There I Was...#25...or 24 Expanded...
LH challenged me on my article about the guys in the barracks at Ft Huachuca. I claimed that the Article 15 I got because Cicely attacked the company clerk wasn't my fault. She said, "That's what they all say." She wants to hear the whole story. So here it is, you judge:
It was very early in the morning and we were all about our normal get up activities. I was making my bunk and the clerk, one bunk over behind my wall locker, was starting his daily rant about what a crappy soldier Cicely was. They both worked in the Orderly Room and spent all day bickering. Cicely was on his way to the latrine, walking past my bunk when the clerk said something exceptionally nasty...I don't recall the exact words but it was foul enough that I stood up and went around the locker to tell him to knock it off. In that same instant, Cicely pushed past me in a rush and stopped in front of the clerk for just a second trying to come up with a reply. The clerk was on his knees lining up his boots and low quarters, he looked up with a sneer, smugly satisfied that he finally got Cis to react. Cis sputtered for just a second and, not coming up with anything good to say, he kicked the clerk in the face. Those are the facts and they are not in dispute. I pushed in between them as the clerk immediately responded by lunging up and grabbing Cis around the waist. I was pushing them apart...I should say attempting to push them apart,,,there was a lot of pent up anger between those two. Isaac stepped up and bull-dogged Cis and pulled him across the room which allowed me to get a grip on the clerk and rush him to the wall. It took a few minutes to calm everyone down. Everyone went to breakfast and that was it. I talked to Gordy about what to do...report it or not. We mutually decided that it was just a scuffle and we should let it go because if we made it official they would both have problems.
We agreed. The clerk didn't even discuss it with us. As soon as the First Sergeant arrived, the clerk was in his face wanting to press charges against Cicely. By the end of the morning, everyone in the barracks had been read their rights and questioned and for some reason, the First Sergeant decided that no charges would be filed on Cisely for assault, or the clerk for assaulting back, or Isaac for manhandling Cisely ( Cisely was a E4 and Isaac was an E3). But some how or another the First Sergeant pulled me in and read me a charge sheet for Derilection of Duty. I was senior to both Cicely and the clerk and it was my responsiblility to report it.
Looking back from the First Sergeant perspective, I understand why that First Sergeant did that...he was an a**hole. We had had a few other discussions about what I was and wasn't responsible for. But my boss and the course chief both came to my defense and so did everyone else in the barracks and the Top agreed to drop the charges. He didn't want to, but he did.
So how does that translate to me getting an Article 15? It was the festering sore that irritated the First Sergeant until he could find a charge that was gonna stick. It came about three months later. We had been moved into cadre rooms in the student barracks buildings. We had to be at work at 0700. The students didn't have their work call until 0745. We had to leave our rooms open for inspection when we left and some of the students would hide in our rooms so they wouldn't have to clean latrines or buff floors or whatever. The little rats smoked and drank sodas and left their crap all over our rooms. It happened to all of us...about 25 instructors lived in the 5 barracks buildings...but only one got an Article 15 for leaving his room a mess...guess who...AND IT WASN'T MY FAULT.