Man On Cusp Of Having Fun Suddenly Remembers Every Single One Of His Responsibilities

This funny article reminded of something I always thought of as a young soldier and came to appreciate as I learned more- Unit Functions a.k.a. Mandatory Fun why the hell should we have them as they are a waste of time and takes away from a productive day- are they really that important?

At my first duty station we received a new BC who not only took our current training cycle to a new level, but really tested the limits of our capabilities. At the time, being a young soldier and working on Apache Helicopters, I was starting to resent the new BC and felt he was running the unit into the ground as I observed our OR rate fluctuate and our workload increase dramatically. Needless to say, moral was impacted, working weekends were becoming a norm when back in garrison and being in the field constantly started to weigh heavily one this young lad and others like him within the ranks.

Then we had a long break from the training cycle and the new BC went and bought a couple of pigs, declared a unit fun day on a Friday and spent two nights roasting those pigs in the ground almost by himself in preparation for the day's events. Not only did that action of being out there at 1 am drinking a beer and checking on the pigs something different than what we were used to seeing, it was the fact that he did all of the work himself and just needed a few volunteers to help keep over watch during the times he could not be present. It gave me a greater appreciation for him as a leader from a different perspective and made me a bit skeptical about my own personal feelings towards him.

The day of reckoning came and it was all hands on deck ( I know a Navy term lol) and everyone out to the fun area- except a lucky few who had to work on aircraft to get our OR rate up for the weekend and you guessed it - i was one of those lucky volunteers. To be truthful I actually was as I was a young SPC (and acting Squad Leader) so I had to set the example and my pride would not let a couple of my guys be at work while I was having fun- that was a no no in my book. So the day toiled forward and we worked until the Platoon Leader came over with instructions which came down from the BC that we were to cease working and get to having some fun with everyone else. Reluctantly we locked up our tools, made sure everything was dress right dress and left for the "fun", while admonishing the fact that our OR rate was going to be Shit for the weekend.

During my "fun" time, all I could think of was how to get back over to the hanger to work on that bird and then how to convince someone from QA to come over and look at the work for sign off so the damn bird could be made "ready" on paper. Eventually I found a way, left, finished up the work with one of the other guys, got our OR rate up to par for the weekend and went back to have some beer, roasted pig and other yummy foods German and American.

That Sunday, while sitting in my barracks room recovering from a good weekend, I remember reflecting on Friday's events and thought to myself, wow we have a pretty damn cool BC, maybe I was looking at things wrong since he did force us off the aircraft and out to the party. I further reflected on the fact that I interacted more with some of our HHC personnel and some of us went out partying together that Saturday night (hence the Sunday recovery). At the same time I said to myself, well on Monday things will be back to the normal and blah blah blah whatever and come Monday it was, but it was the following days, months and weeks which changed my perspective.

Our unit received recognition for the hard work and effort we put in, our company the same and even myself and my squad. I left my "comfort zone" of people I mingled with and expanded my horizons, thus becoming not only a better person, but a better soldier in my opinion.

When I left to my next duty station and saw how woefully inadequate they were compared to my old unit ( not a rebuke, but an observation) I came to appreciate the constant training cycles, the long hours ( I was counseled for working on a Saturday one time lol) and the mandatory fun days we had. Its not that my new unit was a bad one; it just moved sooooooo much slower than the one I left and like an addict looking for that next high, I was going thru withdrawals.

So yes, those mandatory fun days are kind of important toward unit cohesiveness overall and yes, mingling more within your unit has a great advantage if done correctly. Most of all it makes for a better long term work environment in my opinion.