My 'Six' (which should never be called thus)
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Today is the eight year anniversary of me enlisting in the military. If I hadn't reupped last year, I would have been out and free! But instead, I'm still serving, having just recently been promoted to Staff Sergeant and enjoying myself and the prospect of going to Fort Knox next summer. I also got pictures of my Promotion in October. My official date of promotion is September 1, but it took them a while to pin me. And under the circumstances, well, I would have rather been able to put on a soft cap but if they made me get pinned in a Kevlar, I'm ok with it.  To really show how short I am, my battle Guilin (the tallest guy in our squad) pinned me. He had a mentorship role with me in that he tried to pass on his knowledge without smacking me upside the head, which he wanted to do on more then one occasion. He's artillery, so he's not used to dealing with women and our many little issues. In fact, he was elated to get Benning, one time during a mix up he thought his orders had gotten changed to Jackson and I swear he was about to have a breakdown, because he was certain he would end up in jail if he had to train females. Don't get me wrong, he's a good guy, but I don't know if he was sure how to take me.  In fact, I'm sure the thought going through his mind at this moment is 'how do I do this without being slapped with a sexual harrassment suit?' He still punched me in the chest to simulate my blood rank which is velcroed on. Not to hard though.  "Look at me, I got a rocker!" I look so ate up in this picture, Buck Sergeant on my helmet, Staff Sergeant on my chest, and I appear drunk. I didn't really want to be pinned with my kevlar on for this reason, because the Kevlar rank is sew on and it wasn't worth my time to get it sewn on correctly. Oh well. Of course, with every promotion there is the expected Speech, which I should have prepared for but didn't and therefore I butchored it royally. But it wasn't as painful as my E2 promotion speech, which was in front of about five hundred people and at the time I sucked at public speaking. I still do, but I don't get as nervous these days. You can't fear public speaking and be a drill sergeant, because you are always in front of a platoon of privates ranging from 30 to 64 strong. Just show nervousness in front of your platoon, I dare you. They'll eat you alive. Shortly therafter, I put on my LBV and it looked like I was a Buck Sergeant again. I have learned that you should never refer to Staff Sergeant as 'Six', as there is a difference between rank and pay grade. An NCO and an E6 are not always the same thing. Of course, I have learned this lesson the hard way. But I think I can consider myself now officially an NCO, it's good to feel like I've actually led troops in the five year period of being a Sergeant, which I wasn't always able to claim. I guess that's why, especially in Kosovo, why I considered myself an Overpaid Private. I was getting the pay of a sergeant but I was never given the opportunity to get the responsibility and since I learn through trial and error in a lot of things I do, and I have made plenty of mistakes in my career, in the past if I failed at something, instead of getting the opportunity to learn from my mistakes, I was 'fired' and threatened with the removal of my MOS, which, by the way, is ludacris. One thing I can claim I learned while in Drill Sergeant School, I think I finally learned how to be a Sergeant.
Posted by Erickson on 6:30 PM : (((
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1 Comments:
Comments retrieved for this Post:
Go E! Nice to see pics of this....
WA Tom | Homepage | 11.15.07 - 7:55 am | #
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Thanks for re-enlisting.
With family tragedies it must make the expereince bitter sweet but I wish I had an ounce of your fortitude. Looking good, Sergeant.
Rob | 11.15.07 - 3:45 pm | #
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Just out of curosity can you name the service where an E-6 is not a NCO?
ParatrooperJJ | 11.19.07 - 9:13 am | #
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I know plenty of E6s who should be the now defunct Spec-6.
I was given this huge rant on the difference between E6 and Staff Sergeant when I first learned my promotion came through, mainly from the guy who pinned me.
risawn | 11.20.07 - 2:51 am | #
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Gravatar Yeah I know a few also....
ParatrooperJJ | 11.20.07 - 8:41 am | #
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