Jethro Goes to War (Wandering Engineer Jethro's tale) Read Online Free

up. And he'd save it for the meeting. Hopefully
he could be put down fast so they could get onto business. They still
had a hell of a lot to get done in less than fourteen hours. Doc and
the corporals were handling pre-processing. So far everything was
going smoothly.
    “ Actually we
do. But unfortunately, someone has to be in charge,” Major
Forth replied with a sigh. “We're trying to rebuild an
institution. Not just the habits and training that will hopefully
keep them alive in combat, but the traditions and infrastructure as
well.”
    “ So it's best
to start at the beginning,” Lieutenant Pendeckle said with a
nod. “We need them to go through this. Hell, so do we. To build
a unifying force.”
    “ But all
this...” The gunny frowned and then tapped his finger on the
desk near the padd in front of him. “Renting a park deck? Is
that necessary? Six months for boot? Seriously? Can't we make do with
sims?”
    “ Sims are just
that; a game. We need good hands on training. It's one thing to play
a VR game. It's quite another to be there in person. Sweating it out,
getting your hands dirty. Getting hurt for real is a bit different
than in a vid. No time outs, no stress cards, no pee breaks,”
Schultz growled. He gave the other gunny a disgusted look. He wasn't
sure why they had made Thomspkins a gunny as well, the guy didn't
have a clue sometimes, and loved to slack off. “And no off
switch. This is actually just the tip of the iceberg,” Gunnery
Sergeant Schultz growled.
    The others looked at
him. “This is the bare minimum we think we can train for with
the facilities and staff we have in the allotted time for basic.
We've got other courses afterward for more advanced training,”
he grimaced. “Which we'll have to share with the Navy, and
police forces when the time comes.”
    “ But
camouflage? Who needs that in space?” Thompskins asked with a
sneer.
    “ You clearly
need to brush up on your space assault tactics then,” the major
said with a head shake. “The closer you can get to a target
before you are seen... You know what, another time. This isn't the
time for that discussion,” he said firmly trying to keep on the
agenda.
    “ Besides, we
may not be on a planet now, but that doesn't mean we wont be deployed
on one sometime in the future. It pays to be prepared,” Schultz
added.
    “ Prior
Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance,” the Major said as he
nodded and then looked around the room. He made sure to lock eyes
with each of them. He knew Schultz was on board. The others were on
the fence or were more inclined for an abbreviated course. He sat up
straight and knitted his fingers together. “A set standard is
vital.”
    “ Half of the
training period is going to be just getting them up to an acceptable
standard. And of course weeding out the undesirables,”
Pendeckle added. Schultz suppressed a growl as the Lieutenant looked
his way.
    “ Who here
hasn't realized that this class, and most likely the classes that
follow for the next few years will be the leadership of the corps in
a few years? We need to get them on the right footing from day one
and keep them there. It is going to be hard. We're going to screw up.
Hell, WE don't have the
training at all! Just because we wear the uniform doesn't mean we're
at all qualified! For some we're making it up as we go along. We'll
have to deal with that. So will they. We're not asking for perfection
in the first class. But we do need to get them sorted out and get the
ball rolling now. We'll be learning as much if not more than they
will.”
    “ Yes sir,”
Schultz nodded, eying the officers and enlisted at the table. “We've
got six hundred and fifty seven in this class. Six platoons. I'll be
happy if we can graduate half that.”
    “ Ouch,”
Thompskins winced. “Seriously? I'd want a bit more.”
    “ If they can't
hack it, they can't hack it. We'll have to build them up slowly, but
we need to figure out those we want to fast track right