The Cadet Sergeant Major (19 page)

Graham walked back to the officer's fire. Goltz was not there. He turned and strode towards the Control Group camp.

She wasn't there either. That worried Graham even more. He did a quick head count and noted Crane was present. That was something. Costigan and Henning were also there. Graham ordered them back to HQ. He instructed a surly Sgt Crane to put the Control Group to bed, then headed for 4 Platoon.

Graham found a few cadets still walking around but Sgt Griffin was there urging them to bed. CUO Bates was not there but, apart from noting the fact, Graham did not care. Officers weren't his responsibility. He headed for 2 Platoon.

Their fire was out but he could hear laughter as he approached. Sgt Copeland's voice ordered them to be quite before Graham could open his mouth.

It was Roger's section. They were all giggling from in their hutchies. ‘High spirits,' Graham thought. ‘Not mischief.' He weighed in, “Corporal Dunning, get your people to sleep. If I hear any more noise I will roster your section to fill in all the dunny's before we leave. Is that clear?”

“Yes Sir,” Roger replied from his hutchie. There were stifled guffaws and snickers from all round and Graham heard whispered, “Dunning to the dunnys,” and similar comments.

“Quiet you people,” Roger called, but he could not fully restrain his own laughter.

Graham spoke to Sgt Copeland for a minute, knowing his presence would help to settle them.

CUO Grenfell joined them. “Good camp this,” he said. “I am enjoying it. And the platoon is shaping up well.”

“Yes they are,” Graham agreed, well aware that ears were listening in the nearby hutchies. “They are a good platoon.” He felt strong residual loyalty to 2 Platoon after being in it for two years. “Mind you, it is not as good as it was when I was here,” he teased.

“Get away with you! It's because you are gone that it has picked up,” CUO Grenfell laughed.

Graham laughed too. He said, “I'd better go and see how the other platoons are. Goodnight.”

The CUO and sergeant both said ‘Goodnight'. From a nearby hutchie Graham heard Margaret's voice call, “Good night Sergeant Major!” Then she giggled.

“Goodnight Cadet Lake,” he replied.

“Aren't you going to tuck us in and give us a kiss like the song says?” Margaret asked.

Graham laughed. “Sorry. I can't have favourites. If I kiss you I'd have to kiss everyone and that would include grotts like Cadet Anderson.”

“Aw sir! We love ya too!” Anderson called from his hutchie. A dozen others joined in and there was general laughter.

“That will do. Go to sleep,” Graham called, but there was no bite in his voice. He said goodnight again and walked over to 1 Platoon. There all was quiet. Stephen was prowling round. The two friends stood to one side and talked quietly.

“How is it going?” Graham asked.

“Good. Apart from Dibble they are a good mob; and he's no loss.”

“Has his going affected them much?”

“No. They jeered at the news. Since then they have picked up. They are starting to pull together as a team now,” Stephen replied.

“Are you enjoying the camp?” Graham asked.

“Yeah. It is fun. How about you?”

“I'm having a ball!” Graham replied. “I am very busy but I love it.” He paused, then added. “Those sheilas in HQ test me out a bit though. They tease me a lot; and flirt.”

“Yes,” Stephen replied. “Some toothsome morsels there.”

Graham respected Stephen's judgement on girls. He did not think that Stephen, with his freckles, glasses and skinny build, was all that handsome, but he always got more than his fair share of the girls. This ruffled Graham's ego a bit, but also intrigued him. If girls was the topic Stephen would know; he scored the most. They discussed the outstanding attributes of the HQ girls. His mind roved over them.

“That Kellie Jones,” he sighed. “I'd like to spend an hour or two alone with her.”

“Mmmmm. Yes. She'd be a handful,” Stephen agreed.

“The whole bunch are a handful,” Graham said.

“Yes, lucky Pete,” Stephen observed.

“Oh, I don't know,” Graham replied. “I'm not sure that Pete is enjoying the camp very much. He looked pretty miserable this afternoon.”

“Yeah, I suppose they could get you down,” Stephen agreed.

