Taking Command
2236 Words
Lincoln packed his dorm room in under an hour, and had changed his clothes while he waited for his ride to depart. He had not stayed for the Positions Ceremony, as it was not required. It had long been held for the families of the Cadets, and nearly every one of the new Officers was surprised when the most lucrative position was still available.
20 minutes after it started, Lincoln was surprised when he heard someone calling his name from behind. He sighed as Timothy approached him, his parents with him.
"Congratulations Captain Black, what can I do for you?" Lincoln asked him trying to avoid a confrontation.
"Thank you Colonel, it is much appreciated. My father was a graduate as well, and wanted to meet the man who graduated as the youngest Colonel ever." Timothy said after he saluted him as was proper.
"We missed seeing you at the Position Ceremony." Blake Black said extending his hand.
"No family to participate sir." Lincoln replied shaking the older mans hand.
"How do you mean?" Linda Black asked as they shook hands as well.
"I am an Orphan ma'am. I have no family, and was here on scholarships. You should be proud of your son, Captain is not an easy rank to achieve before graduation." He said as Timothy's father chuckled.
"Colonel must be extra challenging than." Blake said to him.
Lincoln nodded, as it was not entirely wrong. "It is indeed, however it is best not to compare the achievements of two separate Cadets against each other. Despite what most achieve here, your son has achieved a rank that is perfectly respectable."
Timothy was shocked as Lincoln said that, knowing it was a compliment from the man. "Thank you sir, may I ask what assignment you chose?" he asked curious as a car stopped and the driver asked for him.
"Sorry, this is my ride. It was a pleasure speaking to you, and Tim, I actually hope we see each other in the future." Lincoln said before he got in the car and left.
Lincoln arrived at Fort Indianapolis on a private jet, and was a little surprised when there was absolutely no one present to greet him. Even the plane Steward was confused, as there was always a car waiting for a Colonel when he was flown onto base this way.
Lincoln picked up his trunk, and carried it to the nearby motor pool. He threw it into the back of one of the nicer trucks, and walked up to the Corporal at the desk. "Need the keys for that truck." he told the man.
"Not a chance, those trucks are for Majors and higher." the Corporal sneered at him as Lincoln slammed a chip on the counter so it could be seen.
"KEYS CORPORAL, OR YOU WILL FIND YOURSELF ON LATRINE CLEANING DETAIL FOR A MONTH!" Lincoln yelled at him as he looked at the Colonel medallion with his picture engraved on the one side.
The Corporal grabbed a set of keys, and slid them to Lincoln without saying another word, and took the coin so he could put the information into his computer. He grabbed a map and circled the building his unit was assigned too, and Lincoln grabbed his coin before he left.
The drive did not take long, and he saw activity all throughout the different unit buildings. When he approached his however, there was not a soul to be seen. He walked into the barracks, and saw two Privates sitting on their bunks. Both jumped to attention when he entered, and he saw them cleaning their rifles.
"Where is everyone private?" Lincoln asked deliberately looking around the room.
"Sergeant Godfrey gave them all evening passes sir." Private Johnson said still holding his salute which Lincoln finally returned.
"Very well, you are not to say a word to the men when they return. Training begins at 0500 as scheduled." he ordered before walking into his quarters with his bags and locking the doors.
He saw the Sergeant had scheduled evening passes every night for the last 4 days, despite the orders he was to continue the training schedule for the enlisted men until the new Commanding Officer of Unit 127 arrived. He looked at the schedule, and saw that they should have still been training for an additional 2 hours.
He cancelled all the passes of his entire unit, other than Private Johnson and Private Kelly. Both had remained in the barracks despite being given permission by the Master Sergeant. He filed charges for misconduct, and disobeying orders before the men had returned.
Lincoln worked until 2300, and noted not one of the men had returned from their evening pass as scheduled. He nodded as he knew that those men would be paying a heavy price when he woke them up.
Lincoln woke up at 0445, and got to the coffee and donuts just as the two Privates arrived with a third that was clearly still drunk. He sighed as 0500 approached, and they remained the only 3. "Private Johnson, Private Kelly, you may enjoy a day of leave today. I apologize for what you will return to, but know that the punishment of the rest of the Unit does not apply to both of you. Corporal Franklin, you will also be lucky to avoid the bulk of the punishment, as you arrived. However if you ever report for training still drunk from the night before, you will face even more serious consequences than what is about to happen. Report to medical for evaluation." He ordered the man as Lincoln waited. He stood at the training grounds for this unit, and watched as several groups of his men walked into the barracks in various stages of drunkenness.
At 0630 the trumpet sounded as the colors were raised, and only the Master Sergeant emerged from the Barracks. Lincoln smiled for half a moment as the man clearly had the intent of walking to the mess hall for breakfast. "Sergeant Blake, where do you think you are going?" he asked very loudly as he stopped and turned.
"Breakfast, why the hell-" he replied as he turned as realized he was talking to a superior officer. "Breakfast sir." he said snapping to attention as the bugler walked past.
"Corporal, can you come here for a moment please?" Lincoln asked kindly as he forces the Sergeant to stand there saluting him as he had not yet returned it.
"Yes sir?" the bugler asked.
