March 2007 - Injured Knee, Shame on Scouts, "REUP? You're Crazy! REUP? You're Out of Your Mind!"

March was an interesting month. The first significant thing that happened was that I hurt my knee doing PT (Physical Training). It didn’t seem too bad, so I finished my workout. Bad idea! I was at sick call the next morning. Doc told me to rest it and stay away from lower body PT. My squad leader sent me back to sick call a few days later, and doc put me on a 10 day “light duty” profile, but my commanding officer sent my out on a multi-day mission that day. It wasn’t a tough mission. Mostly, I just walked around and checked on people at a patrol base. It wasn’t too hard on my knee except when I step on uneven ground at night.

We were out at the patrol base with the scouts, and things got REALLY stupid. My old platoon sergeant told the scout that they were not allowed to talk to us at all. He said that they we weren’t on their level. So, we lived only a few feet from them for a week and couldn’t talk to them at all. When they needed something from us (and I still tried to help them out), I would have to sneak it to them using a CIA brush pass. It was ridiculous. We were in charge of guarding the base, and he even yelled at one of their soldiers that was asking us about a security issue.

We only had a few guys to cover down on all the guard duties, so our rest periods were painfully short. We asked the scout platoon sergeant for help, but he refused. So, they slept all night while my soldiers were lucky to get a couple hours of uninterrupted sleep at a time. The sad part is that it made all the scouts look bad, and I know they are better soldiers than that. If we had asked for volunteers, most of the scouts would have gladly helped. They are good soldiers. It went so far that he refused to help defend the patrol base in the event of and attack. I was flabbergasted. Sure enough, we were attacked; and the scouts didn’t man any defensive positions. The week as a whole was absolutely the single worst example of soldier leadership and the best example of cowardly self service and insecure posturing that I have ever seen. I was, and still am, disgusted.

I was especially hard on me because some of my best friends are scouts. I felt rejected by them and ashamed of them because some of them wouldn’t risk getting in a little trouble to talk to a good friend. It made me feel like their scout job was more important to them than our friendship. I guess I’m a little to idealistic and stubborn. Of course, that is the reason that I got fired from scouts. I wouldn’t roll over and play his game when I knew it was wrong, and I’m proud of that.

About the time that we got back from the patrol base I realized that time had slowed down. Ever since we got here, time seems to be flying by, which is a really good thing. The faster time passes, the sooner I’m home with my girls. With March ending, I realized that my R&R leave date in May is fast approaching; and the anticipation is killing me. Waiting always seems go slowest when you are close to the front of the line. I can’t wait to see my family again.

My girls are getting so big. Jaeden is learning to share and is big enough to do all kinds of things on her own. Selah is walking now. She just had her first birthday on Good Friday. I don’t know how she does it, but Laura is more beautiful than ever.

Finally, I decided in March that I am not going to reenlist in the Army. My current enlistment ends in January 2009, and I think that by then I will have given more than enough to my country and not nearly enough to my family. Don’t get me wrong, I think that the US Army is a great institution and American soldiers (especially career soldiers) are deserving of great respect. I AM glad that I joined the Army even though I had no idea how much I would have to sacrifice. Furthermore, I will continue to encourage others, especially young, single men, to join the Army. More times than I can count, I have seen soldiers for whom the Army was the best thing that ever happened to them. Very often, guys that had no purpose, direction, or discipline become professionals with a plan in the Army.

I do, however, look forward to going back to the civilian software development industry and spending tons of time with my family. I originally left computer programming because I didn’t see any real positive significance in my work. Now, I realize that a career that enables a person to nurture their family can be the most significant career of all. I have also realized that, in seeking a "significant" job that positively impacts society, it is possible to follow one's own desire for significance at the expense of one's family and relationships. There truly is a fine line between sacrifice and foolishness. How many great people (even great church leaders) have you heard of who have made giant contributions to society while their family fell apart. I have always felt that great people are not the answer to society’s problems; great families are. And I intend to build one.

SFC Brevard
The reason we were out at the patrol base in the first place was to give Apache Company some time off after they lost a soldier, SFC Brevard. I didn't know him personally, but he left a family behind. Please pray for them. He is a hero.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Christopher R. Brevard

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