Encouragement

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No Time For Sergeant
©
by

Stephen A. Peterson

He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name sake.

Psalm 23: 3 (NIV)

After graduation from Indiana University—Bloomington, my first REAL job was an active duty stint in the United States Army as a Second Lieutenant. I was so happy to be in the Army and earning more money than I had ever earned that I could not understand why some of the other officers who outranked me complained and grumbled whenever they had to work around Sergeant Doyle.

I soon found out that Sergeant Doyle was hostile to younger officers, especially Second Lieutenants. Although never disrespectful, Sergeant Doyle had a short temper and a sharp tongue to go with his nearly two decades of experience. He could be heard making remarks like, “They sure don’t make officers like they used to.” Sergeant Doyle ingeniously would somehow pile up the paperwork for the five Second Lieutenants in the Company. He would subtly accuse us of sitting on our responsibilities and pulling the unit’s effectiveness down.

Finally, I had enough. I went to the Company Commander, Captain Foster, to register my concerns.

Captain Foster replied, “Sergeant Doyle works fast and keeps this unit working efficiently. He has the most knowledge of any soldier in this Company. I don’t want you to quit on me. You are a very good junior officer but have a lot to learn about the Army. I can order you to work with Sergeant Doyle but I won’t. But I’ll tell you one thing. Wherever you go in the Army, there will be another NCO just like Sergeant Doyle so you might as well learn to work with him and the other NCOs of this Company Lieutenant.”

I went back to my quarters that night and prayed about it. By morning, I had made my mind up to hang in there. I worked twice as hard for the next six months or so. Every chance I got I went to Sergeant Doyle for advice or asked questions of him until, I think, he got sick and tired of my presence.

One afternoon we were both at Company Headquarters. I was working on a complex and perplexing report. I was about to turn to Sergeant Doyle for assistance when he said, “Let me help you with that Lieutenant. Let me see what you have there. Lieutenant, you’ve been working your rear off lately. More than any Looie I’ve ever seen in my nearly eighteen years in the Army. You may make a fine officer yet even though you are a butter bar.”

Sergeant Doyle even smiled when he said it—a first for me.

Prayer: Yes, Lord, there is always a Sergeant Doyle. But, if I try, I can learn to love him or others like him--as You do.

Thought for the Day: How can I express God’s love for my neighbor?

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