"Meeting the Sarge"

Posted on Sunday January 19th, 2020 @ 12:28pm by Lieutenant Colonel Phoebe Graydon & Gunnery Sergeant Maximilian Pfaffenheim

1,115 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Shakedown Cruise
Location: Marine CO Office

=/\=Start=/\=

Phoebe sat in the Marine CO's office. After her issues, she'd been moved down to Second Officer, which required her to take up an additional Officer position onboard. Given her experience with the Marines, and the lack of a Marine Commanding Officer onboard, she had decided to brush off her Marine Commission and take the role. She was soon to meet the First Sergeant of the Marine Company onboard. She sat in the office, waiting patiently for him to report, as requested.

The door slid open as Maximilian entered, having just finished a bunk inspection. The Marine detachment on the ship were largely new and unexperienced, and he had been not-so-fondly remembered of the rants his old drill sergeant went on on such occasions, though he did not have to go on one given the bunks' good condition. On the evening of his arrival, he had already convened with the squad leaders on drill exercises the next day. The drills so far had went relatively well, although he had noted that some maneuvers were executed sloppily; likely a result of the inexperience of the men and the fact that most of them had been sent directly from different training. As such, another training was scheduled for the afternoon.

Standing in front of the Major's desk, he gave his best Marine salute and stood at attention. "Staff Sergeant Maximilian Pfaffenheimer reporting, Ma'am!"

Phoebe returned the salute, and gestured for the Sergeant to sit down. "At ease Sergeant. Have a seat, please." She said. "Can I get you a drink maybe?" She asked.

Taking the seat, Maximilian shook his head. "No, but thank you, Ma'am." He reached into his pocket and produced a P.A.D.D. "I assume you want to be informed about the status of the platoon?", he asked. "I have convened with the squad leaders and inspected the men myself this morning. The results and my assessment are on here." He handed it to the Major.

Phoebe nodded, looking at the report. "A fairly green Platoon then..." She remarked quietly. "Can we make this work?" She asked.

Maximilian nodded slightly. "We can, but it's going to involve a lot of training. I have already talked with Commander Johnson regarding this - me and the squad leaders are working on a comprehensive training schedule for the trip to the Starbase. Regular drills, theoretical training and lots of combat sims on the holodeck." He gestured at the P.A.D.D. "Unless we enter high risk areas, the squads will do shiftwork with three guarding and two training at any one time."

Phoebe nodded again. "Sounds like a plan...We can probably work it with Security as well so if we want to run a full platoon exercise at any point they can pick up our slack, and vice versa. Could even invite them along to train with us, probably improve our relationship with them." Phoebe answered. "Anything I need to know about any of the troops?" She asked.

Maximilian's facial expression shifted a little at the mention of the Security department, though only momentarily. "I'm certain the Security department will we willing to work with us; as for training, I suggest focusing on Marine-only training for now, especially concerning things like boarding operations." He cleared his throat. "To answer your question, the platoon is structured somewhat differently than on many other ships. I know this structure from my service time on the U.S.S. Ford. Five squads with eight men each, divided into two fireteams with four men each. Squads are lead by corporals or sergeants, in our case two squad leads are Sergeants and three are Corporals. The primary fireteam of each squad is lead by the squad lead, the secondary by either a Private First Class or a Lance Corporal.

"Apart from that, Bravo Squad has the most experienced Marines, average service time two years but little action seen. Alpha, Charlie and Echo are fresh out of training, and Delta is barely a few months old. That said, all of the squad leaders seem to be cooperative people, so I doubt any inter-squad rivalries or anything similar will arise."

Phoebe noticed the slight change in Max's facial expression and smiled. "You seem to have an issue with Security Sergeant. Anything you'd like to discuss?" She asked, trying to be tactful about how she talked.

With his usual stone cold facial expression, Maximilian answered. "I wouldn't call it a 'problem', Major. It's just that in my experience, it isn't advisable for a ship's Security department to be thrown into training with a Marine detachment. The standards of Security and the standards of the Marines are... very different from each other, and this could compromise the ultimate effectiveness of training." He did his best to not sound direspectful towards Security. "Of course, some joint simulations should be organized, but in terms of regular training we should separate the department and platoon." He scratched his chin for a moment. "Permission to speak freely, Ma'am?"

Phoebe nodded. "Of course, that was what I was talking about, not regular training. You may speak freely." She replied.

"During my meeting with Commander Johnson yesterday, it was mentioned that Security may be deployed alongside us into combat. Now, I don't wish to play down the combat abilities of Security Officers, but frankly, that is a very poor idea. The Security department are not frontline infantry, much like Marines aren't crime investigators, and deploying the Security into something like a boarding operation is effectively asking for unneccessary casualties. In my eight years of service on the Ford, many Starfleet commanders we deployed alongside made this mistake and the operations in question suffered as a result.", he explained.

Phoebe nodded again. "I will have a discussion with the Commander, with regards to that. Hopefully we can come to an agreement that will suit us both. Is there anything else for us to discuss?" She asked with a smile.

Maximilian shook his head. "No, apart from that, nothing right now. The Commander has already assured me we will have increased use time for the holodecks. After I've done the equipment checks, drills and training will be commencing this afternoon. If you wish, Major, I can also have the platoon ready for a personal bunk inspection by noon."

“Sounds like a plan.” Phoebe answered. “I will join you once I’ve spoken to the Commander. Dismissed Sergeant.” She said, standing and saluting the other man.

"Yes, Ma'am.", Maximilian said, standing up and saluting as well before walking out of the door. Once outside, he tapped his comm badge. "Jameson, Artigue, get your squads to the gymnasium. I'll be there in 10."

=/\=End=/\=

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