What is it I do around here again?

Most of the interesting training is already done. On Sunday we took a bus back to Camp Pendleton, where we will train until we actually leave for Afghanistan. Coming down from 29 Palms, we had three busses for two platoons. My entire platoon was on a bus, and the other platoon and company staff had the other two. Space was a little cozy, but it was just our platoon, so we didn't mind.

Our three buses lasted until our rest stop, about forty-five minutes into the trip. The seal for the windshield on the bus wasn't holding, and the window was starting to pop out at the bottom. We split our platoon between the two other busses, and I ended up right over a wheel well. I rode the remaining two hours with my knees up at my chest, watching the southern California countryside roll by.

I've been in charge of my platoon for a week and a half now, and I'm still trying to figure out exactly what it is that platoon commanders do. I can think of plenty to do, but what can I contribute to the platoon? My platoon sergeant had things running pretty well before I got here, and I know if I was yanked out tomorrow for something else things would continue to run just fine. But I'm slowly carving out a spot for myself.

We sat down for a platoon staff meeting yesterday--myself, my platoon sergeant, and four of my six sergeants. One was on leave, but I didn't know where the other one was, so I asked my platoon sergeant.

"Oh, I have him doing Sergeant things, ma'am," he said.

I looked at him suspiciously. "Sergeant things" could easily mean any number of things, many of which would be not work-related at all. But I let it go. I'm quickly learning the rules of being a platoon commander, which seem to focus as much on what not to say, what not to do, and what not to know as it does what to say, what to do, and what information to gather. I thought the filter between my brain and my mouth was pretty good, but it's getting some fine-tuning right now.

I suppose I'm already getting a little jaded, but the Marines make it worth it. I asked them all to fill out some information about themselves and their families, and one of the questions I asked was what in their life are they most proud of. One of them said his moral and ethical integrity, and when I talked to him today he was quite serious about it. I've got some good Marines.