## Marauder06 (Jul 22, 2012)

LimaOscarSierraTango said:


> Oh boy... Is James super pissed at Faith, or did he just get hammered by the DCO and needs an ACE card....


 
Who knows?  James is a complete fruitbat... no telling what's going through his mind right now ;)

/////

After PT the next day, Faith found he had an email from the DCO waiting for him in his inbox.

“Scott, please come over to my office at 1300 hours.  Bring Chief Rollins and LT Delano with you.  Thanks.”

Well, at least the DCO is getting serious about this, Faith thought to himself.

Faith called over to the MID and, unable to get either Delano or Rollins on the phone, spoke briefly with First Sergeant Reynolds to let him know who was expected at the DCO’s office, and when.  Reynolds tried to press for details, but all Faith said was, “Will, just tell them to be there.  They’ll know what it is about.”

Faith spent the rest of the morning down in the basement, working with the guys from the S2 shop to get ready for the annual inspection, which by now was only a couple of days away.  Faith felt himself start to warm up towards several of the Soldiers, even to the Group S2 NCOIC, who Faith originally thought was even more of a toolbag than The Dud.  But even while he was checking regulations, sorting through paperwork, and talking with Soldiers, Faith’s mind was elsewhere.  He was worried about what was going to happen at and after the meeting with the DCO, and wondered why he wanted Delano and Rollins there too.  He did not see any good that could come of it.

Faith got to the Group headquarters building about 10 minutes early for the meeting, and saw Delano and Rollins already there.  Faith was not surprised to see that Reynolds had come as well.  Delano and Rollins both looked nervous.  Rollins gave Faith a perplexed look and mouthed “WTF?” and Faith shrugged.  He didn’t know what was going on.

Rollins approached Faith but before they could say anything to each other, Rollins was called into the DCO’s office.   A short time later Delano was called in, but Rollins did not re-appear.  Faith surmised she was probably sent to the waiting room in the secretary’s office after her talk with the DCO.  While waiting for his turn to talk to the DCO, Faith and Reynolds made small talk.

“Hey sir, how’s life on the staff treating you?” asked Reynolds.

“Every day, I wish I was back in the MID,” Faith answered,  truthfully.

“I can totally understand that,” Reynolds said, smiling.  “How are you and The Dud getting along?”

“Better than I expected.  A lot of those guys aren’t the assclowns I took them to be all this time.”

“A lot of them just need some good leadership,” Reynolds stated, “I think you’re going to enjoy being there, and after a while, with you in charge that shop is going to completely turn around.”

“Roger,” said Faith, “I appreciate your concern for my new work environment, but I suspect that what you really want to know is what is going on with your new detachment commander and Chief Rollins.”

“Well sir, since you brought it up…” Reynolds began.

Not knowing how much time he had, Faith gave Reynolds the “Cliff’s Notes” version of what both Rollins and Castelli had told him, careful not to mention the names of who told him what, although he was sure Reynolds would probably be able to figure it out.

“Yeah, that’s kind of what I figured,” Reynolds commented after Faith finished.  “I knew about the thing between Chief and James, and that gas mask incident at the range… everyone is talking about it.  Rollins told me about the thing with Delano and James.”

“Sounds like you’re caught up then,” Faith said.

“I hope this thing gets sorted out quickly,” Reynolds added, “there has been more than enough drama going on lately.  It’s starting to affect both morale and mission readiness.”

“Well, that’s what I’m here to try to do,” said Faith.  And with that, he was called in for his turn to talk to the DCO.


----------



## Marauder06 (Jul 22, 2012)

Faith had hoped that the DCO’s position with regard to CPT James might have changed overnight and after speaking with Rollins and Delano, but he found instead that the DCO was now adamantly in James’ favor.

“Hey, Scott, thanks for coming by today,” the DCO began.  “I considered everything you told me and talked to everyone involved, and I just don’t think there is any ‘there’ there.”

Faith was flabbergasted.  Before he could say anything, the DCO continued.

“I spoke with Scott this morning.  He said that computer was his from when he was in the teams, he showed me a hand receipt where he originally signed for it.  He admitted to dating LT Delano, but he’s separated from his wife, and he says the relationship stopped before he became commander of the GSC.  He said that those pictures were on his laptop because MAJ Ripley asked him to look into the issue, because he thought you weren’t moving fast enough on it.  He also admitted that he’s been acting a bit unusual lately, but that he has been under a lot of stress. He says he has worked through it all, and has it under control.”

Faith didn’t know what to say.  He felt enormously disappointed, almost betrayed.  What was coming out of the DCO’s mouth sounded more like rationalization on James’ behalf than objective reason.

“I talked with Delano and Rollins right before you.  Delano said that she didn’t know Al was married, but that’s kind of moot because he and his wife are separated.  She also confirms that there is no longer a relationship, and Rollins had to admit that those photos could have come from anyone.  James denies having had a relationship of any type with SGT Small’s wife, and I haven’t seen anything that contradicts that.”

“Sir…” Faith said, his words failing.  Then, Faith got angry.  “Sir, this is bullshit.  Al James kept that laptop after reporting it destroyed in Iraq.  So he stole it.  Then he gave it to his son, and we only found out about it because his wife found those pictures and that video on it, both of which occurred BEFORE James was separated from his wife.  MAJ Ripley didn’t ask James to do the investigation of SGT Small’s wife; in fact he SUSPECTED James of being involved, which is why Ripley asked me, not James, to do the investigation in the first place.  Delano may not have known that James was married, but James did.  James and his wife didn’t have their separation until a couple of weeks ago, and the Delano/James relationship pre-dates that by a good bit.”

Faith paused for a breath, then continued:  “On top of all that, James has been acting completely bizarrely ever since he got here.  He does, and says, things that are completely inappropriate or just downright wrong.  Like at the range, when he basically stole a gas mask from another Soldier, or like how he called my house last night and didn’t say anything.  Sir, he has GOT to go.”

After that outburst, Faith expected to receive an ass rending of biblical proportions from the DCO.  Instead, the DCO said nothing, which Faith felt was almost worse.

After a short period, the DCO said, “I think I see what the problem is here.  You want Al James out of the way so you can take over as the commander of the GSC.”

“What!!” exclaimed Faith in disbelief.

“You’re angry at him for being picked for the job over you, and you want him gone so you can take over.  That’s the only reason I can see that you’re being so persistent about this, you want the GSC.”

Faith sat back in his chair, stunned.  “Sir, I don’t know what to say to that.  Everything I’ve done is for the good of the Group.  I have already commanded two companies, which is twice as many as most of my intel peers.  I don’t want to be the GSC commander, I want to be the Group S2, which you have already set up for me.”

