Page 111 - Firehouse Pond

A warrant officer's primary task as a leader is to serve as a technical expert,

providing valuable skills, guidance, and expertise to commanders and
organizations in their field.

I worked hard. I did as I was told, went where I was told, and adapted.
During my first eight and a half years I was an enlisted soldier. Highest
enlisted rank: Staff Sergeant, E6.

I participated in those wonderful “Other Duties as Assigned” such as Charge
of Quarters (CQ), Guard Duty (GD), Kitchen Police (KP), and Driver for the
Company Commander (CO) and the First Sergeant (TOP). I was also given

short periods of training, at the unit level, and placed on so-called “teams”.

Those assignments were called “Special Duty Assignments”.

Three teams that immediately come to mind are:

- The Armament Inventory and Inspection (AIAI) Team: A fancy title
for being required to assist the unit Supply Sergeant with the weekly
cleaning of all the unassigned weapons in the unit. This high honor

was usually performed on Saturday mornings.

- The Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical (NBC) Response Team: I
was barely 19 years old. Are you kidding me? Life is setting in fast.
This U.S. Army stuff is serious business. Nevertheless, with unit-
level training of a very short two weeks, I was designated as one of

the unit’s NBC response leaders. I was now personally responsible
for the safety of seventy-five of our soldiers in the event of a nuclear,

biological or chemical attack.

- The Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Team: I was “trained”; I

attended a three-day training seminar. I was given a special notebook
with all the “things” to which I could expect to be exposed.