The Hut

The troops were near exhaustion after their ten-mile run wearing the full combat gear. Sargent Hillyer was as tough as they came and only wanted the best from each and everyone of his men. He knew that the battle field they were training for would spare them no mercy and it was up to him to prepare “his soldiers” for war.

“Ok, if you are not able to pass this final step of your training you’ll be going home today. Two of you will enter into the Hut. You must stay inside until you hear the sound of my whistle. This will separate the boys from the men. I have trained you for three long months and now it’s up to you to prove to me you’re ready to go to battle. Oliver and Jones you’ll be the first to go in”. The two were the complete opposite in so many ways. Oliver had arrived at base camp nearly forty pounds overweight and was just now beginning to shine as a recruit. Jones on the other hand never experienced any difficulty during his training. He arrived three months prior in excellent physical condition and excelled in all faucets of training.

“Go, and remember there’s only one way out and it’s up to you to find it,” The two soldiers ran into the Hut without any idea of what was waiting for them. Once inside they quickly found themselves in complete darkness. Their eyes hadn’t had time for their pupils to adjust to the lack of light. The Hut was full of short walls and obstacles such as desks and low hanging light fixtures, that they had to maneuver through. The chloroacetophenone gas was filling the Hut and entering their nose and mouth. Any portion of their body that was sweating was burning as if someone was spreading burning coals over them. “Jones, I can’t see anything, did you hear the whistle”? Oliver had no idea that Jones had exited the Hut and was laying on the grass in front of all his fellow soldiers. He turned his friends and said, “Piece of cake, that’s was piece of cake. There’s nothing to this,” Meanwhile his fellow soldier was now laying on the floor of the Hut and slowly loosing consciousness. The sergeant blew his whistle and the doors of the Hut were opened. “Get him up and out of here,” ordered Sergeant Hillyer. Oliver laid on the grass with his eyes swollen closed and his mouth and nose oozing body liquids. The army medics were called to the scene and Private Oliver’s was rushed to the hospital off the base. “Jones, I want you to present yourself to the commander’s office immediately,” requested Sergeant Hillyer. The remainder of the troops went into the Hut two by two. Each team were able to help one another maneuvering through the obstacles and overcome the effects of the tear gas.

“Private Jones, explain to me what happened in the Hut this morning,” requested the Commander. “Sir, Oliver panicked and was screaming and crying as soon as the lights went out and we couldn’t see anything. Then when the tear gas was getting thicker and thicker, he kept walking into the same section of wall. I knew if I was going to survive, I had to get out of there,” As Jones was explaining himself to the commander the remainder his troop were holding their own debriefing of the events. “Smith you have been Oliver’s partner in every obstacle up to today. Did you ever noticed him not being able to keep up to the rest of you,” asked the Corporal overseeing the debriefing. “No sir, Oliver struggled for the first couple of months because he wasn’t in the physical condition as the rest of us. Jokingly he always told me, “I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer but with my friends’ help I’ll survive. Oliver is my best friend and I know he could have passed that gas Hut obstacle with me” One after the other they told their own stories of how Oliver was a top-grade soldier. Jones on the other hand was completely another story. “What about Jones, what kind of buddy is he?” asked the Corporal. “Jones was always at the top of the class at everything. At least that’s what he thought and told everyone. One time during the exam for drownproofing in the pool he swam past the soldier he was suppose to give mouth to mouth, just to be the fastest to complete the test. Because there were twenty teams of two in the pool the Sergeant didn’t notice what happened and congratulated him for being such a fast swimmer. We held a meeting after the test and confronted him but he lied and said he applied mouth to mouth on his training partner. I told him that I was his partner for the test and he never practiced mouth to mouth on me. He told us we were all angry because he was the best in our platoon and just stormed out the room”. While the Corporal was finishing questioning the other members of the platoon the Commander had the military police put Jones under temporary detainment. “Sir, this is not going to look good on my personal file. You don’t understand, one of us had to survive in the gas Hut. I was the fittest, fastest and came out in record time,” The Commander threw Jones’ file on his desk in discuss and told Jones “Shut up and do as you are told soldier”. Twenty minutes later the Corporal requested to meet with the Commander to inform him of his meeting with the other soldiers. “Sir, may I speak frankly?” “Corporal just get it off your chest. What the hell caused Private Oliver to pass out and be taken to the hospital. Did anyone including yourself do something wrong?” “Sir, Private Jones has proven to be the best at everything except for one major element of his training. He put himself first before the lives of his fellow soldiers. His desire to finish at the top of his class is the reason Private Oliver in the hospital. Soldiers as you know, never leave one of their own behind. We sacrifice our own lives to safe our brothers and sisters. Private Jones in my opinion could have alerted the Sergeant of Oliver’s condition, if only he had remained in the gas Hut with him. Instead, he was more interested in his own goal to finish first.” The Commander was furious and ordered Private Jones to be brought back in front of him. This time however it was to be at the parade square in front of every platoon on the base. The troops were told to stand at attention and then stand at ease.

“I have requested you to be here to witness what happens with soldiers that leave an injured brother or sister behind on a mission. Private Jones you left Private Oliver in the gas Hut to die to enable you to become first in your class. We don’t need soldiers to come in first, we need soldiers that work together and come out alive. Our mission on this training base is to make you soldiers not Olympian athletes,” Private Jones you are requested to return you entire military apparels to Sergeant Hillyer’s office”. Private Oliver was brought to the parade square where he was given standing ovation. Jones became a very successful banker that never told anyone of his humiliating army experience.