“The problem here is not me,” he continued, “it’s Al James.  And if you,” he said making a gesture to encompass the Group headquarters “would open your eyes and quit making excuses for him, you’d see it!  Look sir, this guy is a danger to himself and others.  I know you and he have history, but try to see past that for what he really is.  A complete and utter dirtbag.” His anger spent, for now, Faith stopped speaking and looked for a reaction from the DCO.

Once again, the DCO said nothing, but rubbed the stump of his right index finger pensively.

“Al James is the only reason that more of me wasn’t spread all over the desert of Afghanistan,” he said in a low voice, as if to himself.  “Look, Scott, I appreciate your concern and I understand where you’re coming from.  I just don’t see things the way you do.  I’ll talk with Al and get him to straighten up, if there are any more incidents… well, we’ll deal with it when and if it comes up.”

Knowing it was useless to press the issue further, Faith stood up, snapped to attention, and saluted.  As he turned to leave, the DCO called his name.  “Scott,” he said, “I know your heart is in the right place.  This thing is going to sort itself out.”

“Roger, sir,” Faith said, unconvinced.

As he exited the DCO’s office, Faith was surprised to hear the sound of loud arguing coming from the secretary’s waiting room.  His surprise was compounded when he saw Al James and Chief Rollins engaged in a very heated discussion.  But that was nothing compared to the surprise he felt when he saw what happened next.  Almost as if it were in slow motion, Faith saw Al James draw back his fist and punch Chief Rollins square in the face.

/////

And with that, I bid you all good night.

We'll wrap this up tomorrow, only six or so posts left.


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## LimaOscarSierraTango (Jul 23, 2012)

/////

Chief Rollins reels back and regains her balance fairly quickly and judi-chops James in the side of the neck just like she learned at Diamond Dave's Ninja School!

/////

James snapped, and it is something the DCO _HAS_ to do something about!

Why do I think Reynolds is going to pound James into the ground? Or is this the two story building? I don't remember. Off/down the stairwell will be nice.

I see a transfer in James' future (the DCO can't cover this one up), and the other investigation will be all washed away. In the end, James is gone and everyone is somewhat happy... Maybe Faith moves to be the Group Commander and the Dud stays on, but with Faith above him, gets himself squared away a little? Or the assistant S2 kicks ass with the inspection and gets promoted to S2.

With James gone (locked up, transferred, discharged, whatever), the DCO won't feel the need to have to cover for him anymore, apologizes to Faith, and tries to be buddy-buddy with him.

Here it is, around 1400, and the entire office area is in need of a good scotch to choke down the last couple of days...  Sounds like a good time to be a Friday!


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## policemedic (Jul 23, 2012)

Personally, I'm disappointed that you glossed over the whole shower scene between Chief and Delano 

James seems perfectly stable to me.  And by stable, I mean in a permanent static state of batshit, sleep upside-down, eat roadkill crazy.

His other UCMJ offenses aside, James needs a visit to the stockade by way of the med shed.


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## Marauder06 (Jul 23, 2012)

LimaOscarSierraTango said:


> James snapped, and it is something the DCO _HAS_ to do something about!


Isn't it a shame that it takes a tragedy or a major dustup to spur some people to action?



LimaOscarSierraTango said:


> Why do I think Reynolds is going to pound James into the ground? Or is this the two story building? I don't remember. Off/down the stairwell will be nice.


I don't think I specified; it's a one story, rather smallish building. Like most of the other buildings in the Group compound, it's quite old and a bit of a dump.



LimaOscarSierraTango said:


> I see a transfer in James' future (the DCO can't cover this one up), and the other investigation will be all washed away. In the end, James is gone and everyone is somewhat happy... Maybe Faith moves to be the Group Commander and the Dud stays on, but with Faith above him, gets himself squared away a little? Or the assistant S2 kicks ass with the inspection and gets promoted to S2.


lol... Faith is support guy and extremely unlikely to occupy any position of leadership within the Group. The Dud is a major and Faith is only a captain (albeit on the list for major) so Faith is unlikely to be in a position above The Dud.



LimaOscarSierraTango said:


> With James gone (locked up, transferred, discharged, whatever), the DCO won't feel the need to have to cover for him anymore, apologizes to Faith, and tries to be buddy-buddy with him.
> 
> Here it is, around 1400, and the entire office area is in need of a good scotch to choke down the last couple of days... Sounds like a good time to be a Friday!


Indeed!



policemedic said:


> Personally, I'm disappointed that you glossed over the whole shower scene between Chief and Delano


;)



policemedic said:


> James seems perfectly stable to me. And by stable, I mean in a permanent static state of batshit, sleep upside-down, eat roadkill crazy.
> 
> His other UCMJ offenses aside, James needs a visit to the stockade by way of the med shed.


 
Yeah, dude definitely has issues. I wonder what they are.

/////

Faith sprang into action almost without realizing it. In a fit of rage, he grabbed James, who remained motionless after Rollins’ body crumpled to the floor. Faith was vaguely aware that Reynolds had entered the room as well. When he grabbed James, James began to fight, and Faith realized immediately that James was stronger and a better grappler than he was. And a dirtier fighter, as Faith found out as James tried to dig his fingers into Faith’s eyes. Faith managed to get a and free, and landing a looping right hand against the left side of James’s head. This sent James sprawling back against the far wall, where he slumped to the ground and collapsed in a heap.

Turning his attention back towards Rollins, Faith saw Reynolds already helping her to her feet. Blood streamed freely from her nose, and it wasn’t hard for Faith to predict that she would probably be sporting two black eyes in the morning.

“What the hell is going on out here?” the DCO thundered as he emerged from his office. His face was one of utter confusion as he saw the jumbled waiting area and Chief Collins trying to control the bleeding from her face.

“Al James just punched Chief Rollins in the face,” Faith said accusingly, more angrily than he intended.

“Where did he go?” the DCO demanded.

“He ducked out that way, sir,” Reynolds replied, gesturing towards the back door of the secretary’s waiting room.”

The DCO had the CQ call the military police and report what had happened. Whatever bond had existed between James and the DCO, this incident seemed to have sundered it irrevocably.

When things settled down a little, Reynolds and Faith took Rollins to see the Group docs at the medical clinic. They cleaned her up and gave her some Tylenol and some ice packs. “Well, her nose isn’t broken, but she’s definitely going to feel it in the morning. About the only thing we can do is give her some meds, and some ice, and maybe a little bed rest. She’ll be fine in a couple of days,” opined the Group surgeon, CPT Chen.

