looked at Katie. “I thought you were to call me if there were problems.”
“Not a problem from my point of view.”
I looked to address my staff.
“We have about 1600 troopers in training. They say training will be about six months. But I think they will be here sooner.”
Pam asked, “Where do we put them all, sir?”
Candice remarked, “We need more barracks space.”
“I’ll have to contact the post commander.”
A tall young African-American girl knocked on the door and entered.
“Sir, there is a COL Jeffries on the phone.”
I picked up the call in the conference room on the monitor. “Good morning, Bob, what do you have for me?”
“Jimmy, how are you?”
“Doing fine, how is Paula doing?”
“She’s in college now.”
“That’s great, but I don’t think this is a social call.”
“That’s right, The four buildings you have now will be the center of the regiment. You will get four buildings east and four buildings west and a smaller three-story building north for the regimental command. Major Endicott will bring papers and tour the buildings with you.”
“Thanks, Bob, we’ll have to try to get together later.”
“That would be great. After things settle down, call me.” After the call, I looked at everyone. “Pam, call formation. We have to inform the troopers we have work to do.”
“What do you mean?”
“We have to get the buildings ready for the troops. Beds, wall lockers, chests of drawers, bedding. It all has to be set up before they get here.
I heard Pam call, “Attention,” to the formation. I marched out to Pam. Pam turned about, saluted, and reported, “Sir, the battalion is formed.”
I returned her salute, looking over the battalion. “Commanders, prepare your units for inspection.”
I watched as they opened ranks, the first row taking two steps forward. The second row took one step forward. The fourth row took two small steps back.
“Commanders, inspect your units.”
I went to Alpha Company to review the inspection. I pointed out a few small minor uniform problems. The inspection went smoothly, with the troopers looking good. After inspection, the commanders closed ranks.
“At ease. We are a regiment. We will get about 1,600 more troopers in. We will get more buildings and will have to get them ready before they get here.”
John Gregory asked, “When will they be here, sir?”
“They can be here anytime in the next six months.”
“Then we have plenty of time before they get here.”
“No, they could be here in two weeks up to six months. So we have to get the buildings ready now.”
A thin, averaged-sized major approached me and saluted. I returned his salute.
“Colonel Preston, I’m Major Endicott.”
“Major, let’s get started on the tour. Katie and Jim, come along. Pam, take command of your battalion.”
“COL Preston, we will go to the four buildings to the west, the four to the east, and finish with the smaller building to the north.”
“Lead the way, Major Endicott.”
The inspection was tedious and time consuming. The buildings were dirty but in good shape.
“Katie, we need to start on the buildings.”
“We need supplies and tools to get started.”
“Call Jim in here for me.”
Jim came in. “What do you need, Colonel?”
I gave him the supply card. “Here is the card you will need to get supplies. Get what you need to fix up the buildings.”
“Can I take Katie with me?”
“Take Katie, two trucks parked out front, and six troopers with you.”
Jim smiled. “Thanks. Come on, Katie, let’s get going.”
After they left, I sat in my chair, thinking how a unit is activated. No unit has been activated with all young inexperienced troopers. My choice to promote within these young troopers makes it even harder. They need to gain ten years of experience in a few weeks. Not sure if I bit off more than I can chew. I called Bob to request support. “Bob, I need a car until my unit gets some in.”
“Sure, Jimmy. I can have it there in an hour.”
“Thanks, Bob, it will help me get around.”
I walked out of my office, looking around. The room was deserted, not a trooper in sight. I walked to Katie’s office, looking in the door. The African-American girl was placing papers on Katie’s desk.
“What’s your name?”
“2LT Jamie Terrell”
“What is your job?”
“I’m helping out Candice.”
“Well, you can help Candice, but I need you to be my driver.”
“Yes, sir. What do I drive?”
“Post will be sending a car over on loan. If I need you, I’ll call you.” I went back to my office and called Jane.
“This is Jane Minder, how may I help you.”
“Hi, Jane. Can you help me to check on my units training?”
“Let me send you an e-mail you can use to inspect the training records of the soldiers.”
“Thanks, Jane. This will be of big help when I go review the training data.”
Friday afternoon, I hollered for Jamie.
“Right here, sir. What do you need?”
“Let’s go. I’m heading for the infantry training brigade to review the training data.” As we left, I called Katie to let her know where I was going. I asked Jamie about her family.
“You promise not to tell anyone?”
“This will be our little secret.”
Jamie related, “I don’t know my parents. We grew up in a group home of about twenty-five of us. We had six adults raising us.”
“I take it none of you knew your parents.”
Jamie replied, “Not that I know of.”
“That kind of makes you part of an extended family.”
Jamie smiled. “I like to think so, sir.”
“Did any others join the army?”
Jamie grinned. “We all joined, some in my unit. Some are in infantry training now.”
We pulled up to the infantry center and schools headquarters.
“Here we are, come with me.”
“Yes, sir. Right with you.”
Getting out of the car, we parked behind the brigade commander’s car. As the commander stepped out of his car, I recognized my friend, William Carlisle.
“How are you doing, Billy?”
“Jim, what are you doing here?”
“I have something to show you.”
“Let