“Particularly Denton,” Graham added gloomily.

“Strewth! You wouldn't want her to get you down,” Stephen replied in mock horror. “If she rolled on you it would be like being crushed by a hippo.”

Graham laughed quietly. “Anyway, I'd better make sure they are all in bed.”

“The right bed,” Stephen agreed.

That reminded Graham. The nagging worries returned. He walked back to the HQ area. All was quiet. He crawled into his hutchie and collected his torch. Peter appeared to be asleep. Graham did a quick check of all the hutchies, shining his torch into each to ensure people were where they were supposed to be. Allison was asleep, lying on her side, her mouth slightly open. He felt his emotions stir. Kate opened her eyes and blinked at him so he turned the torch off.

“Just checking,” he said.

He walked on through the darkness towards the Control Group. On the way he met Lt McEwen. She shone a torch on him. “Who's that? Oh, it's you CSM.”

Graham knew she must be the Duty Officer and that she was also checking that the cadets were in bed. “Just making sure they are all asleep Miss,” he said. Somehow because of her relative youth he found it more appropriate to call her ‘Miss' as all female teachers tend to be in Queensland, rather than the more formal and militarily correct ‘Ma'am'.

He did a brief check of the Control Group. Satisfied all was well there he continued on his round, going past the officer's fire. CUO Bates and CUO Sherry were both there talking to the officers. Graham kept walking. He went back to 3 Platoon.

CUO White had returned. He was preparing his bed.

“Excuse me sir. Where is Sergeant Brown?” Graham asked.

“Somewhere. I saw him a little while ago,” the CUO replied.

Graham swept his torch around the area. The beam showed Erika Goltz at her hutchie. She was also unrolling her sleeping bag. Suspicion flooded through Graham's mind and he wondered how to frame the question.

‘Be a waste of time,' he decided, clicking the torch off. ‘I'd have no proof, particularly if she was with CUO White. It would just put them on their guard. But where the hell is Brown?'

Now quite concerned Graham walked off into the dark and stood thinking for a few minutes. Then he made his mind up. He marched back to the officer's fire. As he halted the OC looked up.

“Yes CSM? Are they all in bed?”

“All except Sgt Brown Sir. I haven't seen him for half an hour or more. He was not with his platoon at Lights Out; and he hasn't been there since. I was wondering if the two female CUOs could just do a check of some of the girl's hutchies for me. I don't want to go around shining torches on all the girls.”

“Oh you do so CSM!” teased Lt Standish.

Graham blushed. “Yes Miss. But you know what I mean.”

As the good natured laughter died down Capt Conkey asked. “Certainly CSM, the ladies will look. Any particular hutchies in mind?”

“Yes sir. Four Platoon. Cadets Ramsey and Smart,” Graham replied.

“Ah! I see,” Capt Conkey replied. “The two girls that we saw last night. Yes. Would you mind girls?”

The two female CUOs shook their heads. They both had torches and their faces were alive with interest and concern. They headed off towards 4 Platoon. Graham started to follow but Capt Conkey called him back, “Just a moment CSM.” The OC waited till the two CUOs were out of earshot, then asked: “CUO White, was he with his platoon?”

“He was a few minutes ago sir. He wasn't earlier,” Graham replied.

“I see. Hmmm. OK. Off you go. Let me know what you find.”

“Yes sir,” Graham replied. He checked his watch in the firelight. 2320hrs. He strode off into the darkness.

Before Graham reached the 4 Platoon area it was obvious something unusual was happening. A group with torches stood talking near a hutchie on the far side of the camp. He joined them and identified the two female CUOs, plus the two girls he had been worried about- and Sgt Brown.

“What is going on?” Graham asked.

CUO Bates answered, “Sergeant Brown was lying here in the hutchie between these two girls.” She shone her torch on them. Graham saw that Cadet Ramsey wore only a shirt, partially unbuttoned. Her legs were bare. Smart, he noted, wore some sort of long, white T-shirt. Below it her legs were also bare. Brown was in his camouflage uniform but had no boots or hat. His boots and socks were beside the hutchie.