“Thanks Doc,” said Reynolds as the three of them left. Rollins said she was OK to drive home, so Reynolds and Faith dropped her off at her car. 

“So, are you planning on fighting everyone in Group?” Reynolds jested. “Because if you are, let me know now so I can start training up.”

Faith had to grin. “First Sergeant, I’ve been in exactly two fights since the eighth grade, and you have been there for both of them. I’m beginning to think you’re a bad influence on me.”

“Me?” said Reynolds with mock horror. “A bad influence? You’re the one throwing all the punches, sir.”

“Well, there is that,” Faith conceded.

“But both of them totally deserved it,” said Reynolds supportively.

“Totally,” Faith agreed.

“You got him pretty good,” Reynolds said.

“Not really, I kind of caught him with a sucker punch to the side of the head.”

“You must have got him in the face too,” Reynolds offered, he was bleeding like hell from his nose.”

“I didn’t hit him in the nose, I only landed one punch and that was to the side of the head.”

“Maybe when you guys were wrestling around, then,” Reynolds opined. Or maybe Rollins gave him one that you didn’t see. Either way, he was bleeding pretty good.”

“Interesting,” said Faith.


----------



## LimaOscarSierraTango (Jul 23, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> We used to have an "acronym" thread, I wonder what happened to it.


 
It's in the stickies above this thread...

The floor is yours, Sir.


----------



## Marauder06 (Jul 23, 2012)

The next day, Faith went straight to the DCO’s office, sensing that the first order of business for the day would be sorting out the mess with CPT James.

“CPT James is out of here,” the DCO began.

“So it takes a woman getting punched in the face for you to realize that this guy is a loose cannon and doesn’t belong in this unit?” Faith demanded.

“We’re going to handle it,” the DCO assured him.  “Look, Scott,” he continued, “I made a mistake.  I allowed my personal feelings for Al to cloud my judgment.  You were right, about everything.”  The DCO seemed genuinely upset.    
Pushing the issue would not be helpful, so Faith backed off a little.   “Rollins told me last night that she doesn’t want to press charges.  So what’s going to happen now, sir?” Faint inquired.  “GOMOR (General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand) and down the road to Division?”

“Not just that,” the DCO stated dramatically.  “We’re going to take his tab.”

“Oh!” Faith said, in complete surprise.


----------



## LimaOscarSierraTango (Jul 23, 2012)

KARMA BIATCHES!!!!

Nice to see the DCO step up.

I hope he doesn't have a surprise for Faith for knocking James on his ass...  I don't see why or how, but almost nothing would surprise me in this one now.


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## Marauder06 (Jul 23, 2012)

Taking Al James’ tab proved a bit easier to say than it was to actually do.  For one thing, it took a while to track him down.  He disappeared after the incident with Rollins, and no one saw or heard from him for a couple of days until he just showed back up at work, acting as if nothing had happened.  He looked confused when the MPs showed up to arrest him, and did not believe them when the told him about what he did to Rollins.  Once in jail, he invoked his right to an attorney, and refused to answer any questions or to cooperate with authorities.

On the recommendation of CPT James’ appointed attorney, an Army psychiatrist examined CPT James and found nothing wrong with him.  “Subject displays aggressive tendencies and is in denial of his own actions.  However, he is competent to stand trial and aid in his own defense,” the psychiatrist’s report stated. After a very short commander’s inquiry, which the Group commander personally conducted, CPT James was found guilty of theft, assault, adultery, and conduct unbecoming, among other charges.  After that, his fate was sealed.

Stripping a Special Forces Soldier of his Special Forces tab is an extreme and very rarely-exercised process.  In fact, some say that it is the absolute worst punishment that could befall a Green Beret.  When presented with the same evidence that had gone to the DCO, the Group Commander came to a completely different conclusion, perhaps because his judgment wasn’t clouded by a past history with CPT James. 

Faith had never seen a Green Beret get stripped of his tab, and until recently, didn’t even know that it was possible.  He watched with interest and no small bit of satisfaction as a formation consisting of every Special Forces-qualified Soldier present for duty formed up in one large mass on the Group parade field, in between the command group, which stood at the front of the formation, and CPT James, who stood alone at its rear.

“Center, face!” the Group command sergeant major called out.  At that command, the mass of Green Berets parted into two groups, both groups facing each other and forming a path between the DCO and CPT James.
“Captain Alvin James, front and center!” cried the command sergeant major.  James walked haltingly up to where the Group commander and DCO were standing.  As he approached, each of the Green Berets, in turn, executed an about face and turned their backs to James as he walked forward.  When he got to the front of the formation, the command sergeant major read off the orders revoking his tab.  The Group commander ripped the Special Forces tab off of James’ uniform, and the DCO tore the flash off of James’ beret before tossing the beret itself onto the ground at James’ feet.

“CPT James, you are dismissed from the Legion, and your name is stricken from the rolls of the men of the Special Forces,” the Group commander thundered when they were finished.

From a distance, Faith watched as James executed an about face and walked by the way he came, though the Green Berets who had turned their backs to his shame.  A thin trickle of blood streamed down one nostril and into James’ mouth, but he seemed neither to notice nor to care.

Expressionless, and without a word, Captain Al James, formerly of the 2nd Special Forces Group, got into his pickup truck and drove out of the Group area for the final time.


----------



## Marauder06 (Jul 23, 2012)

Three more posts.


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## LimaOscarSierraTango (Jul 23, 2012)

So there is no need for a drug test?


----------



## x SF med (Jul 23, 2012)

I'm wondering where James picked up a bleeding disease that is compromising his mental status...  and when, and why it wasn't caught in his physicals.   But, hey, I'm a medic and a runny nose under stress is a giveaway.

Mara, check a few of your construction issues, and misuse of past where a past participle was called for...  one specific is the use of sprung where the correct word is sprang, and Chief Collins, and Faith speaking yet it is attributed to the DCO....  hey, I realize you don't have an NCO or even a SP4 to edit for you....:-"


----------



## LimaOscarSierraTango (Jul 23, 2012)

x SF med said:


> I'm wondering where James picked up a bleeding disease that is compromising his mental status... and when, and why it wasn't caught in his physicals. But, hey, I'm a medic and a runny nose under stress is a giveaway.


 
Doesn't sound like he's been doing a few lines, Doc?

He could just need his nose cauterized, but I think otherwise.


