WHENEVER I BEGIN to feel a bit smug, I recall my first week at Naval Officer Candidate School in Newport, R.I. I learned quickly, I thought, and was getting adept at giving commands like “To the rear…march” and “Company…halt.”

There is a procedure for stacking rifles in which they end up looking like a small tepee. My bubble of pride was burst when I realized during a drill that I hadn’t the faintest idea what the command to stack rifles should be. With all the dignity I could summon, I called out, “Rifles in little bunches…put!” The company in laughter…dissolved.

–Contributed to “Humor In Uniform” by William Dutson

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