"Squad 127 is late for training, please attend to their barracks and wake them please." Lincoln said without taking his eyes off the Sergeant. He finally returned the salute allowing the man to stand at attention.
"Tell me Sergeant, what were the orders you were given prior to being placed in temporary command of this Unit?" he demanded.
"To continue training as scheduled sir." Blake replied.
"Why have you failed that task Sergeant?" he demanded as they clearly heard the trumpet sound from inside the barracks. It did not take long, and the 1500 men currently assigned to the unit ran into position to begin their inspection. Being woke up that way was never a good sign.
"Apologies sir, I believed it would be good for morale to give the men a night of relaxation." Sergeant Blake said.
Lincoln laughed as he looked at the men still assembling behind him."If it were one night Sergeant, I might have overlooked your indiscretion. However if you had remained on the base even until dinner time, you would have been aware of my arrival and known that it would be a bad idea to let the men go on an evening pass when they should be preparing for their deployment in two months time. Especially as it was the fourth such pass in as many days. Your men are now behind on 16 hours of training by my watch. Those of you present will find for the remainder of the month, you will be making up that training time. Until we deploy, morning training will now be from 0400 to 1000 hours, and we will also be adding an evening training from 1900 to 2100. All passes are revoked until the end of the month, unless given explicit approval by me. Is that understood?" he demanded of the men in the formation. Most of them were hungover.
"Yes sir." they managed in almost perfect synchrocy.
"Excellent, you have 30 minutes to get breakfast, and we will be training all day today. Dismissed!" he ordered the men. "Sergeant, you will be brought up on charges of dereliction of duty, and disobeying orders of a superior officer. If you survive those, you will find your remaining time until reassignment unpleasant under my command. I strongly suggest you negotiate a transfer as part of any plea deal you accept, because unless you can prove your worth to me, I have no faith in your ability to follow orders." Lincoln told him harshly before he walked to the officers mess and got his own breakfast.
That evening the three privates reported to his office at 2100 as they had been ordered, and Lincoln looked at them. "Corporal Franklin, glad to see you for for duty this time. Your bunkmates have spent the day training as they have never done so before. In addition to your other assigned training modules, we are extending morning training to 0400 to 1000 and 1900-2100. We have much time to make up for, and our training must be top notch. Privates, dismissed. Corporal, I need you to gather the other NCOs and report back here ASAP." Lincoln ordered as he reviewed the orders he had received when he took the post.
Sergeant Major Blake entered the room last, ensuring all of his NCOs were there within 20 minutes. He attempted to remain at the rear of the room, and Lincoln had read the report on his disciplinary actions. He had been reduced a rank, and had been sanctioned half pay for 6 months. He was not pleased the request for transfer had been denied, and the report informed him the man's expertise was invaluable for their mission in 2 months.
"Sergeant Major Blake, welcome back to the Unit. As displeased as I am with the results, I will accept the orders moving forward. If you are agreeable, we will set this matter behind us and start fresh?" Lincoln asked him.
"It would be much appreciated sir." Sergeant Major Blake replied crisply.
"Excellent, we have a few things to discuss about the training regiment over the next 56 days. We deploy to the Front Lines in 58 days, and we must be prepared for what we will face." he said as he pulled the orders out. "It seems what I intended as punishment, has now been ordered by the higher ups. As such, we will be working all out. Sergeant Major, how long until the rest of the troops and Officers arrive?" he asked as he had no clue.
"The rest of the Unit NCOs and soldiers will be reporting within 72 hours. The Officers are due to arrive in one week." Sergeant Blake reported.
Lincoln nodded as he looked at the training schedules. "Excellent, despite the orders issued yesterday, we will need to plan how we will time training. 0400-1000 will still be required, and a break from 0700-0745 for chow will be observed. 1030-1200 I understand is specialist training with range from 1300-1500, is there any other training I need to be aware of?" he asked.
They thought of it, and there was a class from 1515-1700 that each of them had to attend.
"Excellent, 1800-2000 will be for Squad trainings, and free time will be 2000-2200 at lights out. Once the remaining troops arrive, there will be limited weekend passes, and we will train all day Saturday and Sunday. If your soldiers have any complaints, inform them that we do this to extend their expected survival rate once we are on country." Lincoln told them as they all looked at him. "Questions or concerns?" he asked them.
"Sir, with so much training we will need to closely monitor morale for burnout among the troops." Sergeant Blake advised.
"Trust me Sergeant, the teams will be closely monitored. Evenings will be combat training in live fire drills, with air soft, paintball, and any other means that allow non lethal projectiles." Lincoln replied as he knew what worked in the Academy. The NCOs were all nodding, as they knew they could encourage their men this way.
"Sir, the men deserve to see their families as much as possible before we are deployed." Corporal Franklin suggested.
Lincoln saw the others agreeing with him, and Blake shrugged. "You are absolutely correct Corporal, and I will be planning family events as well, despite the training we need to accomplish before we deploy." he said with a smile. "We may train on the weekends, but that does not mean the families cannot come here to observe and participate."
Even Blake was surprised, as he was not advocating isolating the men when most Commanding Officers would have. "That sounds like an excellent idea sir, we will need to reign in the men on those days." he recommended.
They discussed the remaining things that were pressing business at the moment, and at 2230, Lincoln finally passed out from his long day.
- Writer
