I'm too young to be called "The Old Man"

"Hell, there are no rules here - we're trying to accomplish something." -
Thomas A. Edison

Once upon a time I was a brand new Second Lieutenant. Straight away I learned that nicknames are in abundance in the Army. On any given day I might have been referred to as "Butterbar", "Shavetail", or simply "L.T." At the time I was barely 22. My Platoon Sergeant was a leatherfaced veteran of Vietnam who would always show up at PT formation smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee from his thermos. He would then proceed to smoke the shit out of all of us in whatever physical torture we were undergoing that morning. He was a battle-hardened Sergeant First Class who I affectionately referred to as "Sergeant Hulka" - he easily could have been the inspiration for the character from Stripes. I was in awe of the man. He never slept and was constantly in motion with the Soldiers and NCO's of my tank platoon. At first it was hard for me to accept that I was actually in charge of this platoon. But my Platoon Sergeant coached me and took genuine care in building my confidence in leadership of the Soldiers of the platoon. Soon the slang terms ended and were replaced by the sincere respect and camaraderie of everyone in the platoon. I thank SFC Bob Harrelson for instilling in me the respect for the NCO Corps and for teaching me the right way for an Officer to lead through personal example.

Another slang term I learned right away was "The Old Man". I never really used this term, as it just didn't resonate within me to refer to anyone as such. It isn't bad slang - to the contrary. The Old Man is the commander. When I was a Lieutenant, the Company Commander was The Old Man. Never mind that my Company Commander was only around 27. There were a lot of people in the company who were older. But, as traditions go, there has to be a special way to refer to the commander. In the Army it's just always been a simple fact that the commander is "The Old Man."

In spite of traditions, I've never embraced "The Old Man" when referring to my commander. I've always been very formal and used rank, title, or the appropriate greeting. That's just the way I am about this stuff. Besides, to me it just seems slightly disrespectful to refer to my commander as old. But I am the commander. It seems like just yesterday I was that "wet behind the ears" 2LT. Battalion Command is something I never thought of back then - except when the BC was in my platoon's AO snooping about. Could I really be "The Old Man"? This question was answered just the other day. I was walking into my HQ and overheard my Command Sergeant Major talking to someone in his office. It was something important and he invoked me to emphasize the point. But he didn't use my rank or title. He referred to me as "The Old Man"! Hold on a second, I'm too young to be called that. I'm definitely not the oldest person in our battalion. I had to put my personal objections to the term - objections I've had for as long as I can remember - and accept that this was actually a compliment. My CSM calling me "The Old Man" is a moment to savor. SFC Bob "SGT Hulka" Harrelson would be proud to know that all that time he invested in me long ago did not go to waste. Yes, now I am "The Old Man" but just don't call me that to my face.