What I learned in the 1st

[A. Martin]

So here's a game we're gonna play. It's been a long time since I've been here, but I think this place could use a post like this. So I'm gonna tell you youngins a story. 

So, way back when, when there was a 2nd Platoon floating around, I got promoted to 2nd Platoon Clerk. And thing was, I was a pretty young fucker who had no idea what he was doing. Well, like one or two weeks in, none of the higher ups for 2nd Platoon showed up. I'm freaking out, right? I'm losing my shit because I don't know how the hell we're gonna have a practice with no one but me to run things. So I run to Johnson (He was a Major at the time, I think) and I beg him to run the practice for me. He doesn't even hesitate; his first response is "No. I'll be there to help but you're running this practice." If I was freaking out before, I'm utterly lost. So I cobble together whatever I could for a practice, knowing the next realism around the corner is gonna be on this one map. I put this practice together inside of fifteen minutes, and it happens. I don't let a single person know it, but I'm freaking out the whole time. 

Afterward, I ask Johnson how he thought I did, and he goes "You did pretty good for your first time," or something like that. And I've never felt better in my life. After a couple months, I keep getting promoted, and 2nd Platoon becomes MY platoon. I'm the Platoon Commander, and I had a really good staff underneath me. For a while, we had the most attended practices in the unit. Even 1st and 3rd Platooners would show up, and we'd do full 16v16 practices. I've never been as proud as I was looking out and seeing a full server.

So what I learned in the 1st, is how to lead. It isn't about being good at it from the outset. It's about stepping up when you need to, and sorting things out. You might not do a good job, but you're doing the job, and that's what counts. After that, I was never as hesitant to lead. If it needed to be done I'd step up, and I wouldn't have been able to without the 1st.

[J. Miller 1st MRB]

We miss you, and we miss those practices. I loved my time as your Platoon Clerk when we did all the re organization of the platoon. Its nice to see you around here, you were always inspiring people to work hard. I´ve learned a lot from you, will never forget you and 2nd Platoon, the best platoon that ever existed in the unit!

[Griswold]

Well, we can see that Martin never learned the true art of subtlety XD.

 

It's honestly hard to pick out what I learned to while part of the Unit. As probably the youngest person to hit the rank of commissioned officer back when I left (for those of you who don't know me, I enlisted in the unit the DAY of my 16th birthday and made 2ndLt. by the time I was 18 or 19.), at the time I was also in JROTC in high school. Leadership was something I was able to put into practice on two fronts and learned it from two different perspectives back then. 

I learned to lead, learned to follow, learned to adapt and overcome what were considered insurmountable odds. I learned enough that people here thought I should teach those who would be the future of the unit (I was DI back then). I learned to make friends and that no matter whether we won or lost a realism, if I had had fun; I had won.

In my tenure with the 1st, I had been part of every platoon. Even 3rd platoon before it was 3rd platoon, 1/3 is what it was back then. Though 2nd Platoon was my home for a particularly long time, I'll can never forgot the all the lessons learned and people met along the way.

Though I do still have 1 unanswered question to this day, What ever happened to Smokey Jones? God I miss that laugh.
 

 

[Candy 1st MRB]

Thank you both for your Unit insights. I was a big part of what you guys did back then and I am glad you have been given a chance to be part of the Community again.