Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20
Later in my national service Karina played a peripheral role in an incident that almost resulted in me being charged with something like neglecting my duties.
I had accepted her invitation to go drinking with her and Regina at Kneipen near Regina’s flat. I ended up sleeping it off there when I should have been making my way to camp to put on my uniform and go with Captain Newman to a military exercise. (One of the few PR jobs where we could not avoid wearing uniform.)
I telephoned Captain Newman to say I would not be at our barracks on time. Angrily he told me to go to the Bielefeld barracks near Regina’s home while he had the humiliation of going to my bunk in the sergeants’ mess to pack up my uniform and bring it to me at the Bielefeld camp.
At Bielefeld he furiously ordered me as punishment to sit in my light civilian clothes on the top of an open topped truck, so that I shivered in the cold as we drove towards the site of the exercise. There of course I donned my uniform.
“I’m going to have to charge you this time, sergeant ! he said. (He didn’t.)
More role-play
Now a sudden memory of another incident in which I successfully role-played being a disciplinary sergeant rather than a sergeant-wrier.
I don’t recall where it was or the occasion, but regular sergeant-photographer Alan had just temporarily apprehended a young British soldier for some misdemeanor and gone to bring a Royal Military Policeman to hand him over to. He had left the lad with me and a national service photographer who was briefly part of the PR team.
The young photographer kept arguing with the soldier, which I thought showed a dangerous lack of confidence and discipline. I therefore told the soldier, “Now shut up! I don’t want another word from you! Just get in the back of our car and stay there quietly until the RMP arrives!” He did.
The photographer stared at me with amazement, clearly not having envisaged a fellow national serviceman in army public relations behaving like a “real” sergeant.
