Safety Briefing
Safety
I just graduated Mounted Officer Basic Course, and during the signing-out I find out my paperwork is not up to snuff. Why I didn't expect that, I don't know.
So now I'm at regimental headquarters, tracking down the admin NCO who needs to fix it.
And I walk straight into the Sergeant Major's safety briefing.
Short like a dwarf with barely any hair left on his head, he's been in the Army for over thirty years. And right now, he's briefing the whole entire Squadron office on what not to do on Derby Weekend.
Most everyone is in the duty uniform, the woodland BDUs or the newer ACUs, with a few civilians thrown in. And in the back, the tallest one there, I stand in Class As all green and shiny and different.
He tells us the obvious: wear seatbelts, condoms, and helmets, but not at the same time.
Don't screw up your family tree by drunkenly impregnating an ugly woman.
Don't join hate groups, especially if you're a minority.
Stay away from the horses at Derby so you don't get kicked, and however drunk you get, you ARE NOT a jockey.
Then he goes around the room, asking everyone there to say something to increase safety.
He stops at me. I am one of two officers in the room. He asks me what I would have to say. I say something along the lines of, "Be careful of those around you; whether they say they've been drinking or not, they may do stupid things."
Accepted, he kept on going. But when he got to the other officer, the S1 Personnel Officer, usually a spot reserved for the officers who fail one class or are deemed unfit for Armor duty, he simply brushes past him.
After 10 minutes of joking with the 1st Sergeant, the briefing is finally dismissed and I go on my way.
I just graduated Mounted Officer Basic Course, and during the signing-out I find out my paperwork is not up to snuff. Why I didn't expect that, I don't know.
So now I'm at regimental headquarters, tracking down the admin NCO who needs to fix it.
And I walk straight into the Sergeant Major's safety briefing.
Short like a dwarf with barely any hair left on his head, he's been in the Army for over thirty years. And right now, he's briefing the whole entire Squadron office on what not to do on Derby Weekend.
Most everyone is in the duty uniform, the woodland BDUs or the newer ACUs, with a few civilians thrown in. And in the back, the tallest one there, I stand in Class As all green and shiny and different.
He tells us the obvious: wear seatbelts, condoms, and helmets, but not at the same time.
Don't screw up your family tree by drunkenly impregnating an ugly woman.
Don't join hate groups, especially if you're a minority.
Stay away from the horses at Derby so you don't get kicked, and however drunk you get, you ARE NOT a jockey.
Then he goes around the room, asking everyone there to say something to increase safety.
He stops at me. I am one of two officers in the room. He asks me what I would have to say. I say something along the lines of, "Be careful of those around you; whether they say they've been drinking or not, they may do stupid things."
Accepted, he kept on going. But when he got to the other officer, the S1 Personnel Officer, usually a spot reserved for the officers who fail one class or are deemed unfit for Armor duty, he simply brushes past him.
After 10 minutes of joking with the 1st Sergeant, the briefing is finally dismissed and I go on my way.
posted by Violent Traveler at 5:36 PM
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