The selection of who stays behind to tend the home fires is left up to unit commanders. Where possible they select those qualified to execute these duties from personnel who would have to stay anyway. Often there are not enough officers and NCOs with an injury or an administrative hold to man the entire rear detachment. When this happens, the balance of the force is taken out of the unit’s hide. Since the Army occasionally permits commanders to use their common sense, few units opt to dip into their small pool of stars to flesh out this skeleton force. Most commanders bypass their stable of reliable performers as well as those who have been rated as average or mediocre. In fact many a commander simply turns his list upside down and starts with those who used to be at the bottom. The end result is that the security and maintenance of the home installation, its station property, and the families of the servicemen are left in the hands of a collection of soldiers best described as the sick, the lame, and the lazy.

At the headquarters of the 2nd Brigade, 17th Airborne this select group included a master sergeant who had a medical record thicker than the novel War and Peace. He would be working for a chemical corps captain who was legendary for his ability to wander off and get lost. Like their counterparts all across Fort Bragg they sat at their assigned desks at Brigade watching the frantic comings and goings of outbound staff officers and NCOs. At the moment their sole task in life was to answer the phones. If a call came in that concerned the operation in Idaho they were under strict orders to grab the nearest officer and hand the phone over to him. They were to handle all other calls, especially from family members with questions or those looking for their spouses.

Since the brigade sergeant major was still in the area the master sergeant was unable to set up the small TV he had hidden under his desk. So he was left with nothing to do but read worn and torn magazines that had been left in the drawer of his desk by previous duty officers and NCOs. He was in the process of stirring himself from his seat in preparation to go off in search of a cup of coffee when the phone rang. For a second he looked at it with a scowl and let it ring again. Glancing over his shoulder, the master sergeant watched to see if his captain was making an effort to pick it up. When the phone continued to ring without that officer making any effort to answer it, the sergeant picked up the receiver. “2nd Brigade,” the master sergeant stated in a voice that was more of a growl than an announcement.