I celebrated my birthday this week, and the 40th anniversary of my first ARTEP as a Chaparral Platoon Leader.
"Celebrate" might seem an odd adjective, considering I flunked it. However, it was a defining experience in my life. The morning of the ARTEP, I was installed as the platoon leader, in addition to the platoon I had led for four months.
For weeks afterward, the fecal matter rolled down on my head. Finally, I got irritated enough to tell my BC, I get it, but if it's all on me, then stay the hell out of my way and let me do my job.
Over the next 18 months, I took 3 more platoons successfully through their ARTEPS, including one with 3 "Acting Jack" squad leaders.
It wasn't unusual for me to get off on the wrong foot with my superiors. However, once they saw how I applied myself and how I worked with my NCOs, we usually got along great. I really got off to a rocky start with my last Battalion Cdr in Germany...lol. However, we ended up getting along so well that I went to work for him back at Fort Bliss as his Operations Officer.
Unlike you, my stories are interesting only to me, but the lessons I learned from them have enriched my life.
I only decided to tell that short story about my last day in combat to kind of record a piece of history.