Captain Trouble

He's no longer Lieutenant Trouble. He was promoted a few weeks ago. So now he's actually the rank that matches the duties he's been doing for a year.

I was supposed to fly down to Texas to pin his bars on him; but since he's now in northern Iraq, I didn't get the chance. The bad news is that I wasn't there to pin his bars on; the good news is I didn't have to spend any time in southwest Texas.

So yes, he's in a war zone again. And no, he's not all that happy about it. But there is this: It's the first time in his career that he's actually doing the job he wants to do: policework. It took three-plus years, three changes of station and a tour and a half to get there, but, all in all, it could be worse.

And in case you're wondering, he's still living up to his nickname. A week ago, an Army Colonel was giving one of his troops a hard time (although he's in the Air Force, he and his troops are stationed at an Army base.) According to my son, the important issue that was keeping the Col. away from winning the war was the fact that MP vehicles are parked in a certain position and their lights flashed in a specific way, and this troop's vehicle did not addhere to those specifications. That may not be exactly the issue, but it's pretty damned close.

My son slid in between the two, and informed the man that since the Troop was Air Force Security Forces and not Army Military Police, he was required to follow the Air Force SF procedures, not the Army ones. Additionally, my son pointed out politely but firmly, since the Troop was under my son's command, any issues should be taken up with him, and not the Troop. And, my son added, he was confident that the Troop was following the correct procedure as per his orders.

Believe it or not, the Colonel was not appeased by this. Captain Trouble stood there and took a full-force gale of an ass-chewing from the man. Took it, but did not back down from his position, until the Colonel blew himself out.

When he related the story to me, my son told me that he was secretly wishing that the Colonel would lay his hands on him, or do something else that would allow him to, in his words, "offer the Colonel maximum law enforcement services." Alas, the man seemed to know exactly where the line was in this area, and stood right on it. I told him I wasn't surprised. I figure someone doesn't get a bird on his shoulder who doesn't have a real good idea of where the boundaries are.

Anyways, that was a few weeks ago--not even two days after his promotion. Earlier this week, Trouble was in the gym working out while a couple of Army officers of the same rank were there as well. They got to talking while they were working out, and the following event occurred (copied directly from his email to me)

The Capt from the Brigade asked me my name first (he thought he recognized me). So I told him. He was like "I have heard of you! You are the one that our Commander went out and screamed at, you got him worked up". I said something like "yea it happens once in a while" I mean, I don't know how to respond to that, and he seemed like a decent guy so there was no reason to get defensive either. I was expecting him to go on about how his Colonel is looking into how to get me into trouble or why my Colonel hadn't contacted his yet. But then he surprised me...he went on to say...."yea, I guess he was impressed with you because when he got back all he could talk about was the fact that this Capt (me) he screamed at wouldn't back down and stood his ground". So that took me by surprise. He did mention that his Colonel gets worked up pretty easy. But needless to say, I wasn't expecting that!

Truly, one of the more endearing qualities of this kid is that he has no idea about just how impressive he really is.

So, here's some pictures of him in his native habitat. Already while he's there, he's got to hang out with both Dane Cook and Puddle of Mudd.



Life could be worse for him, you know?

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