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.The general had evidently been having well-attended conferences in addition to his general assembly in the theater.The front row of chairs was completely occupied by an array of the rankand file, the inspector general and one of his junior hatchetmen, twoof the equestrians, G-3 and G-4.6 The ordnance and quartermaster staffofficers and the surgeon were the rank.The file were my three executivesof the trains battalions.Wogan, seated behind his desk, was reading a training manual withhis back to the windows in the right side of the room.The staff wereconferring in hushed whispers like choir boys in church.The generalswiveled around as I clumped down the aisle and clicked to a halt. Colonel Triplet, reporting as directed, sir. Good.We were just discussing the state of training and the allocationof training time, colonel, and I thought you should be here. Yes sir.I looked for a seat.The front row was fully occupied, four to a side.Asthe ranking field officer present and the one who was most concerned, Icertainly wasn t going to take a back seat, so I pulled an end chair fromthe second row, took it to the wall on the right front of Wogan s desk, andpositioned myself where I could see what was going on.It was an oddperformance, and even with memory clouded with age and prejudicedwith rage I can clearly remember some of the lines of the show.GeneralWogan opened the conference. The technical training of the support battalions was found to be un-satisfactory during the recent inspection.This may be due to inadequateLucky Thirteenth: II 37training programs, poor instructional methods, or lack of training time.What do you have to say on this, Colonel Smythe?The G-3 uncrossed his boots, stood up, and read from his notes onthe legal pad he d been studying. It is my opinion that the fault lies inthe time and emphasis spent on tactical training by the trains comman-der.The technical training schedules and instructional methods werefollowed exactly as prescribed by armored force headquarters, so timemust be the prime consideration. I have made a compilation of the time used for tactical training.I findthat the division trains have been occupied in this training during thepast year as follows: Officers school (nights) 100, physical training 250,tactical training (day) 700, tactical training (night) 48, marksmanshipand combat firing 128, total 1,226. I believe that if the support battalions had been given more time,say six hundred hours, to devote to more useful subjects, their technicalreadiness would have been found to be satisfactory.So that was the way it was.I looked along the line on my right front.Smythe was now earnestly proposing that tactical training be eliminatedfor the coming six months so they could catch up on their technicalhomework.G-4 appeared blandly neutral.The inspector general wasthe very picture of a dedicated IRS auditor who has just discoveredwhere the undeclared loot was hidden.The surgeon was thoroughlyenjoying the show.The weedy young ordnance type was walling hiseyes nervously and twitching like a cornered rabbit.The quartermasterglumly studied the spit shine of his shoes.And the trio of battalionexecutives gave the impression of the night watch before the funeral,which it was.I was the corpse lying in state.I had friends in the group but they had evidently been so well workedover before my arrival that while I had their sympathy, I did not havetheir support.Smythe had finally run dry.The inspector general couldcontain himself no longer. As I have seen it, the basic trouble with the training of these battalionsis that they d rather go out in the field with Colonel Triplet and playsoldier than attend to their primary duties.The viciously contemptuous manner in which he said  play soldiergave me a rush of blood to the head.I yearned to squelch this brawnylittle CPA type, but it wasn t my turn yet.The surgeon cut in with hispoisonous contribution. There has been so much concentration on weapons that the onlyway the medical battalion could help the wounded in pain would beto shoot them. Major Busch, the battalion executive, twitched and red-dened.Spencer s nervousness and Aldenhoven s unhappiness obviously38A Colonel in the Armored Divisionsincreased when the inspector pointed out that the ordnance mechanicscould dig perfect rifle pits but couldn t time an engine.So it went.The general listened and doodled without comment whilethe G-3, the IG, and the surgeon laid the entire blame for the techni-cal failure of the support battalions on me.I had taught them motormarches, cross country navigation, field fortifications, marksmanship,and combat firing as though they were in the infantry.I had requiredthe quartermaster clerks to dig.I had taught the medics to shoot.Thatclearly was the reason for their 50 percent efficiency rating.This trioalternated without prompting by Wogan; as soon as one man came toa period the next broke in with a further accusation.The rest of thewitnesses (or jurors) remained morosely silent.In spite of my flaming rage I kept my jaws clamped, waiting for thegeneral to call on me for my views.Instead he gave judgment andpronounced the sentence.He swung his swivel chair toward me. Yousee how it is, colonel? he asked. We believe that the tactical training ofthe trains is presently quite sufficient and your time with the battalionsshould be reduced.We will try giving you one day a week and see howthat works out.Say Wednesdays and all physical training will be undercontrol of the battalion commanders.That should give you enough timefor refresher courses.Well, colonel?I couldn t talk, just nodded. Very well, gentlemen.Colonel Triplet will have the responsibility ofworking with your battalions on Wednesday of each week.That is all.Thank you.I moved out (appropriately) at the tail of the column as they left theoffice.In the hallway I stopped.Counting ten did no good.I turned andmarched back in to Wogan s desk in a blue flaming rage.He was againturned with his back to the light, reading the manual, and removed thespecs.I didn t stop for the usual formalities. General Wogan, I request immediate relief as trains commander anda transfer to a soldiering outfit as soon as the armored force can finda spot for me.I ll have my letter to the commanding general, armoredforce, up here for your endorsement by noon.He was evidently amazed by my request and attitude. Why, why? What do you mean? Sir, this was the goddamnedest business I ve ever heard of.I had to get control of my voice and words, didn t want to get mybuttons pulled off for insubordination.So I continued, choosing mywords carefully and speaking slowly. I thought that I was called to take part in a conference.Instead I wasput on trial by your staff before officers whom I command in training.Lucky Thirteenth: II 39That action completely negated my position as trains commander.I wasnot even given a chance to offer a defense and the accusations that I wasresponsible for the inefficiency of your staff members were so absurdthat I could easily have saved the situation.But it s too late now [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]