Memoirs of an Outlaw: Life in the Sandbox

Chapter 3: Formation

A bead of sweat started rolling down my forehead. I reached up to wipe it away before it got in my eyes and quickly put my arms behind my back, clasping my hands together right around waist level. It was a blistering August midafternoon, and the sun was at its brightest. What made it worse was that the North Carolina humidity was unbearable, making a relatively modest eighty degrees feel like a hundred. I’m sure the other guys were feeling the heat too.

“Listen up,” Gunnery Sergeant Larry Rossignol said in his familiar raspy voice. Standing in front of him were around thirty infantry Marines, including me, in slightly faded camouflage uniforms and polished black boots. “The battalion has decided to expand and add a new company. As the battalion is still out doing training exercises, they’ve given me orders to begin forming this new company until we get staffed up. A few of you are leaving to go to new commands or getting out of the Marine Corps. Y’all will stay with Charlie Company until you move on. The rest of you will be coming with me to form Delta Company.”

There was some slight fidgeting within the formation, but no one said much. Our platoon, part of Charlie Company, Second Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, had been together for more than a year. From predeployment training exercises, which started back in the spring of 2002, to our deployment to Kosovo, Djibouti, United Arab Emirates, and ultimately, the invasion of Iraq, we had become a fairly close group; however, we all knew that eventually the time would come when we would have to part ways.

This was the first platoon that I had been assigned to since entering the fleet after infantry school. Most of these guys were accustomed to moving between platoons and companies, but for me it was a first. My emotions ranged from excitement to sadness. I knew I would be going on a new adventure as part of Delta Company, but I was saddened that I was losing good friends I had made, such as Corporals Jon Hogan and Daniel Nowak. These men helped me navigate the waters as a new guy and made me a better Marine, passing on knowledge they had acquired over their four years to me. They would soon be leaving to enter the civilian world, and it hurt to see them go. Fortunately, while friends like these were leaving, other guys I had formed bonds with, such as Corporals Jason Sprenger and Jason Klinger, were heading over to Delta Company with me. So it wasn’t so bad in the end.

Gunny Rossignol continued on. “The guys that come over with me will form First Platoon. As we bring on more Marines, they will flesh out the rest of the platoon and form the other platoons. We don’t have any other senior staff or officers yet, but once the battalion gets back, all that stuff will be sorted out. Does anyone have any questions?”

“When will all this start happening?” someone in the formation asked.

“It’s effective starting next Monday. Any other questions?” Gunny asked.

“Where is Delta Company going to be situated?” another Marine asked.

“Across the hall from Charlie Company. Right now it’s a mess, so everyone that is going to be part of Delta Company will help clean it up starting Monday. Anyone else got questions?” It seemed as if Gunny was trying to wrap it up so he could dismiss us for the weekend.

When no one said anything, Gunny said, “OK, y’all have a good weekend. Everyone report back here on Monday at zero eight hundred. The guys that are going to Charlie Company will report to me as well until I hand you off to the company. The rest of you will begin helping clean the new office.”

He snapped to attention. “Platoon, atten-hut!” he said in a sarcastic tone. Gunny Rossignol had been in the Corps for what seemed an eternity—or how he liked to phrase it to me, “longer than I spent on the ship shitter.” He reminded me of Gunny Highway played by Clint Eastwood except with a bit more humor. He’d been an infantryman his whole career, eventually moving on to become a drill instructor and then coming over to Second Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion to become a platoon sergeant. He’d seen it all and didn’t take crap from anyone and absolutely hated some of the formalities, such as dismissing a platoon.

We all snapped to attention. “Dismissed!” he said, again in a mocking voice.

I began walking back to my barracks room when I heard Gunny call me. “Tanner!”

I turned around and saw him waving to me to come back to him. I began heading in his direction at a slow jog.

“Hey Gunny, what’s up?” I said, slightly out of breath.

“You’re a college boy, right?” Gunny asked, already knowing the answer.

“Yeah, Gunny.”

“And you’re pretty good with computers and shit like that, right?” he said.

“Sure. Why, you need me to do something?” I asked.

“Yeah, since it’s only gonna be me forming the company for a few days, I’m gonna need some help. I need you to be the company clerk for Delta. You all right with that?” he asked.

Did I have a choice? I thought. “Sure, Gunny, whatever you need.” Honestly, he could have asked me to clean shitters all day, and I would have been fine. Over the past year, I had come to have a high amount of respect for Gunny Rossignol. He had gotten me out of a few situations that could have been trouble for me, and he treated us all like men. I looked up to him as a son looks up to his father. I would have taken a bullet for the guy.

“Cool. Once the office gets set up, I’ll get you situated and give you an idea of what I need you to do,” he said.

“Sounds good, Gunny.”

“All right, Tanner. Have a good weekend.”

“You too, Gunny.” With that, I turned around and made my way back to the barracks. Well, this is going to be something different for sure, I thought. Not exactly what I had in mind going over to Delta Company, but I guess it’ll do. I sure hope I like it.