----------



## Marauder06 (Jul 23, 2012)

x SF med said:


> I'm wondering where James picked up a bleeding disease that is compromising his mental status... and when, and why it wasn't caught in his physicals. But, hey, I'm a medic and a runny nose under stress is a giveaway.
> 
> Mara, check a few of your construction issues, and misuse of past where a past participle was called for... one specific is the use of sprung where the correct word is sprang, and Chief Collins, and Faith speaking yet it is attributed to the DCO.... hey, I realize you don't have an NCO or even a SP4 to edit for you....:-"


 
Good catch on "sprang," thank you.  It's fixed now.

Where is it that I misattributed the quotes?  I"ll go back and fix it.

I've got a huge Spanish test tomorrow I need to go study for, so here is the rest of the case study.  Good night, all.

/////

In addition to being stripped of his Special Forces status, James was also fined and sentenced to a short confinement to the post stockade.  But he failed to report for his confinement, and was listed as AWOL.

Twice more after James had gone missing yet again, Faith got phone calls from Al James’ cell phone.  Both times, there was only silence, although the last time he thought he heard something that sounded like, “Help.”

The morning after the most recent call from James, Faith was seated at his desk doing some last-minute preparation for the annual inspection, which was due to begin on the following Monday.  The phone rang.  It was the DCO, with some troubling news.  Faith listened, said “Roger sir,” and hung up.  He sat in stunned silence for a bit before picking up the phone and calling the one person he thought he could turn to in a time like this- First Sergeant Reynolds.

“Hey, Will, it’s Scott,” Faith began.  “The MPs found CPT James this morning in his truck out in the Back 40.”

“Good, I hope they MPs toss that piece of shit UNDER the post stockade,” replied Reynolds.  “Maybe next time they can escort him to the front gate and make sure he never comes back.”

“ Will, Al James is dead.”

“What?”      “He’s dead. Cause of death unknown. The cops found a gun on the seat beside him, but there were no marks on the body and no signs of foul play.”

“He had it coming,” muttered Reynolds unsympathetically, “Karma, bitches.”

“Whatever he owed, it is paid now,” replied Faith, flatly.  “Let’s not speak ill of the dead.”

A few minutes later, the phone rang on Faith’s desk.  Faith identified himself, and then listened for a few seconds. 
 “I’ll be right there,” Faith informed the caller, and hung up. Then he called Reynolds back.  “That was the MP’s.  They want a unit rep to come claim the stuff they found in Al’s truck.”

“Let me get my hat and I’ll meet you there,” replied Reynolds.

A portly sergeant handed over a large paper bag containing CPT James’s belongings, and provided the information they had so far.  James’s truck was found in the parking lot of Range 37, a small arms range frequented by members of the unit for both training and recreational shooting.  James had his .45 on the seat beside him, along with two boxes of ammunition and a couple of paper targets.  His seat was leaned back, his eyes were closed, and his hands were folded I his lap.  He was found by members of a conventional unit who had signed for the range for the day.  He was found by Range Control when they came to get the range ready for the day’s shooting.  The first ones to find James said it looked like he had fallen asleep in his truck while waiting for the range to open.  They called the MPs when their efforts to rouse James failed.  The MP further noted that  the ignition was in the “on” position and that the truck had run out of gas.  James’ nose was slightly bloody but there were no other marks on his body.  At the moment, the speculation was that James had fallen asleep with the engine running while waiting for the range to open, and had succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning.  But there was going to be a full autopsy just to make sure.

Faith and Reynolds secured James’ belongings and signed for them on behalf of the unit.  On the way back to Group headquarters to turn the material over, Faith asked Reynolds, “Do you think I did it?”

“What?”

“Do you think I did it.  When we got into that fight,” Faith clarified.

 “Do I think you killed James by punching him in the head?  No I don’t think that.  You couldn’t hit someone hard enough to kill him,” Reynolds explained.

“But that kind of thing happens sometimes, like that SF guy out of Bragg that killed a guy in a bar fight in North Carolina,” Faith protested.

“Oh I know it happens, I’m just saying YOU can’t hit someone hard enough to kill him.”

“What makes you say that?” inquired Faith.

“Because I know for a fact that you hit like a girl,” said Reynolds, rubbing his chin and grinning.  Then Faith and Reynolds both laughed.

“Look,” said Reynolds comfortingly, “Whatever was wrong with Al James, it had nothing to do with you.  Dude was messed up somehow, and whatever he was into, it killed him.  It might have been drugs, that would explain the erratic behavior, the paranoia, and the aggression.”

“And the bloody noses,” Faith added.

“Cocaine is a hell of a drug,” Reynolds stated, quoting comedian Rick James.

“True, that,” Faith responded.


----------



## Marauder06 (Jul 23, 2012)

A few days later, a group of officers from 2nd Group had gathered at the Blackhorse saloon downtown to celebrate the departure of Captain Criss, the Group Support Detachment commander who was leaving to become part of the 16th  Special Aviation Unit (SAVE).  The gathering was convivial; CPT Criss was enormously well-liked, and his sense of humor kept the group of officers greatly entertained.  The event, know as a Hail and Fairwell, coincided with the promotions earlier that day of both 1LT Delano and 1LT Castelli, both of whom were now captains.  Both of the newly-minted captains were present, as were a smattering of officers and senior NCOs from across the Group.  The mood was festive; everyone seemed pretty happy so far.  Since they had all come straight from work, everyone was in their battle dress uniforms (BDUs). 

CPT Delano was allowed to keep her job as commander of the MID.  CPT Criss’s replacement, CPT Swann, proved to be highly capable; so much so that he was made temporary commander of the GSC until a permanent replacement for MAJ Ripley could be found.  Best of all, at least from CPT Faith’s perspective, was that the big annual inspection had been postponed until the end of the month.  Score.

Once the speeches were complete and the laughs were winding down, CPT Faith gestured in vain for the waitress so he could settle the bill.  His intent was to pay for both his and CPT Criss’s meals and drinks, but he was having a hard time catching the waitress’s eye.  Annoyed, he got up and finally ran her down at the register.

“Hey, I’m going to have to leave in a few minutes, I need to settle up,” he told her.

“It’s already taken care of, sir,” said the waitress.

“What do you mean?” Faith asked, confused.  He knew that he hadn’t paid his bill, so how could everything be ‘taken care of?’”

“Another patron, a couple actually, already paid the bill.”         

“Wow, that had to be a pretty hefty tab,” Faith observed, looking back at the plates and cups strewn across the table where the Hail and Farewell was being conducted. 

“Yes, and they left a pretty big tip too,” the waitress commented.

“Who are they?  I want to say thanks.”

