Chapter 1( cont)

Work was pretty much the standard for a while, with training in the beginning and getting used to the schedule. It was a rotating shift of 6 on and 2 off alternating between days, swings and mids. Someone had to be on duty around the clock, but with four shifts manning the building it was not a problem. I was assigned to a sub unit that was simply known as TACO. Funny how there were all kind of Mexican names now that I look back at it. We had Sancho and Enchilado also. My trainer was an Air Force E-5 and there were a few other people in my department as well. I was the only Army at that time. That was the thing about our base; it was a conglomeration of the different branches. While it was a DOD base which was ran by NSA, there were Navy, Air Force and Army serving there. For the most part all seemed to get along well, with no real problems between them or the civilian contractors who were assigned there. It was smooth running and as I had stated before pretty much a dream assignment. My training lasted for a couple of months since there were different subsections to learn and things were not to be taken lightly. Work was a good way for me to keep my mind off “him”, but as soon as work was over he seemed to find his way back into my thoughts, so I seemed to find my way into the club on the walk home to my barracks.

The club was a popular place for service men and women stationed on the base. It was a small base with not much to do, so drinking, pool, darts, and the two or three slot machines seemed to draw a lot of attention. Friday and Saturday nights were the highlights of the week. A DJ would come in and the place would be packed; standing room only, with people dancing, drinking, flirting and of course staggering back out the door. I was no exception to any of the above.

As work progressed people were moved around and we got new people in our section, our main supervisor was PCS’d and my trainer was moved up and someone else was brought in. Imagine my surprise when it was the Air Force SGT who had slid through my gate earlier in the year when I was working with the MP’s. How quickly “he” had slipped from my mind, I now began thinking of this Air Force SGT; ‘he was really cute’, but I had to concentrate on my work, plus he was and NCO and I was still only an E-3. The Army makes it perfectly clear that they will not tolerate fraternization between an NCO and non NCO under any circumstances. What was I thinking? I had to concentrate, I was a professional and I took great pride in being so.

As the weeks went by I began to grow comfortable in my new work environment and with those I worked with. We began having activities after work and on our days off and I began to participate. We began to throw darts and bowl, and even though I was not the best at either, I did enjoy them both. While bowling, I began to grow a bit closer to SGT Air Force, but because of the Army’s rule of fraternization I was afraid to let anyone know so we had agreed to keep our seeing each other a bit of a secret. He lived off base and I in the barracks, so he would come see me after work and on nights that we both had off. At work we kept it casual and as far as I know, no one ever knew. Things worked well, as he was not the controlling type and understood if I went out with friends also; which seemed to be a fairly common occurrence.