13

So when I was getting ready to start this journal, an Army buddy gave me the suggestion to reminisce (spelled that wrong 4 times before using auto correct) about some of the good times in the reserve unit. Looking back I really do regret getting out now. Sure the monthly drill always seemed to fall on the least convenient weekend, but I had more than my fair share of good times, learned from some excellent NCO (and lower enlisted too - yes Army, it is capable to learn from people with a rank lower than yours....) and had some excellent soldiers under me who genuinely enjoyed their job and were good at it too.

I came into the reserve unit having taken 3 months off - maxing my terminal leave from active duty - so when I first reported I definitely felt a bit lost. For anyone who has done the transition, its a strange things going from active to reserve/guard where the Army is no longer the all encompassing thing in your life. My first real opportunity to connect with the unit, and also teach a lesson that stuck around, was when we had a radio etiquette class in the first or second drill I was there for. Deploying with an artillery unit will engrave the need to know what you are saying over comms quite well, and what NOT to say - like REPEAT. I think it was just a balled up piece of paper and to can't remember who my target was, but I remember I hit them with the ball pretty good to start the class. Every time the word REPEAT was said, I threw it back at them. Didn't take long for it to become a bit of a joke, but the lesson was also pretty well received.

From there though came the real "pièce de résistance" that I brought to the unit. Some of you may have seen my posts - or other people posting on my page - with just the simple number 13. Quick punishment in the Army is usually achieved with some pushups, and in this case it does refer to 13 pushups. One of the things I had in common with a bunch of my soldiers and other people in the unit was the love of hockey. In 2013, Pavel Datsyuk was still King in Detroit and a fan favorite. The number 13 works because it not too much where it is going to take a ton of time to complete, but its also not too few where you can just drop and get it done without feeling it. "Datsyuk" and eventually just "13" became to the go-to in response to simple poor decisions, statements, or things like that. I always felt like it bridged a good gap between staying lighthearted but also being a worthy response in a lot of situations.

It ended up taking on a life of its own and even my guys started coming up with their own spins on it, like the "Crosby" where you had to do 87 pushups while crying or flopping the whole time, or the "Lidstrom" where you had to do 5 perfect pushups, while 5 other people stood over you while confirming the perfection - Nicklas Lidstrom's nickname was the perfect human - and quite a few others. For a while it was just calling out random hockey players name and you would have to push their jersey number. In the end though, "Datsyuk" and "13" were the only ones that stuck. Its still funny all these years removed from the unit now to see opportunities to send the number to someone else or see them send it to me. The joke in the Army is that there are smart soldiers, and there are strong soldiers. I definitely had quite a few smart ones, but after all those pushups, they definitely had some strength too. 



.... come to think of it, I have quite a few good stories that I can go into. Hunting ghosts at Muskatatuck. My actions during urinalysis's (I don't feel that is correct...). Motor pool adventures.... I think I will have to come back to this one again.