“They were very clear about that, they want to remain anonymous.  They said, ‘tell them thank you for your service’ if anyone should ask.

“OK,” said Faith.  “Look, I don’t need to know who they are.  But if they haven’t left already please give them this,” he pulled a unit coin from his pocket, “and please give them our profound thanks.”

The waitress thought a moment.  “OK, I’ll do that,” she said, dropping the coin into her apron.

When he got back to the table, Faith told everyone what had happened.

“Wow, if I knew someone else was picking up the tab, I would have drunk more!” exclaimed CPT Criss, who then led the assembled group in a rousing rendition of “Hip, hip, HOORAY” as an expression of gratitude for their anonymous benefactors.

Shortly thereafter the group broke up, and only Faith, Criss, Castelli, Reynolds, Rollins, and Rollins’ friend Paul remained.  Just before they too were going to depart, the Group surgeon, CPT Chen, walked in, a dark look on his face.

“Hey, Li,” said Criss genially, referring to CPT Chen by his first name, “You almost missed the party!”
Chen was not in the mood for a party.  “The results of Al James’ autopsy came back,” he said, without preamble.  He had Crutchfeld-Jacob’s disease.

“What is that?” inquired now-Captain Castelli.

“He had mad cow disease?” asked Paul, incredulous. 

“That means…” said Chief Rollins.

“Yeah,” replied Faith.   

“How did he get that?” Castelli asked.

“Probably got it from eating all those goat brains in Afghanistan and Pakistan,” commented CPT Criss.

There was a short period of silence, broken when Reynolds summed up what everyone else was thinking:  “That means he wasn’t’ the piece of shit everyone thought he was.”

There it was- the Great Unsaid; the elephant in the room. 

“Mad cow disease affects the brain, causing dementia, memory loss, personality changes and hallucinations,” stated Chen. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creutzfeldt%E2%80%93Jakob_disease

“It is incurable and very difficult to diagnose, added Paul, who by trade was a Special Forces medic. 

“ So his conduct was a result of an service-incurred illness, it wasn’t James’ fault?” inquired Castelli.  Chief Rollins began to cry.


----------



## Marauder06 (Jul 23, 2012)

The process of re-instating James’ Special Forces qualifications was fast, almost instantaneous.

The Last Roll Call was conducted the following Monday.  If anything, it was more somber than usual; too many unanswered questions.  A lot of people were now wondering if the Group had done the right thing by casting him out in the first place.  Al James’ parents were present at the Last Roll Call, and were able to see their son’s honor formally restored as the Group Commander and DCO pinned a metal Special Forces tab to the pocket flap of James’s dress green uniform, and placed a brand-new green beret in the coffin with him.

“We’ve been to too many of these,” Reynolds said to Faith at the reception following the Last Roll Call.  Faith grunted his concurrence.  Across the room, Faith observed Al James’ family speaking with the Group commander.  Given the totality of the circumstances, Faith thought, they were being pretty understanding about what the unit did to their son.  Also present were CPT James’ widow and young son.  Seeing their grief was a truly heartbreaking experience.

After circulating at the reception for he felt was an appropriate period of time, Faith left the chapel to head back to work.  When he walked out the door, he saw the DCO, who had his back to him, speaking with the Group command sergeant major, who was enthusiastically puffing away on a cigarette.

“I can’t believe this happened,” the DCO was saying. 

“The way he was acting.., you did what you had to do.”

“I’m never going to make this mistake again,” said the DCO, his voice choking with emotion.  I should have backed him up, 100%.  From now on, I will always err in favor of my people.” 

The Group command sergeant major’s eyes narrowed as he took a long pull on his cigarette.  “When you do that, sir, you make a whole other set of mistakes.”  It wasn’t until much later that Faith found out how true those words were.




THE END.


----------



## SpitfireV (Jul 24, 2012)

OR IS IT?!


----------



## CDG (Jul 24, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> It wasn’t until much later that Faith found out how true those words were.


 
Setting us up for another one, sir?


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## LimaOscarSierraTango (Jul 24, 2012)

Wha... 

Damn.  Didn't expect that!  Also didn't expect to see a comment relating to MY in there. LOL


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## Mac_NZ (Jul 24, 2012)

Wow, I was going to ask if James had made a habit of getting IED'd but I never saw mad cow disease coming, herpegonosyphilaids maybe.


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## Marauder06 (Jul 24, 2012)

SpitfireV said:


> OR IS IT?!


No really, that's all for this case study ;)



CDG said:


> Setting us up for another one, sir?


Most likely.  Hopefully the next one won't take five months + to tell 



LimaOscarSierraTango said:


> Wha...
> 
> Damn. Didn't expect that!


As many of you recall (and have already stated earlier in this case) the mad cow thing actually happened to a guy in 5th Group.  The details in this story are made up, but there really was a guy who had his tab revoked, and it wasn't until much later that they figured out he had the disease.  He died shortly thereafter, but IIRC they got him his tab back before he passed.  Out of respect for this individual's memory, I want to make it clear that any serious misconduct attributed to CPT James in the story... like the adultery thing, the laptop, and especially Chief Rollins getting punched in the face, is a complete fabrication and the real-life Special Forces Soldier never did any of those things. 

In real life we also lost a decorated and highly-respected SF officer to an arty hit in Iraq, while he was standing in line waiting to get into the PX at Balad.  He was the first guy that I knew who was KIA.  The SF base at Balad is named after him.

There were no female officers in Group when I was there, all of that was completely made up.  The incident with SGT Smalls' wife is kind of true, as far as the pictures go, but there was never any suspicion of an officer being involved.   Although I didn't get along with the Group S2 (actually there was a string of S2s I didn't get along with... maybe the problem was with me?), he was not as bad as the one in the story.  But every story needs a bad guy, right?  ;)

The real-life DCO and GSC commander of the Group I was in were incredible leaders and would have crushed the issues in this case study on the spot, things never would have gotten to the point they did in this story.

In conclusion, the Group I was in was never this dysfunctional, I just think it makes a better and more instructive story this way. ;)  



LimaOscarSierraTango said:


> Also didn't expect to see a comment relating to MY in there. LOL


:) there are also references to at least three members of the site in this case study.


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## LimaOscarSierraTango (Jul 24, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> there are also references to at least three members of the site in this case study.


 
I think I may have picked up on a couple of those.


----------



## Chopstick (Jul 24, 2012)

The main lesson I got from this...DONT EAT BRAINS!


