Apr 14 2010
The Old Man
Today is Dale’s 45th birthday.
Happy Birthday!!!
( I really couldn’t type anymore than three exclamation points. I tried. Really, I did. It was too painful. I so very much want to erase the two extraneous ones, but as a special birthday present I’ll leave it. I’ll probably delete them tomorrow.)
Army culture is young by nature and necessity. Kids enlist at seventeen. Anyone in their twenties is called Sarge. Sometime in your thirties, you are called Top. If you are past forty, you are respectively addressed as Sergeant Major.
Officers are called Sir or Ma’am and referred to by their position or rank: the LT, the CO, the XO, etc. until they hit that ancient benchmark of “The Old Man.” This reference title is usually reserved for the Battalion Commander who is past forty. A soldier would say, “I have to go see the old man.” (If a soldier declares this, he is usually not going to attend a happy event.)
After the title of The Old Man, you become The Full Bird or The General and by Army standards are considered quite ancient. Most soldiers do not interact with anyone above the old man.
Most full birds and generals are stacked up at the pentagon keeping each other company and coming up with brilliant ideas like capitalizing the letter F in family.
Dale has wandered among them as one of the multitude of LTCs who spend their time running and making coffee. Initially, he was recognized as a LTC, but as the years tick by, it becomes harder to guess.
A few weeks back, he was maneuvering through the locker room after returning from a run. Because he was wearing his running clothes, he was wearing no rank. A fellow LTC looked up when he realized Dale was trying to get by and said “Oh, excuse me, Sir. I’ll get out of your way.”
His rank may not have moved, but apparently his face has moved past old man to ancient.
He should have asked his fellow LTC to get him a clean towel. Happy birthday Dale!
Love you
I can’t believe that I forgot to call and tell my OLDER!!! brother happy birthday. But as they say better late than never. Happy Birthday OLD MAN!!!!!!!