Stories

War Song

After postings in England and Turkey, the Army reassigned me to the 82nd Airborne Division. I wanted to be a First Sergeant in my old Battalion, the 2-505.

I visited the Third Brigade Command Sergeant Major before reporting to the Replacement Detachment. I didn't recognize him. He was a Ranger and wore the Ranger Scroll on his combat sleeve.

I gave him the run-down on Neel - Private to Platoon Sergeant in the 2-505, Charlie Company, Scouts, Jumpmaster, CIB from Grenada, Platoon Sergeant in British Parachute Regiment, two tours in NATO Turkey, and a top-secret clearance.

As I talked, he seemed interested and pleased that I was looking for a job in his brigade.

With a slight smile, he asked, "Sergeant Neel, do you have a war song in your heart?"

This question was by far the corniest thing I had ever heard come out of the mouth of a sergeant major.

I said, "Sergeant Major, I'm not sure what you're asking. Maybe that's how they talk in Ranger Battalion, but we don't talk like that in the 82nd Airborne Division (letting him know he was the outsider in the room). To answer what I think you're asking, I am a Warfighter. I can kill the enemy with everything from a rifle to an A-10. I'm a trainer; I will train my soldiers to be Warfighters. I'm very good at what I do."

He kicked me out of his office.

I assume that was a good answer because he called Division and had me assigned to the Third Brigade. He put me in the 2-505.  Two months later, I was the First Sergeant of Charlie Company.

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