10 Nov 09-Happy Anniversary Dave

I just wanted to send a quick blog out announcing it’s my anniversary today. 30 years ago today I was sworn into the military. Back then I was eager and willing to do what my country asked me to do. Back then, it wasn’t what it is today. Our biggest threat back then was the Soviet Union and fear of nuclear war. I joined in a time that was considered the cold war era. Me and my brother in law Richard were sworn in together and were part of A Btry 1^st Battalion, 151^st Field Artillery. (Kind of like a Walmart store number). My physical was done by my hometown doctor, and I took my entrance test in the recruiter’s office. My commander at the time retired two years ago, at the time I joined he was a lowly Lieutenant, at the time of his retirement he was a full Bird Colonel.

I’ve known quite a few young officers that are now very high in the food chain. As far as my career goes when I joined at 17 all I could think about was 6 years and I’m out of here. After my brother in law left the unit to go back into the active Marine Corps I was kind of lost. My first years were miserable to say the least. The AST (Admin Supply Training) guy in the front office was not soldier friendly and took every opportunity to get one over on the soldier. He charged soldiers for equipment they didn’t lose. He Issued out used clothing and kept the new for whatever reason. Let’s just say we didn’t see eye to eye and he was often mad at me for doing right by the soldier. On more than one occasion he caught me helping the soldier without his permission. One month I came to drill and found out that I had been transferred to another unit. His story was that my move was for my benefit and possible promotion. Not likely I joined in 1979 as a private, went to basic training in 1980 as a private, in 1981 I went to my advance individual course to actually earned a military title and job. Yep you guessed it I was still a private. Rumor has it when he quit his job in Cloquet he went to work for the post office in North Carolina. He was arrested for stealing mail and cashing checks. It couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.

My attitude changed after he left and I was brought back to Cloquet. The new guy SSG Delvin Simonson fixed my pay and got me promoted not once, but twice to catch me up where I should have been. The promotion wasn’t as nice as the back pay, even back then. He taught me a lot about smoking mirrors and how to play the shell game. What happened is that when he was going to be inspected he would box up all his problems and mail them off to himself. In other words he would look really good for the inspection and a couple of days later the box would come back in the mail and he was back to work. He brought me in for additional pay to help him stay afloat. I didn’t mind I learned a lot from him and the experience that it gave me.

After my six years were up I opted to stay a little longer in hopes of landing a full time job. I had several interviews without much success. In fact one of the interviews was all the way down in Anoka. I worked the night before so my dad drove me down. I changed into my dress uniform in the Armory men’s room and was walking down the hall to my appointment when this guy stopped me. He told me my branch of service and U.S. Army devices were on the wrong side. He offered to help me and I was thankful for his assistance, in fact he adjusted my ribbon bar as well. Thank god he helped me before I made a fool out of myself. I thought to myself that I must have been tired when I had placed my devices on my freshly dry cleaned dress uniform. When I got into the interview the president of the board after introductions were made said “please tell the board what’s wrong with your uniform”. It turns out the guy that helped me was next in line and he helped me all right! Man I was so embarrassed. The good news is he didn’t get the job either.

Because I was still a part time I went before a promotion board one day, interviewed for a full time job the next. Basically I was told that I passed the promotion board and would be promoted to Staff Sergeant. Shortly after that I was offered a full time job as a specialist two levels lower than Staff Sergeant. It wasn’t a question of what to do I wanted my foot in the door so I was almost promoted and then reduced in a matter of days.

It took a little getting used to stepping down a rank and having to explain to everyone that I didn’t get in trouble I did it to get a job. After a few years thoughts of promotion were again dancing in my head. The bad news is upward mobility back then was tough. Someone had to retire or die in order for soldiers that worked full time to advance. What was harder was watching all the part time soldiers getting promoted ahead of me. It wasn’t fair but it’s one of those life lessons that you deal with. I loved my job and loved helping soldiers.

When I started full-time I worked in Duluth up on top of the hill. I had the opportunity to transfer to Anoka to take over a rather large mess. It was my opportunity to prove myself and show that I was capable of making it right. When my unit in Anoka disbanded several years later I was selected because of my ability for the new unit that was forming in Anoka. It was tough building an organization from the ground up; I sometimes worked three to four weekends in a role. My boss “Pete” always promised that one day we would kick back and take it easy as a reward for all of our hard work. That day never came. 30 days a year vacation, after two years of hard labor I had 60 days of vacation on the books. I sold back 52 days to pay the bills.

I left Anoka where I was with a Forward Observer unit (Guy on the hill top calling in artillery rounds on the enemy) unit for the Aviation world in St Paul. Several years later I was promoted and after a few years I transferred to the Air Defense Artillery in Brooklyn Park. Ironically the guy in Duluth that was my boss became my employee as I advanced. Before he retired he told me he was nervous when I was selected ahead of him for promotion. He confessed that he wasn’t the nicest to me and feared retaliation. Instead he said I showed him that it was all in the past and I taught him things to make his job easier. You know me I’m not one to carry a grudge! My motto is “make love not war”!

I’ve worn three different utility uniforms (OG 107, BDU, ACU), and three different dress uniforms (Khakis, wool, cotton/poly) in my time. Now that the end is near I finally have a pair of boots that you don’t have to shine, a work uniform that you don’t iron, and dress shoes that were manufactured to always shine. The other highlight is a can of brass polish is a thing of the past, the brass now days has lacquer on it for a permanent shine. You might think I’m crazy to leave but I know in my heart it’s time.

I learned a lot from my past and made a vow early on that I would do what I could for my soldiers. I always gave equipment to the soldier first and took care of my own needs only after their needs were filled. I’ve done all the jobs from dish washer to Chef in the Army. What I’m saying is I want to retire while I’m still making a difference to the soldier. I want to leave knowing that I did my best for those below me, as well as those around me. I want to know that after I’m gone from the system that someone, somewhere says to himself “I wonder what Sergeant Major Crotteau would do in this situation”. I want to walk away knowing that the guy replacing me will build on the foundation I laid. I want him to take the organization I currently belong to up to the next level. Someday I want a soldier to stop me in Walmart and say thank you for helping me when I needed it. For now I look forward to going home, to my upcoming retirement, and spending time with my grand children. Just maybe I can be the cool grand pa and make up time with my family for the time I spent away from them serving in the military.

The future scares me but my thoughts are I was looking for a job when I found this one. I have a lot to offer a business and I’m sure someone out there needs someone like me. After years of being responsible for so much, a change of scenery might be just what the doctor ordered.

I want to thank my family, my soldiers and our friends for standing by me all these years. Most of all I want to thank my wife for being my rock. No matter where I was she could give me the canned speech that dealt with the situation I was in. For example if I called missing home she would give me canned speech # 1 “Your almost done don’t quit now”, or if I said I can’t take working with him anymore she would give me canned speech # 2 “Do what you think is best for you, your family stands behind your decision”. All these years later I’m still serving and doing what my country asks of me.

My family was and is my motivator, they guided me onto the right path on more than one occasion. It’s easy making a rash decision when you’re on your own. But when you have a family at home depending on you it becomes more than what’s best for you, it’s about providing for your family, it’s about being a role model for your children.

Veterans Day is tomorrow I will give thanks for my life that I have lived and for my service to my country. I will more importantly say a prayer for those that I have served with that have gone before me. The ones that took the final walk and gave their all so that we can live the life we live!

That is all,

Dave