Being in the Army for a couple of decades naturally meant I came into contact with some officers who went on to higher rank. I was just two or three months into my first assignment when Lieutenant Colonel Eric Shinseki, who later became Army Chief of Staff and had a very publicized falling out with Defense Department civilian leaders over the number of troops needed in Iraq, took command of my unit ... and I was in the staff section, so I spoke with him more than a few times. It's not impossible that he'd remember me if prompted.
At Fort Irwin, I almost failed once to salute the post commander's van. What saved me from an ass-chewing was that the van's occupants saw me start to salute, then abort it, making them realize the plate indicating the general was in the van hadn't been put in its holder. That, and that something felt wrong to me, so I kept my eyes on the vehicle as it passed, saw the general staring out the rear window at me, and snapped my best salute. He returned it in a very deliberate manner. He was a brigadier general at the time; he went on to four stars, and after retiring, had a brief presidential candidacy. Yeah; Wesley Clark.
And at more close quarters, during my time with the Defense Intelligence Agency, I one day paid a call on the latrine while visiting DIA Headquarters (which wasn't where I normally worked). I didn't look closely at the two men who came to stand at the urinals on either side of me; restroom etiquette, y'know. It wasn't until I'd finished and stepped back that I realized I'd been almost brushing shoulders with the Army lieutenant general who then commanded DIA and the command sergeant major who was the Agency's senior noncom.
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Big Brother is watching you. And damn, you are so bloody BORING.
At Fort Irwin, I almost failed once to salute the post commander's van. What saved me from an ass-chewing was that the van's occupants saw me start to salute, then abort it, making them realize the plate indicating the general was in the van hadn't been put in its holder. That, and that something felt wrong to me, so I kept my eyes on the vehicle as it passed, saw the general staring out the rear window at me, and snapped my best salute. He returned it in a very deliberate manner. He was a brigadier general at the time; he went on to four stars, and after retiring, had a brief presidential candidacy. Yeah; Wesley Clark.
And at more close quarters, during my time with the Defense Intelligence Agency, I one day paid a call on the latrine while visiting DIA Headquarters (which wasn't where I normally worked). I didn't look closely at the two men who came to stand at the urinals on either side of me; restroom etiquette, y'know. It wasn't until I'd finished and stepped back that I realized I'd been almost brushing shoulders with the Army lieutenant general who then commanded DIA and the command sergeant major who was the Agency's senior noncom.
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Big Brother is watching you. And damn, you are so bloody BORING.