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## 0699 (Jul 24, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> *A portly sergeant* handed over a large paper bag containing CPT James’s belongings, and provided the information they had so far. James’s truck was found in the parking lot of Range 37, a small arms range frequented by members of the unit for both training and recreational shooting. James had his .45 on the seat beside him, along with two boxes of ammunition and a couple of paper targets. His seat was leaned back, his eyes were closed, and his hands were folded I his lap. He was found by members of a conventional unit who had signed for the range for the day. He was found by Range Control when they came to get the range ready for the day’s shooting. The first ones to find James said it looked like he had fallen asleep in his truck while waiting for the range to open. They called the MPs when their efforts to rouse James failed. The MP further noted that the ignition was in the “on” position and that the truck had run out of gas. James’ nose was slightly bloody but there were no other marks on his body. At the moment, the speculation was that James had fallen asleep with the engine running while waiting for the range to open, and had succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning. But there was going to be a full autopsy just to make sure.


 


Marauder06 said:


> there are also references to at least three members of the site in this case study.


 
I figured this was me.  Not very well concealed... 


Good fucking story sir.  Well-written.  Thank you for thaking the time to write it.


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## Marauder06 (Jul 24, 2012)

0699 said:


> I figured this was me. Not very well concealed...


lol, I had no one in mind when I came up with that character.  He was part of a plot line that I worked on for a day or two and then abandoned, that description of him is all that remained when I got done editing.  But "Paul," "CPT Criss," and "CPT Chen" are all characters who are named after site members.  There have been others in earlier case studies as well.



0699 said:


> Good fucking story sir. Well-written. Thank you for thaking the time to write it.


I enjoyed writing it, thank you (and many others) for the earlier input.  Many times the story changes from what I had in mind based on what people suggest in these posts.

-So, now that this story is FINALLY over (after how many months?), what kinds of things can we take away from this case study in terms of leadership lessons learned?

-Is there a particular case study you would like us to take on next?  It has to be SOF-related, it has to have major leadership tie-ins, and I have to be able to incorporate some if not most of the main characters used in the other case studies.


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## TB1077 (Jul 24, 2012)

Thanks for the story sir.  I'm looking forward to the next one already.  Hopefully you can start (and hopefully finish..) one prior to my shipping in September.  I don't know if I could handle the suspense of dragging out the finish:-".

I read all about the real life story of the SF soldier from 5th Group as my recruiter was very involved in that whole story.  So I believe a great take away would be to never question your gut in regards to noticing a dramatic change in someone's behavior and demeanor.  It was obvious that many characters had a feeling that something was wrong with him.  With that said, even if there is a medical/logical reason behind poor behavior, action needs to be taken swiftly.  Oh, and I also learned that it is not wise to store home-made porn on government issue computers.


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## Mac_NZ (Jul 24, 2012)

The case study reaffirmed a lot of things wise men beat into me years ago which was that if someone's behaviour changes dramatically and they don't have a history of being a sack you owe it to them to find out what is causing it and help if you can.  In short know your people.


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## Marauder06 (Jul 24, 2012)

I added a summary of the case study to the first post in this thread, in case anyone wants to just read it straight through instead of trying to keep track of things post-by-post.



TB1077 said:


> Thanks for the story sir. I'm looking forward to the next one already. Hopefully you can start (and hopefully finish..) one prior to my shipping in September. I don't know if I could handle the suspense of dragging out the finish:-".


 
Well, no promises; this one started in NOV11, I planned on having it done by Christmas, and it took until JUL12 to finally wrap it up.  Unfortunately, I don't think that's a record...:-/



TB1077 said:


> I read all about the real life story of the SF soldier from 5th Group as my recruiter was very involved in that whole story. So I believe a great take away would be to never question your gut in regards to noticing a dramatic change in someone's behavior and demeanor. It was obvious that many characters had a feeling that something was wrong with him. With that said, even if there is a medical/logical reason behind poor behavior, action needs to be taken swiftly. Oh, and I also learned that it is not wise to store home-made porn on government issue computers.


 
That Soldier and I were in Group at the same time, but I don't think our paths ever crossed and I think I left Group just before this whole thing blew up.  Knowing what they knew at the time, I feel like the Group made the right decision but of course everyone felt terrible after, when the truth came out.  IIRC they actually had the guy tested for a bunch of different stuff, but it all came back negative.  I just don't think it occurred to anyone that he might have C-J until much, much later.



Mac_NZ said:


> The case study reaffirmed a lot of things wise men beat into me years ago which was that if someone's behaviour changes dramatically and they don't have a history of being a sack you owe it to them to find out what is causing it and help if you can. In short know your people.


 
Roger, that's one of the things I took away too.  There is a fine line between "looking out for people" and "covering up for them." Leaders get paid to make tough decisions; sometimes that involves holding people accountable for their actions, and saving them from themselves.


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## Chopstick (Jul 24, 2012)

0699 said:


> I figured this was me. Not very well concealed...
> 
> 
> Good fucking story sir. Well-written. Thank you for thaking the time to write it.


0699 is NOT portly.  Just sayin'.  ;)


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## SkrewzLoose (Jul 24, 2012)

It took me a minute to figure out that I had been keeping up with this thread when I picked up _About Face _to see how many pages I could get through tonight.  Then my wife called.    I'm about 75% through the book and it took me a page or 2 to realize I had the characters and plot line from your case study stuck in my head...  I should have listened when everyone said, "just wait 'til you hit 30 and XYZ happens".


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## Salt USMC (Jul 25, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> -Is there a particular case study you would like us to take on next? It has to be SOF-related, it has to have major leadership tie-ins, and I have to be able to incorporate some if not most of the main characters used in the other case studies.


 
Busting posers is the hot thing these days.  I know that one of your previous case studies involved a joe messing around with one of your guys' wife, and some posing/stolen valor stuff going on, but maybe flesh out that topic a little more.

Maybe something like this:
-You have a hotshot support dude who is a PT stud and all-around good guy, backbone of the shop, etc etc
-He dropped his SFAS packet a few months ago and is itching to go
-You discover via anonymous facebook tip that he's been posing as the real deal on blogs and such
-You could throw in some stuff about dealing drugs or cheating with someone's wife or whatever
-CWO Rollins has proven to have a little bit of a wild side so you could integrate a little bit of that!


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## Marauder06 (Jul 25, 2012)

You guys seem to really like Chief Rollins for some reason.  You know she's completely made up, right?  ;)


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## Salt USMC (Jul 25, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> You guys seem to really like Chief Rollins for some reason. You know she's completely made up, right? ;)


Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight ;)


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## 0699 (Jul 25, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> You guys seem to really like Chief Rollins for some reason. You know she's completely made up, right? ;)


 
I figured she was based on someone here; thought I might even have figured out who...


