Jerry A. Goodson

I went through Basic Training in C Battery, 1-19th Field Artillery in Fort Sill, Oklahoma during the summer of 1995.  Back then, the uniform was the woodland camouflaged pattern BDUs (Battle Dress Uniform) with black boots.

It was there that I learned how to get a mirror gloss finish spit shine on a pair of combat boots.  We had to polish our boots every single day we didn't spend the night in the field.  Of course, each and every day, our training activities guaranteed our boots would not show any semblance of shine at the end of the day!  We were issued two pairs of boots, and to ensure we wear the same boots two days in a row, one pair had a white dot in the middle of the loop on the back of the boots.  We had the black boots day and a white dot day.  

Shining the boots to get that mirror finish wasn't a matter of how much polish you put on the boots, but rather the time and technique of lightly buffing the polish until you could see your reflection.  It was, by no means, a quick and easy task.

Fast forward ten years later, and the Army transitioned to the new foliage green "digital" ACUs (Army Combat Uniform) with desert tan boots.  No longer did boots have to be shined, they just had to be cleaned.  I spent the next few years either on deployment in Iraq, or training soldiers to deploy.  I was tickled with the much lower maintenance requirements of our new uniforms.

AT EASE!

I spent the last four years of my military service in a couple of Army Reserves training units.  My last unit was a medic training unit, and I joined that unit at the same time as the new battalion commander.  I walked in to my new unit where everybody was working to prepare for the change of command ceremony.  I dived right in and started helping some E-5 sergeants that were setting up chairs.  It would be the first change of command ceremony I ever attended indoors!  As an E-6 staff sergeant, I was one of the "lower ranking" joes in an instruction battalion.  My "squad leader" was an E-8 master sergeant, and my "first sergeant" was the E-9 Battalion Command Sergeant Major.  My "company commander" wasn't an O-3 captain, but rather the battalion commander... an O-5 Lieutenant Colonel.  

The uppity-ups of the battalion were "rehearsing" the ceremony, which includes passing around the battalion colors (the battalion's flag) from the outgoing commander to the incoming commander.  These were the senior NCOs of the battalion, and they were chewed up!  They couldn't figure out how the ceremony was supposed to go.  Of course, I had a little experience in this matter, so I stepped up and started coaching them.

While I was coaching them, the Division Command Sergeant Major quietly snuck in and was watching.  He was NOT happy!  He walked over to one of the E-5 sergeants and made his presence known... and by that, I mean, he told the sergeant to yell, "AT EASE!"

Of course, at that command, we all stopped what we were doing and assumed the position of "parade rest".  The Division CSM ordered everyone under E-7 (sergeant first class) to leave the room... and I was tickled that included me!

Hiding Out

Out in the hall, we could hear him yelling at our senior enlisted personnel about "how is it that y'all need an E-6 to show you how to do this!?"  The fact is, while I didn't have the rank of my senior leadership, I had a patch on my right sleeve, and they didn't.  When a soldier deploys to a combat zone, he or she is authorized to wear the patch of any unit they served with in that combat zone.  None of the leaders in my new unit had ever been deployed.  The military had been stretched this with active, guard, and reserve soldiers deploying multiple times, but instructors in the Reserves were rarely tapped to go... up to that time.

Podium Boots

When the Division CSM was done chewing out our senior leadership, the doors to the banquet hall flew open and he ordered us to get back to work.  However, he pointed at me and ordered me to "stand fast".  I assumed the position of parade rest and in a MUCH more subdued tone, he introduced himself to me.  Until that point, I had no idea who he was beyond his rank.  He started asking me how I liked the unit, and that's when I told him I was brand new and hadn't yet formed an opinion.  Like any Command Sergeant Major would, he's inspecting me during our discussion.  He asked me about my deployments and working at my previous training unit.  He was setting me up!  

After he got me feeling more relaxed, he launched his strike!  "Please tell me, staff sergeant, that you don't stand in front of students wearing those boots!?"

"Of course, not, Sergeant Major!  These are my work boots.  I'll change into my podium boots before the ceremony."

He set me up, but I shot him down!  He was gearing up to go into another ass-chewing session with me, but he was NOT expecting my response.  After just a few brief moments of being completely stunned, he realized he needed to regain his sergeant majorly demeanor (a word I just made up), and stressed the importance of professional appearance to students.  Then, he dismissed me to go back to work.

There's no way I could recall how many pairs of boots I've had issued or purchased during my nearly twenty years in the Army Reserves and National Guard.  Most pairs I had were podium boots... even years before I ever took a podium.  The were the nice, new, pristine boots that I only wore when I had to.  I would wear my work boots until they became completely unserviceable.  I probably only had four pairs of those throughout my career.