An up, four downs

Yesterday was an up -- I got that soldier on the right path -- but today had a few lows. Three of the guys in my platoon face the possibility of getting kicked out of the Army for marijuana use.

I feel particularly bad for one of them -- after spending 12 months in Iraq, he had only only four months back home before being sent back for another 15. The guys's got some serious issues.

So yes, he used an illegal drug. And yes, we can't have soldiers on duty if we can't trust them to stay clean, but I do feel bad for him. One good thing is that the commander is showing some mercy by not throwing the book at him.

What was the fourth setback? The first sergeant canned my acting platoon sergeant for poor performance.

*sigh*

This was a rough one because we'd built up a good working relationship over the past weeks, and now I have to start all over again with someone else. And just by happenstance of timing, all my other E-6s are either on leave or unfit for the role.

So for the next two weeks, until the platoon sergeant gets back from ANCOC, I've got an E-5 filling an E-7 slot. He's not a bad guy -- highly competent, in fact -- but I'm still trying to figure out what's going on myself. Bringing hiim up to speed is going to take a good bit of time that we don't really have.