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## Marauder06 (Jul 25, 2012)

Deathy McDeath said:


> Busting posers is the hot thing these days. I know that one of your previous case studies involved a joe messing around with one of your guys' wife, and some posing/stolen valor stuff going on, but maybe flesh out that topic a little more.
> 
> Maybe something like this:
> -You have a hotshot support dude who is a PT stud and all-around good guy, backbone of the shop, etc etc
> ...


 
I like the basic premise of your post, thank you for offering the idea.  I wonder if I can actually stretch something like that into a full case study, or if I might roll it up as a side story as part of something larger (kind of like the thing with SGT Small's wife was a branch off of the main story, which was CPT James' brain disease).  And also, since I'm a support guy myself, I don't think I'll have the poser be a support guy in Group, maybe some wannabe-anything-SOF-related type from the conventional Army.  I don't want to support negative stereotypes about support guys in Group... ;)

I think I may also try to steer away from adultery, that's kind of been a persistent theme in the last couple of cases (although both incidents actually happened "in real life" )  Maybe I'll try to work something different in that you guys didn't see coming, for a change.


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## Marauder06 (Jul 25, 2012)

Deathy McDeath said:


> Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight ;)


I have met many highly-competent female warrant officers.  I have never met any that are as attractive as I envision Chief Rollins.




0699 said:


> I figured she was based on someone here; thought I might even have figured out who...


 
Seriously?  PM me who, I'm curious.  For the record, the only ones in this case study who I kind of attached to site members were Paul, CPT Criss, CPT Chen, and of course CPT Faith.  There have been others in previous case studies, but to be honest it was getting hard for me to keep track of everyone so I tried to pare down the cast a bit.  There will be more site members making an appearance in subsequent studies, stay tuned...


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## Salt USMC (Jul 25, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> I like the basic premise of your post, thank you for offering the idea. I wonder if I can actually stretch something like that into a full case study, or if I might roll it up as a side story as part of something larger (kind of like the thing with SGT Small's wife was a branch off of the main story, which was CPT James' brain disease). And also, since I'm a support guy myself, I don't think I'll have the poser be a support guy in Group, maybe some wannabe-anything-SOF-related type from the conventional Army. I don't want to support negative stereotypes about support guys in Group... ;)
> 
> I think I may also try to steer away from adultery, that's kind of been a persistent theme in the last couple of cases (although both incidents actually happened "in real life" ) Maybe I'll try to work something different in that you guys didn't see coming, for a change.


 
I figured that was kind of a flimsy premise to make into a full case study (that would take 8 months to get through) but like you said it could be part of a larger deal, or maybe as a short interlude when doing a larger one to keep people interested (or your creative juices flowing)


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## SkrewzLoose (Jul 25, 2012)

CWO = Chief (in branches other than Navy)?
We refer to our WO as "warrant" (as well as Sir/Ma'am, of course) because our senior enlisted are Chiefs.


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## CDG (Jul 25, 2012)

SkrewzLoose said:


> CWO = Chief (in branches other than Navy)?
> We refer to our WO as "warrant" (as well as Sir/Ma'am, of course) because our senior enlisted are Chiefs.


 
The title is still technically Chief Warrant Officer.  I've heard "Warrant", "Chief", and in the case of the USMC, "Gunner".


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## SkrewzLoose (Jul 25, 2012)

CDG said:


> The title is still technically Chief Warrant Officer. I've heard "Warrant", "Chief", and in the case of the USMC, "Gunner".


Gotcha.  I figured it was a shortened version, Chief just didn't ring a bell with me because of my brain washing here.  

Is the new avatar a foreshadowing of a banning of atomic proportions?


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## CDG (Jul 25, 2012)

SkrewzLoose said:


> Gotcha. I figured it was a shortened version, Chief just didn't ring a bell with me because of my brain washing here.
> 
> Is the new avatar a foreshadowing of a banning of atomic proportions?


 
Lol.  I hope not!


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## Marauder06 (Jul 25, 2012)

SkrewzLoose said:


> CWO = Chief (in branches other than Navy)?
> We refer to our WO as "warrant" (as well as Sir/Ma'am, of course) because our senior enlisted are Chiefs.


 
In the Army, a W1 is known as "mister" (in the same way that one would refer to E5, E6, E7... as "sergeant). You don't become a "*chief warrant officer*" until you become a W2, at which time it is traditional to be addressed as "chief."

However...

Practice often deviates from doctrine. In the 160th, for example, I often heard warrant officers of all ranks referred to as, and refer to each other as, "mister," regardless of rank. In fact, that seemed to be the preferred term. I've also heard many people (particularly those who don't work with a lot of warrants) refer to W1's as "chief," much the same way a medic is often referred to as "doc," even though that medic does not have an MD and is not, in fact, a doctor.

Also, at my interview board for the 160th, a CW3 (who I had actually knew prior to the board) asked me a question and I started my reply by saying, "Well, Chief..." and I was immediately cut off by the asshole Reg. S1 (a major), who said, "Chief? What do you mean, "Chief," do you see any feathers in his hair? No? Then why are you referring to him as "Chief?" //he was likening the term chief to Indian chief// (me, in my internal monologue of course --> "Well, because he's a CW3, which means by definition he is referred to as "chief," and since I've dealt with him several times prior to this, and called him "Chief" every time, if it bothered him I'm sure he would have said something to me about it by now. Asshole. Sir."  ) So sometimes it's better to find out what a warrant wants to be called before applying a standard template.


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## x SF med (Jul 25, 2012)

Chopstick said:


> The main lesson I got from this...DONT EAT BRAINS!


 
unless you're a zombie.


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## x SF med (Jul 25, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> there are also references to at least three members of the site in this case study.


 

I wonder who they are?  I could never guess...   hmmmm...   I guess I need to find a medic, a cop and a surgeon to help me out....:ehh::-/;)


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## policemedic (Jul 25, 2012)

x SF med said:


> unless you're a zombie.


 
Zombies are probably a result of prion disease so munch on, walkers.


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## x SF med (Jul 25, 2012)

policemedic said:


> Zombies are probably a result of prion disease so munch on, walkers.


 
Thank you portly MP Sergeant.


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## SpitfireV (Jul 25, 2012)

x SF med said:


> I wonder who they are? I could never guess... hmmmm... I guess I need to find a medic, a cop and a surgeon to help me out....:ehh::-/;)


 
Sounds like you're getting a D&D crew together.


