Humor in Uniform 2/12/2011

2/12/2011
As recruits at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, we had a duty called “dorm guard.” A rookie was required to stand a one-hour shift at the door of his dorm, allowing only authorized personnel to enter, and alerting the unit to the presence of an officer by calling everyone to attention. A colonel had been in the dorm for several minutes when we heard the guard call, “Atten-hut!” Everyone snapped to rigid attention awaiting the oncoming officer. In walked a lieutenant. Our drill instructor, realizing that the unwitting guard had called a colonel to attention for a subordinate officer, ran over to the guard and yelled, “You have a colonel standing at attention for a lieutenant! What are you going to do about this?” In his most commanding voice, the recruit shouted out, “Colonel, at ease!”
Kenneth R. McCalister