Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism.
- Colossians 3:23-25
Yesterday was Memorial Day and thinking about my military service, I remembered one time when I had four titled positions, all at the same time. Okay, in a couple of instances, it was in an “acting” role until the assigned person could be there, but even one of those was under orders to be “permanent.”
A little explaining is necessary. I was a platoon leader, but within a few months, I would be on the promotion list for captain. I needed some experience other than as a platoon leader. The battalion got a huge job. At its peak in construction workers, there were roughly two hundred workers on site. Most were earth moving, but some were electricians. Some did some real carpentry work. About the only thing that was not needed much was a plumber, but I think there was a little work for them. But there were more people on that site than a company would have assigned to them (160 usual average).
We had a lot of excitement on that job, but our engineering company executive officer was made the on-site construction leader, having more people working for him than if he was a company commander. I moved up to the executive officer position, but without a new officer to take my old job, I had other construction work for them to do. So, that meant I was the platoon leader and the executive officer.
An added responsibility was always applied to the executive officer of a company sized unit in a Combat Engineering (Heavy) battalion. I was the construction officer. I guess I could say there were five titled jobs, but since construction officer and executive officer were two hats worn by the same person, I will leave that alone. As construction officer, I got the field sites equipped with every tool they would need and every type of motorized construction equipment. Just wearing that hat caused a great deal of headaches, like the time I arranged a helicopter full of toilet paper when everyone got sick, and the time I stared down the EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal – bomb disposal) when they wanted to blow up a D7 bulldozer when it was the only operational one in the US army in Europe at that moment, instead of disarming a little tank round wedged between the blade arm and the dozer tracks. What could go wrong? Right!? But the dozer lived to push dirt the next day, and I let EOD know that if we could not make up the day on the construction schedule that was lost in our argument, it was on them. Okay, I was busy. I developed GERD as a result, but some of it was fun, too.
But then we had an odd duck for a company commander. He would bark threats at morning formation in the morning and by the time breakfast was over, no one knew where the company commander had disappeared. Two years later, the maintenance platoon officer, a warrant officer, admitted that the company commander locked himself in the closet in the maintenance office. It was where the maintenance records for each vehicle were kept and it was assumed he read the books all day, which meant updates to the books had to be done after normal hours.
But to make sure that someone could sign paperwork, I was placed on permanent acting company commander orders. In some respects, things went easier that way. If I needed a vehicle here or there, as the construction officer, I requested the vehicle from the company commander (me). I had the operation sergeant organize a convoy, if needed, which to avoid the snarling German traffic would leave at 3:00am the next morning. Actually, the timing was to have the vehicle on the road before the real company commander could claim that the travelling vehicle required service. He was interested in an impeccable maintenance record, but I had construction projects to complete from Brussels, Belgium to Karlsruhe, Germany to an undisclosed location which was a two-hour flight by helicopter away, an all-day truck convoy.
So, now I was a platoon leader, the executive officer of a company, and the permanent acting company commander. That last one should have exempted me from battalion staff duty, but the battalion adjutant had only five or six officers to choose from, and seven days each week that needed coverage. With one sick here and another visiting construction projects there (where most of the other officers were), the remaining officers had staff duty more than once each week. We laughed at the instructions each time we went to serve our duty. We appeared at the end of the workday. We were sworn in as the acting battalion commander until he returned the next morning.
We laughed at the title because the lieutenant colonel worked late and he arrived early. It was the reason the adjutant left me on the duty roster. Almost nothing could mess up his arrangement of leaving me on the list. The battalion was not actively doing anything when we were the staff duty officer. For staff duty, there were two of us. I had a sergeant who was acting sergeant major, and he did not take his “title” seriously either. The thing we took seriously was that we had been at work since about 6:00am and we would not get home until about 6:00pm the next day. But we were young, and we could do it.
But the next morning, I did not see the LTC walk past the staff duty office. I was not relieved of my staff duty. I could not walk down to the company and do the other three fulltime positions. The sergeant wished me well when the sergeant major stuck his head in the door, but the sergeant major just shrugged at me. No worries, it was still early.
Then the battalion executive officer, a major, walked into the staff duty office. “I hate doing this to you, lieutenant, but the workday has begun, and the battalion commander called to say that his daughter was ill, and his wife was busy with the other children. He should already be at the infirmary, but who knows how long that will take. That means that you, Sir, are the battalion commander with more than 850 souls awaiting the first orders from their new commander.” He then saluted me sharply, and I returned the salute. This had to be a joke. Here a major was saluting a lieutenant, and he was asking me for my orders for the day. Other than about 250 of those 850+, I had no idea where any of them were or what they should be doing.
I took a deep breath and said a little prayer for wisdom. I then started talking, not quite sure what would come out of my mouth. “Major, the men know what they should be doing. The LTC trusts them, and I do too. About now, everyone is sipping their first cup of coffee, and by the time, they go for their second cup of Joe, the LTC will probably be here. Oh, and can you inform Charlie company that I will not arrive for at least another thirty minutes.”
The major smiled and started to laugh. “You do know that you could have given everyone the day off as a training holiday. Then the colonel would not have to rush to get over here, but I like the way you think. Charlie company is at morning formation now. I will send a courier with your message. But, Sir, this is not a joke. You will remain here in the staff duty office if any of the battalion staff has a question that needs your answer or your signature.”
Nearly an hour of never having to answer anyone’s questions, other than a couple of sergeants that teased me unmercifully, the LTC walked into the staff duty office.
I said, “Never in my life have I wanted to see a colonel walk through a door like I have today. I hope your daughter is well.”
The LTC laughed, “She has a little bug that’s going around. She’ll be fine. And to mirror your greeting, of all the staff duty officers who could be here filling in for me, I am glad it was you. Now, you can go home and get some sleep.”
To explain his familiar tone with his greeting, we had done some volunteer work together before he was named the new battalion commander, and he sometimes came to the chapel where I sang in the choir, where the battalion soldiers went to church. The LTC usually went to the big church in family housing. We had known each other before he became my boss’ boss, and he knew my priorities.
“No, Sir,” I replied. “I have a company to run.”
He said as I walked past, “Somehow, I expected nothing less.”
So there it was, but only for a little over an hour total, platoon leader, executive officer, acting company commander, and acting battalion commander, all at the same time. But don’t tell the army. They frown on such things.
Prayer works. You can accomplish a lot. God does the heavy lifting anyway.
Soli Deo Gloria. Only to God be the Glory.
Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley 
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