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## x SF med (Jul 25, 2012)

SpitfireV said:


> Sounds like you're getting a D&D crew together.


 
a what?  is this some new kiwi code?  you guys never say anything intelligible.


Mara, you need to get a kiwi into one of your case studies, it doesn't matter what the kiwi says, nobody understands them anyway.


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## SpitfireV (Jul 25, 2012)

x SF med said:


> a what? is this some new kiwi code? you guys never say anything intelligible.
> 
> 
> Mara, you need to get a kiwi into one of your case studies, it doesn't matter what the kiwi says, nobody understands them anyway.


 
Don't fake that you don't know what Dungeons and Dragons is. We all know the background behind "The Troll" name.


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## Marauder06 (Jul 25, 2012)

x SF med said:


> I wonder who they are? I could never guess... hmmmm... I guess I need to find a medic, a cop and a surgeon to help me out....:ehh::-/;)


 
Two out of three ain't bad ;)  The third one is a loggie, the medic and the surgeon are correct.


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## x SF med (Jul 25, 2012)

SpitfireV said:


> Don't fake that you don't know what Dungeons and Dragons is. We all know the background behind "The Troll" name.


 
<--------  see avatar for background behind Troll name.   There is no Dungheaps and Drag-ons involved, you kiwi wanker geek.


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## x SF med (Jul 25, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> Two out of three ain't bad ;) The third one is a loggie, the medic and the surgeon are correct.


 
so, I found the easter egg...  the portly cop...  you didn't even know you'd hidden....  Sweet!


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## 0699 (Jul 25, 2012)

SpitfireV said:


> Sounds like you're getting a D&D crew together.


 
Now he just needs a witch and a dwarf...


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## SpitfireV (Jul 25, 2012)

x SF med said:


> <-------- see avatar for background behind Troll name. There is no Dungheaps and Drag-ons involved, you kiwi wanker geek.


 
Yeah yeah yeah.


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## Marauder06 (Jul 25, 2012)

x SF med said:


> so, I found the easter egg... the portly cop... you didn't even know you'd hidden.... Sweet!


 
According to one of my fellow site members, I also subliminally chose one of our illustrious .mil ladies as the inspiration for Chief Rollins too.  ;)


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## CDG (Jul 25, 2012)

0699 said:


> Now he just needs a witch and a dwarf...


 
Well, we do have a witch here.  Not sure about the dwarf.....


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## Marauder06 (Jul 25, 2012)

Thanks for everyone who provided suggestions for the next case study here in the thread and via PM, I think I know what we're going to do next.  I'm going to sketch out an outline tonight and start the next one up in a couple of days.


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## SkrewzLoose (Jul 25, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> Thanks for everyone who provided suggestions for the next case study here in the thread and via PM, I think I know what we're going to do next. I'm going to sketch out an outline tonight and start the next one up in a couple of days.


Promises, promises...  :-/


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## policemedic (Jul 26, 2012)

x SF med said:


> Thank you portly MP Sergeant.


 
I live to serve 


And people say I have no comedic timing :-"


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## Salt USMC (Jul 26, 2012)

CDG said:


> The title is still technically Chief Warrant Officer. I've heard "Warrant", "Chief", and in the case of the USMC, "Gunner".


Be careful calling marine CWOs gunners.  The ACTUAL gunner MOS is 0306, which requires a very specific career path (16 years Infantry before you can even think about applying) and has very few Marines in the field (there are less than 90 gunners in the entire Marine Corps).  They are fiercely protective of that title.  I dont know why Marines started calling regular CWOs gunners, but its pretty dumb.


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## Marauder06 (Jul 26, 2012)

I forgot to add that the scene in the Blackhorse is also based on something that actually happened.  When I was in the MID, the tradition was that the guy leaving got to pick where we did his farewell.  The Blackhorse was pretty popular, I think someone's wife or daughter or girlfriend or something worked there.  Anyway, one night were we doing a farewell, we were all still in uniform because we had come straight from work.  I was in a hurry because I had somewhere else I needed to be, but the waitress had stopped coming over to the table.  When I finally tracked her down to settle my bill so I could leave, she told me that a couple at an adjacent table had picked up the tab.  For all of us.    I don't know what the total bill was, but all of us had been eating dinner and drinking beer, so I know it wasn't cheap.  There weren't a lot of us there, but it wasn't just two or three people either.  I thanked the couple and gave them a company coin, and the rest of the guys went by to thank them too.  It was pretty cool.


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## policemedic (Jul 26, 2012)

Now that the case study is over, can someone explain how a tab gets stripped?  I understand the reasoning-the guy is viewed as such a fuckup and pariah that no one wants him associated with SF.  But he earned that tab.  I'm pretty surprised it can be summarily revoked.


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## Marauder06 (Jul 26, 2012)

policemedic said:


> Now that the case study is over, can someone explain how a tab gets stripped? I understand the reasoning-the guy is viewed as such a fuckup and pariah that no one wants him associated with SF. But he earned that tab. I'm pretty surprised it can be summarily revoked.


 
You can actually get your tab revoked for a number of different reasons.  Here is the dry, "doctrinal" explanation, I hope that one of our SF members who has better knowledge about how it actually happens can chime in.

http://www.globalnato.org/index.php...tary_awards&catid=122:military_news&Itemid=56




> (9) _Special Forces Tab. _Special Forces Tab may be revoked by the awarding authority (Commander, U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center) if the recipient—
> _(a) _Has his or her Parachutist Badge revoked.
> _(b) _Initiates action which results in termination or withdrawal of the Special Forces specialty or branch code prior to completing 36 months of Special Forces duty. Requests for advanced schooling which may lead to another specialty or branch code being awarded instead of Special Forces will not be used as a basis for revocation of the tab.
> _(c) _Has become permanently medically disqualified from performing Special Forces duty and was found to have become disqualified not in the line of duty.
> ...


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## x SF med (Jul 26, 2012)

basically, the spirit of the rule is... if crank meets track shoe seriously and / or repeatedly, the Tab can and will be revoked...


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## policemedic (Jul 26, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> You can actually get your tab revoked for a number of different reasons. Here is the dry, "doctrinal" explanation, I hope that one of our SF members who has better knowledge about how it actually happens can chime in.
> 
> http://www.globalnato.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=793:explosive_ordnance_disposal_badge_military_awards&catid=122:military_news&Itemid=56





x SF med said:


> basically, the spirit of the rule is... if crank meets track shoe seriously and / or repeatedly, the Tab can and will be revoked...


 
 Thanks!


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