“I was only talking!” Brown cried.

“Yeah,” Ramsey added. “We weren't doing anything!”

They started angry denials and explanations. Graham felt his anger rise steeply. “Cut it! We will get the story in a minute. Sergeant Brown, you go and wait beside the 2ic's Rover. You girls get dressed and wait.” He looked at the two CUOs. Both outranked him. “What would you like to do Ma'am?” he asked CUO Bates. It was her platoon.

“I will speak to these two,” she said in an icy voice. “CUO Sherry will you stay with me?”

“Yes, of course,” Sheila replied, her face grim.

“Thank you. Now, Cadet Smart, you get some trousers and boots on and stand over there near that tree. Cadet Ramsey, you come over here with us.” As soon as they moved to obey CUO Bates said, “CSM, will you please inform the OC? We will be over when we have the story.”

“Yes Ma'am,” Graham replied. He turned and headed for the officer's fire. As he did he heard CUO Bates tell Cadet Smart to hurry up and to wait out of hearing.

Graham marched angrily across to where the vehicles were parked. “Damn!” he muttered. “The camp was just starting to flow nicely and now we have to have this sort of thing- and by a bloody sergeant!”

On the way Graham passed Brown who was standing in the darkness. “Wait there!” Graham growled and strode on to give Capt Conkey the bad news.

The OC listened in silence, his mouth set in a hard line. The faces of the other officers registered varying degrees of dismay, anger and exasperation. Graham could sense the anger building up as he spoke. When he finished there was a moments silence before the OC stood up.

“Right CSM. March him in.”

As Graham turned he saw the OC exchange glances with Lt Standish: sympathy on her part; disappointment in his.

“Sergeant Brown! Atten-shun! Right -turn! Quick march!” Graham ordered. He marched one pace behind and to the side. “Sgt Brown, halt!” Deciding this was a formal occasion that over-rode the custom of not saluting in the field he saluted. “Sgt Brown Sir.”

“Thank you CSM. Alright Sgt Brown, were you over in a hutchie in the Four Platoon area with two girls?”

Brown stared back, a sulky and defiant look on his face. “We were only talking sir.”

“I did not ask you what you were doing,” Capt Conkey replied in an icy tone. “I asked you if you were there. Were you?”

“Yes sir.”

“Alright. I am going to investigate further, but before I do I have to say that I am extremely disappointed. I will also add that I feel I am too angry to make a just decision at the moment. We will investigate this and I will speak to you again early in the morning. Now go and wait near the Land Rover. CSM, march him off please.”

“Yes sir,” Brown replied. He was still defiant. “I was…”

Graham snapped at him, “Sgt Brown! About -turn! Quick march!”

He began to march with Brown. Capt Conkey called after him, “CSM, come back here when you are finished.”

“Sir.”

Graham marched beside Brown back to where the vehicles were parked. He was furiously angry and when the two were alone he told Brown what he thought of him. “Damn you Sgt Brown! You've let us all down! Your selfish action will harm the whole unit. By breakfast tomorrow every cadet will know that one of the sergeants has been doing the wrong thing. That makes it hard for all of us, particularly the other sergeants.”

Brown began to defend himself. “It's not that bad. We were only talking.”

“Rot!” Graham snorted. “Even if you were, no cadet will believe it. And that isn't the point. We gave you the rank and placed you in a position of trust. Your duty was to discipline your own platoon. Two nights in a row you have failed in that duty.”

Brown made no answer to this. Graham went on, “Worse still, you have just been undermining one of your fellow sergeants! You snuck over there behind Sgt Griffin's back and have caused harm to his platoon. I don't think you are fit to be a sergeant and I shall recommend to the OC that he demote you.”

Brown still made no reply. Graham halted at the Land Rover and growled, “Stay here, and don't wander off to talk to your mates.”

Brown muttered a surly yes. That response with its lack of a ‘sir'caused Graham's hackles to rise but he decided not to make an issue of it at that moment. Instead he stood and mastered his feelings. Then he turned and simmering with anger walked back to the officer's fire.

