Sgt. Collins looked down at his watch and back at his men. “Did any of you have lunch?”
“Are you kidding?” Mick snapped. “Peanut butter on stale bread is not a meal by any stretch of the imagination.”
“Well, let’s take a little hike.” Sgt. Collins motioned toward the front door.
“The mess hall won’t serve us until seventeen hundred hours.” Sparky said.
“Am I not your squad leader?” Sgt. Collins said. “And one of my responsibilities is to keep you fed and ready for whatever assignment we get.”
All three nodded hesitantly.
“Now let’s go. Oh, by the way, as we walk over to the mess hall, I want all of us to walk in formation as if we were on patrol in enemy territory.”
Mick, Dave, and Sparky gave each other a quick glance. Then left the hooch with Mick in the lead. Sparky followed him. Sgt. Collins placed himself after Sparky. Dave took up the rear.
“Hey, Sarge, can I have a joint as we walk to chow?” Dave asked. “I’ll even share it with everyone here.”
“Not now.”
“But Sarge, it will help my appetite.”
“First impressions are important. We are a squad with all new soldiers. Therefore, we must act like we have some appearance of respect for the Military Code of Conduct.”
“If you say so, Sarge.” Dave sounded like a ten year old who was told he couldn’t have dersert before dinner.
Unsure about their new sergeant, Mick, Sparky, and Dave followed his orders as they made the trek to the mess hall.
The only leadership training Sgt. Collins had was by watching war movies and what he saw in other sergeants at boot camp. He liked some of what he saw, and other things he felt was wrong. He wasn’t sure how it would all work out with the three oddballs that were assigned to him, but he knew he would have to learn and adapt as situations came up.
Fourth Squad came to a halt ten feet from the mess hall door. They turned to their leader for guidance.
Collins stepped forward and led his men into the mess hall. Sgt. Collins felt a surge of confidence when his eyes landed on the soldier from East LA. That soldier was setting bins of food into heated slots on the serving line.
“Hey Ruben,” Sgt. Collins yelled as he waved at him. “I have some soldiers here who are hungry. How about getting us some grub?”
Ruben shrank with embarrassment as Sgt. Collins approached. “But, sir, it’s another half hour before I can start serving anyone.”
“Do you still want to get out from behind that serving line?”
“Yes sir. You know I do.”
“Get us some grub, good, hot grub. Then go and get your gear. When we’re finished, meet us outside. You’re coming back with us. You are going to be reassigned to Fourth Squad.”
Ruben’s face lit up like a soldier who gets told he is going home early.
Ruben began pulling covers off food bins. In no time, each member of Fourth Squad walked to a table with extra helpings of chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans. When finished, he recovered the trays.
Fourth Squad had just sat at a table when in rushed a smartly dressed lieutenant. Seeing four soldiers scarfing down their heaping portions, he stopped, put his hands on his hips, and gave the whole squad an evil stare. He turned to Ruben and demanded. “Did you serve those soldiers before time to open mess?”
“Yeesss, yes, sir,” Ruben said.
“Who gave you permission to serve these men early?”
Ruben glanced over at Sgt. Collins. Sgt. Collins raised a chicken leg.
“Sergeant, you and your men don’t have permission to eat early.”
Sgt. Collins looked directly at Ruben and gave him a wink and a nod. Ruben slipped out the back of the mess hall.
“Sergeant, stand up and salute me.” The lieutenant demanded. “You are to give the proper respect to a superior officer.”
Sgt. Collins gave the lieutenant a glance then went back, paying to attention to his food.
“What unit are you with, soldier?”
“Fourth Squad ….”
At that point, all of Fourth Squad had stopped eating, except Collins. He broke the tense silence by proudly announcing. “We are Charlie Company, Fourth Squad.”
“Who’s your commanding officer?”
“Captain Reginald Phillips,” Sgt. Collins replied with a mouth half full of potatos. The rest of the squad followed their leader’s example and continued with their meal.
“He has not sent me a request for any soldier to eat early chow.”
“Sir, if the Army is to travel on its stomach, it needs something in that stomach.”
The lieutenant’s face kept getting redder with each exchange. He couldn’t press the issue any further, so he just said, “I’ll have to check on that.” And he stormed back to his office.
Collins motioned for his men to eat slower by moving his right hand up and down. All the squad members went from shoveling food in their mouths as fast as possible to taking slow, deliberate portions.
Sparky offered up an idea to the group. “You know it would be a lot easier to say we are C4 instead of speaking out Charlie Company, Fourth Squad.”
“Sparky, the only reason you want us to refer to ourselves as C4 is because C4 is your favorite explosive.” Dave commented.
Sparky smiled. “That could be part of it. But doesn’t C4 sounds cooler?”
“I don’t think the brass will go for us shortening our name.” Mick interjected. “What do you think, Sarge?”
Sarge’s eyes brightened. “C4 sounds definitely cooler. The next time I see Capt. Phillips, I will bring it up to him. For right now, I think it would be a good idea for us to finish up and get out of here before the lieutenant comes back.”
Minutes later, C4 exited the mess hall. They passed a line of hungry soldiers waiting for the mess hall to officially open for the evening meal. C4 had gone several yards when they came upon Ruben. He looked more like a schoolboy waiting for the bus on his first day of kindergarten, than a soldier getting reassigned.
As C4 approached, Sgt. Collins motioned and said, “Private Ruben Mendoza, fall in.”
Back at the hooch, they found an envelope attached to the door. The squad members stretched their necks to read the letter as Sgt. Jake Collins opened it. Inside was a typed request on U.S. Army letterhead ordering Sgt. Collins to report immediately to Capt. Phillips’ office.
Getting such a formal written request would make anyone nervous. It did with Sgt. Collins. All the other squad members speculated that they were going to get a replacement for Sgt. Collins. Especially after breaking protocol at the mess hall.
Collins turned to his men and said. “Go over what is in the supply room. Make a list of what else you think we need. Each of you pick a locker and load it up with your basic gear. Plan that we will be taking a hike for three-or four-days in the jungle. In the meantime, I’m off to meet with the Captain.”
