Master Spencer Sherman.

Tonight I received a marvelous call from my most esteemed nephew Spencer. With delight, I instantly recognized his clear voice and was fascinated by the ensuing conversation. I was most amused by the ever increasing vocabulary of this sincere and unassuming young man. He informed me that Slippers "pisses", dad was fishing, and his little brother had just made a big mess. We discussed the finer points of making messes at great length, and how his older cousin doesn't quite appreciate them.

Twice I have called to talk to either Andy or Kristy and once I hung up, was called back by Spencer. It's high time that Spencer is considered fully phone qualified and as such should be included in the initial call. We musn't let him think "Why didn't they want to talk to me?" when he knows an uncle called.

The title of this post my ring a bell to some. All throughout our childhood Grandpa and Grandma Sherman would use "Master" in front of our names on the greeting cards they sent. I don't know how it started and still not sure what it was all about...(deeper meaning?) but I do know how it felt to see it on my cards every year. So why not keep it going with the nephews and nieces?

Quote of the day: Your life is an occasion; step up to it.

My last OCS drill was the 2nd through the 4th of November. The week leading up to this drill was a stressful time for me. At the end of the last drill I was assigned the task of platoon leader for our group. This is not really a big deal at all but for a Navy man that is very very new to the Army its tough on the "don't mess up" part of my brain.

I have problems dealing with failure. I don't like to fail and that has caused some problems. First, Ive noticed that instead of possibly failing, I won't even put myself in the situation. That leads to not accomplishing much. No risk....No stress! Second, it causes me to pretty intense at times. I will try to cover all the bases myself and not rely on those around me for support.

The good news is that once I get to a point where I am comfortable with my position and procedures, I calm down quite a bit and do a pretty good job. I noticed that while I was a McGrath's, I was a much better manager than while I was at Classic Skating. So maturity and confidence plays a large part as well.

So for this last drill things went pretty well. I found my stride as the platoon leader half way through Saturday. We had a great time doing Land Nav. Thats taking a compass and a map and walking around the back hills of Utah finding points on a map. We also learned some battle tactics such as how to set and react to an ambush and how to lead an assault. It was pretty cool leading an assault as the PL.

One episode on Sunday was kinda funny. We had just finished with the flag ceremony early in the morning and as I was leading our platoon to chow I failed to notice an officer on the sidewalk among a sea of enlisted people. The TAC (bad man that makes me do push-ups) yelled at me to stop and chewed me out for not saluting. He had me turn us around to salute the LT and then back again. So it went like this.

Forward march
Double time march (running in step)
Guide left

(now i cant render salute at the double time so ...)

Quick time march (fast walk)
(i salute..."good morning maam")

Double time march
Guide left (turning around)

Quick time march
(salute "Good morning maam")

Double time march

Needless to say this was my first attempt at leading a unit in a double time formation and it was a pain in the ass. Now is a good time to say however that on the way back to the barracks....I had to lead it again and it was text book perfect! yay for me!! lol

NOW!! who did I forget to salute you ask?

The "sea of enlisted people" where actually from my home unit doing there annual training. I was vaugly aware of them on the sidewalk. The officer was the Admin officer of my unit and she was gracious enough to smile at me while I doubled back to salute. I have yet to see her since then. Needless to say that a couple friends of mine from the home unit had a good laugh.

Im excited for the next drill and the 8 week stretch at Alabama for federal OCS.

I must apologize for not keeping up with more of you. I have had my head in the ARMY hole in the ground. I have not called any extended family in quite a while. I feel bad for neglecting Luanne and Chunk and the Reddens. Not to worry. Im on the ball now.