At the fire the officers were discussing the incident. Graham seated himself on a log. CUO Bates and CUO Sherry joined them.

“Well?” Capt Conkey asked. “Were they just talking?”

“No sir,” CUO Bates replied. “When I shone my torch on them Brown was lying half on top of Ramsey kissing her. And I..er ..thought that...Well, you know.”

“Yes,” Capt Conkey replied grimly.

The incident and its ramifications were then discussed. Lt Hamilton was the most hostile. “I think Brown and the two girls should be driven home tomorrow and be discharged.”

“That would take one OOC away for a whole day, or longer,” Lt Maclaren pointed out.

“Brown has got to be punished,” Lt McEwen insisted.

“What about the two girls?” Capt Conkey asked. “If we go by equity then they must also be punished.”

Lt Standish answered. “Yes, but their offence is different. I think they must be given the benefit of the doubt, in that they are new recruits and Brown is of a superior rank. They may have been misled, or coerced. They certainly need to be severely spoken to; and their hutchie moved right in under the platoon commander's eye.”

“I have already told them that,” CUO Bates replied. “They are moving it now.”

“Good,” Capt Conkey said. “Now, we will have to investigate this properly. We need to know if anything illegal or in serious breach of the Policy Manual has occurred. If it turns out to be serious I will have send an Incident Report to HQ. Would you ladies interview them?”

“Yes, we both will,” Lt Standish replied. Lt McEwen nodded.

Capt Conkey added, “Written Record of Interview please, and a signed statement from each if possible. Mel, will you and Hamish do the same with Sgt Brown?”

The two male officers agreed. They stood up and moved off to collect clip boards and papers. The officers vanished into the night leaving Graham and the two CUOs with the OC. Capt Conkey at once firmly changed the subject and began discussing the next day's training and asked for idea to improve the unit's program for the following year.

This occupied them for nearly an hour before all the officers returned. When they were seated Capt Conkey asked Lt Maclaren if Sgt Brown had anything to say.

Lt Maclaren shook his head and said, “No sir. He won't admit to anything except talking. We think he is not being truthful but unless the ladies have uncovered something we have no proof.” He looked at Lt Standish. She shook her head and looked at her notes before saying, “No, neither girl would admit to doing anything. Like you, we think they are not being truthful but that is all we have.”

Capt Conkey looked thoughtful and then asked, “So, do any of you think this is a serious incident, the sort that we need to report to HQ and to parents?”

All four officers nodded their heads. “Yes sir,” Lt Standish replied.

Capt Conkey sat silent for a minute, staring into the fire. Then he spoke quietly, just loud enough to be heard. “I will think about what to do but unless other inquiries uncover something serious or illegal I don't propose to send any of them home. I don't think the offence warrants it. But I will have to report it and that will open a whole can of worms. All those other people now get involved: parents, school principals, the army staff officers. It can all get out of hand and blown out of proportion. But sending them home has the potential to do more harm than good, not least to the kids themselves.”

After a pause he looked up and met their eyes. “Let's be honest. What teenager isn't driven by those urges?”

“Not just teenagers either!” Lt Hamilton added with a faint smile. This remark helped to noticeably lighten the mood.

Capt Conkey went on, “I shall certainly take what I believe to be appropriate action, but I, for one, do not wish to crucify some kid for a foolish mistake.” He turned to Graham. “CSM, what do you think we should do?”

“Brown can't stay as a sergeant Sir,” Graham replied. “He has betrayed his trust. He must be removed from the platoon and I think he should be demoted.”

Capt Conkey stroked his chin. Lt Hamilton and Lt McEwen agreed with Graham. Lt Standish wasn't so sure.

“Brown will still have to explain to his parents why he is no longer a sergeant when he gets home. It will all come out then and could all blow up if people suspect we have tried some sort of cover-up.”

