"Road Guards, Post"
Lieutenant Colonel Wall loved to run with his troops. Each morning we had a squadron formation and then we started out on a run. Each platoon ran together and was separated from the next platoon by a few paces. Often these early morning runs were in the dark. LTC Wall would just pick a group to run with and he would join them.
When a unit was marching or running on a street they had to send out people to stop traffic at intersections. The ones sent out were normally the second person on the outside of the column. When the group came close to an intersection the leaders called out, “Road guards, Post”. These two then raced ahead to the intersection and stood there at parade rest and stopped any traffic that might come along. After the unit passed the intersection the leader then called out, “Road guards, Recover”. Then the road guards either resumed their places in the column or rejoined at the tail end of the group. If they rejoined at the tail end of the group then everyone else on the outside moved up one slot to fill the vacancy. In the Cobra platoon we normally rejoined the tail end of the group and everyone moved up one.
One morning we started out on our run as usual. I was in one of the outside columns about half way back. As we ran along there was some grumbling among the guys about the LTC. Soldiers are like most other folks in that they sometimes make unkind remarks about their leaders. This can often happen when forced to rise early in the morning and go out for a run in formation in the dark. It was happening quite a bit that morning.
For those who have never been on an early morning run with a bunch of soldiers there are things you have missed. Normally some one in the group has bad breath and as the group runs along breathing hard the bad breath starts getting to everyone. That’s the good thing about being a road guard and being able to change positions. Perhaps in the next spot the air would be fresher.
After going a mile or so we had gone through four or five intersections and I had moved up into the slot to be the next road guard. When we approached the intersection I ran ahead and stopped and stood there at parade rest. As the platoon ran by I noticed LTC Wall running with our group. He must have started out in the rear of the group and had moved up with each change of road guard. The group ahead of him was still complaining about him because they didn’t know he was right behind them. Those behind them didn’t dare say a word.
After the platoon passed I ran to rejoin the group. I thought it best to rejoin the group by getting back into the second position and trying to quietly warn them that the LTC was with us. Perhaps I could quietly tell them to knock it off.
When I tried to rejoin the group everyone had moved forward and there was no open spot. I tried to get the guys to move back but they just kept saying, “Get in the back”. Finally I just ran along side of the second guy and whispered into his ear that LTC Wall was right behind him. He looked over his shoulder and confirmed what I had told him. He moved back and let me in. I whispered to the fellow to my left, “The squadron commander is in our formation just behind us”. The word spread quickly through the formation. Many turned around to confirm that he was there. Quickly the grumbling stopped. To our surprise nothing was ever said about the grumbling but I was certain that LTC Wall had to have heard it.
When we started our run that morning we didn’t know that Lieutenant Wall was in our formation. We had been making remarks not knowing that the commander was there. It’s important to know who is nearby and what is happening around you. This knowing what was going on around us we called “Spacial Awareness” in Army aviation. A pilot must know what is happening around his or her aircraft and what its effect will be. Look around or take a look over your shoulder every once in a while and know what is happening.
When a unit was marching or running on a street they had to send out people to stop traffic at intersections. The ones sent out were normally the second person on the outside of the column. When the group came close to an intersection the leaders called out, “Road guards, Post”. These two then raced ahead to the intersection and stood there at parade rest and stopped any traffic that might come along. After the unit passed the intersection the leader then called out, “Road guards, Recover”. Then the road guards either resumed their places in the column or rejoined at the tail end of the group. If they rejoined at the tail end of the group then everyone else on the outside moved up one slot to fill the vacancy. In the Cobra platoon we normally rejoined the tail end of the group and everyone moved up one.
One morning we started out on our run as usual. I was in one of the outside columns about half way back. As we ran along there was some grumbling among the guys about the LTC. Soldiers are like most other folks in that they sometimes make unkind remarks about their leaders. This can often happen when forced to rise early in the morning and go out for a run in formation in the dark. It was happening quite a bit that morning.
For those who have never been on an early morning run with a bunch of soldiers there are things you have missed. Normally some one in the group has bad breath and as the group runs along breathing hard the bad breath starts getting to everyone. That’s the good thing about being a road guard and being able to change positions. Perhaps in the next spot the air would be fresher.
After going a mile or so we had gone through four or five intersections and I had moved up into the slot to be the next road guard. When we approached the intersection I ran ahead and stopped and stood there at parade rest. As the platoon ran by I noticed LTC Wall running with our group. He must have started out in the rear of the group and had moved up with each change of road guard. The group ahead of him was still complaining about him because they didn’t know he was right behind them. Those behind them didn’t dare say a word.
After the platoon passed I ran to rejoin the group. I thought it best to rejoin the group by getting back into the second position and trying to quietly warn them that the LTC was with us. Perhaps I could quietly tell them to knock it off.
When I tried to rejoin the group everyone had moved forward and there was no open spot. I tried to get the guys to move back but they just kept saying, “Get in the back”. Finally I just ran along side of the second guy and whispered into his ear that LTC Wall was right behind him. He looked over his shoulder and confirmed what I had told him. He moved back and let me in. I whispered to the fellow to my left, “The squadron commander is in our formation just behind us”. The word spread quickly through the formation. Many turned around to confirm that he was there. Quickly the grumbling stopped. To our surprise nothing was ever said about the grumbling but I was certain that LTC Wall had to have heard it.
When we started our run that morning we didn’t know that Lieutenant Wall was in our formation. We had been making remarks not knowing that the commander was there. It’s important to know who is nearby and what is happening around you. This knowing what was going on around us we called “Spacial Awareness” in Army aviation. A pilot must know what is happening around his or her aircraft and what its effect will be. Look around or take a look over your shoulder every once in a while and know what is happening.
posted by Bruce | 3:48 PM
1 Comments:
Another great story. I did alot of formation runs and road guard duty. Since we were formerly called the Army Air Corps, many of our procedures were stolen from the Army. One perspective you may or may not have thought about is the following: Some of our senior and even junior officers would fall in on early morning runs and purposely listen to the gripes to get a feel for how the men were "really feeling." By the time they were noticed by the formation, they had already gotten an earfull and could move on. Our first sgt said that sometimes he would use the latrine and close the stall door, in latrines that had stall doors. The men would file in and often gripe about the lst Sgt or the C.O. or whatever and he would get a "feel" for what the men were really thinking. Such info could shortstop problems before they grew out of control. Such tactics became handy when I was a lst Sgt.
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