Within the Army King found the sense of self-worth and security that had eluded him in his earlier life. Rather than be scorned for his scholarship, he was applauded. Instead of having to defend his decision to stand up for his mother and siblings with his fists, he was praised. And, as he assumed a role of leadership in the corps of cadets, then in the small peacetime Army itself, Andrew found himself on familiar ground. He was, in so many ways, home every time he walked into a barracks. Now, as the commander of an airborne company, Andrew King found that he had a new family.

Like every family, this one had its problems. When he assumed command of his company, King inherited an executive officer and two platoon leaders who had been trained by his predecessor. That officer had commanded with a light touch that bordered on casualness. Despite the fact that the unit performed well in the field, it left much to be desired while in garrison. It was for this reason that Andrew King had been given this particular company. His mandate, handed to him by his battalion commander during his initial briefing, had been to “put some starch” into Company A.

There is a truism in the Army that states that a unit will never have a better commander than the last one they had. Within two weeks of his arrival Andrew King had earned the dislike, and in some cases, hatred, of almost every man in A Company. But Andrew didn’t much care what his soldiers thought. He had a job to do and he intended to do it. His soldiers, each and every one, were volunteers, first for the Army, then for the airborne. Though they bitched and moaned, they complied. They lived secure in the knowledge that sooner or later either they or King would leave Company A due to normal rotation, ending the misery that was being visited upon them by a man they considered to be little more than a martinet.

Dissension among the rank and file is one thing, something King had learned to expect. But not from his officers. Unfortunately for King and these officers, this was the first time that he had actually commanded other officers. As a company executive officer, he had on occasion assumed command of the company he was assigned during tactical exercises or when the CO went on leave. But that was different. Then he had been little more than a place keeper, a temp. Now, however, he was “The Man.” He made the polices for the company. He set the pace and tone of the company. He established the standards each and every soldier under his command were expected to live by while on duty. And he punished those who did not live up to them.