“Yes, you are right,” Capt Conkey agreed. “He will have to explain; and it will come out. However I think demotion is probably appropriate for such an incident. But we must make sure that what we do can be justified. We must follow the correct procedures as laid down in the Policy Manual and make sure that justice is both done and seen to be done.” He shook his head sadly and went on, speaking from deep in his heart, “What a devil of a situation! Whatever we do can cause untold harm to these kids, if we aren't careful. It is such a fine line we have to walk! It was all so easy in my day. When I was a cadet there were no girls in the organization. All we had to worry about were queers of various kinds, paedophiles and the like- sorry ladies. Now! Where do we draw the line? Sexual intercourse? For sure- if it can be proved. And what a can of worms that might be! If the girl is under sixteen it becomes a police matter. What about a bit of passionate petting? How do we prove what went on? Who would want to?”

Capt Conkey sighed and paused, then went on. “Just think. Do we destroy someone because they have a quiet kiss? What if they are only holding hands- or touching? At what point do we say the behaviour is inappropriate or wrong? I've seen the CSM here give young Margaret a hug and to me it seemed the most natural and loving thing I have ever seen.”

Graham blushed. He was already squirming inside from darts of guilt. Lt Standish answered the captain.

“You have hit the nail on the head. The issue is not so much what is done; it is how and why. If Margaret walks up and gives the CSM a hug, as we have all seen her do, nobody thinks anything of it because everyone in the company knows she loves him.”

“Aw Miss!” Graham said. He blushed even redder. Did the whole company think that? Was he just deluding himself over girls like Allison?

Lt Standish went on. “In their case there is no deceit. That is the issue. And nor does she get any apparent favoured treatment to cause jealousy. But trust is at the heart of the matter.”

“You are right there!” Capt Conkey agreed. “If it is true romance then a bit of physical contact is neither here nor there; except it can cause jealousy so we don't allow overt displays. It's when people sneak away that the thing becomes serious. So, I have made up my mind. Brown must be removed from Three Platoon. Who could replace him?”

Capt Conkey looked at Graham who replied, “Well sir, we can't just move a sergeant from another platoon like musical chairs; although Sgt Bronsky could move over from HQ.”

“Hmmm. Maybe. But you didn't say that with much conviction.”

Graham shifted to a more comfortable position. “Well sir, it's not that Sgt Bronsky wouldn't do a good job. It just that I think HQ needs a tight hand controlling it. We've got a few candidates for the same sort of behaviour amongst them.” As he said this he thought of Allison and blushed, hoping no one would notice in the firelight.

“Costigan is there,” Lt Maclaren pointed out.

Graham shook his head emphatically. “No sir. He is away a lot doing ‘Q' jobs. And he is not a particularly strong sergeant.”

“What about moving Crane over from the Control Group?” Lt Hamilton suggested.

Graham strongly opposed this. “No Sir! Crane is a troublemaker.”

Capt Conkey tugged at his chin. “Hmmm. That only leaves the option of promoting a corporal. Which one?”

Graham ran through his mental list, but this was only to check what he had already thought through. “Corporal Rankin sir. He did half the sergeants course, before he swallowed the top of that pen and had to be taken to hospital. It would be wrong to push up one of the other corporals. Besides it could harm them. If they get pushed too fast they can lose confidence if they feel they don't have the experience or the knowledge. And it causes a lot of resentment among the others.”

Capt Conkey asked, “Do you think Rankin can do the job?”

“Yes sir. If he is spoken to properly and given firm guidelines and support,” Graham replied.

Capt Conkey nodded. He looked at his watch. “Alright, it is nearly midnight. I will sleep on this and make a decision in the morning. I need to talk to CUO White to get his opinion. CSM, take Sgt Brown back to his platoon and warn him to be ready to see me after check parade.”

“Yes sir.”

“Right. To bed. I'm tired,” Capt Conkey said. He stood and stretched. The others did likewise except Lt Maclaren. He was now rostered as the Duty Officer. After Cadet Dibble's escapade Capt Conkey had decided to roster the staff on two hour shifts, so that one officer was awake at all time.