hail and farewell...
The Army has a tradition where occasionally, a "hail and farewell" party will be thrown. At it, you say goodbye to those leaving the unit and hello to those who just got there. Ours was at TGIF's (fine Killeen dining...bra ha ha! I kid, I kid).
As I looked around the room, I realized that, despite the long day I had, and the fact I have an inventory tomorrow that cuts 1/3 out of my three day weekend off, I was really happy to be there. Why? Because the Army is so goddamned diverse and allows people to really rise to the top if they do their job well.
There was the Puerto Rican female first sergeant who dressed like my cousins from Arizona and had long curly hair that she couldn't control when it wasn't in a tight bun as though in a uniform. She wore a t-shirt from Dick's Last Resort and an oversized leather jacket.
There was the Chief Warrent Officer who was dressed in khakhis with a tucked in polo, bald head, beautiful wife and three kids running around...
The NCO with three kids, not married, from New York
The yount lieutenant from Norwich, whose brother went to West Point, also from Long Island
The Battallion Commander who had been a swimming star in college...
and her Sergeant Major, married to a Chief Warrent Officer who is in the food service.
So many people from all over. I'm Military Intel, so it really was all types...men, women, all the colors, all the backgrounds...all of us there to pursue one goal and with one thing in common...our service. It really is awesome to be in what comes as close to a performance based society as I will ever be a part of. It makes you proud, it makes you humble, and it makes you glad to be a part of it.
As I looked around the room, I realized that, despite the long day I had, and the fact I have an inventory tomorrow that cuts 1/3 out of my three day weekend off, I was really happy to be there. Why? Because the Army is so goddamned diverse and allows people to really rise to the top if they do their job well.
There was the Puerto Rican female first sergeant who dressed like my cousins from Arizona and had long curly hair that she couldn't control when it wasn't in a tight bun as though in a uniform. She wore a t-shirt from Dick's Last Resort and an oversized leather jacket.
There was the Chief Warrent Officer who was dressed in khakhis with a tucked in polo, bald head, beautiful wife and three kids running around...
The NCO with three kids, not married, from New York
The yount lieutenant from Norwich, whose brother went to West Point, also from Long Island
The Battallion Commander who had been a swimming star in college...
and her Sergeant Major, married to a Chief Warrent Officer who is in the food service.
So many people from all over. I'm Military Intel, so it really was all types...men, women, all the colors, all the backgrounds...all of us there to pursue one goal and with one thing in common...our service. It really is awesome to be in what comes as close to a performance based society as I will ever be a part of. It makes you proud, it makes you humble, and it makes you glad to be a part of it.
posted by Adam at 7:49 PM
3 Comments:
makes me nostalgic :)
I've always heard that the Army was a diversity/multicultural laboratory for the nation, that there is more diversity there than in almost any other American institution. Your description certainly confirms that...I also noticed that most of the top generals have always testified in favor of affirmative action, in order to make the institution look and feel like the nation at large. Is that your experience? A lot of America seems to be against a.a., but it seems to be working where you are.
It is true about the Army, however, you have to remember that the reason things like this can work in the Army is because, unlike society at large, the Army can (somewhat) control how its soldiers think. In the same way the Army is the only functioning communist society (because it's subsidized by the population at large), the Army's multi-culturalism works because the Army can force its employees to accept one another in ways other employers cannot...but it is nice.
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