Soldier Up by Unknown Page A

He asked the Sergeant Major.
                  “Uh huh,” He answered. “Onto the Colonel?”
                  “Yup, onto the Colonel.”
                  They pulled up outside of the relatively new 19 th Detachment HQ; relatively new meaning that the building must have been here since World War II but the Detachment was new to it.  The Battalion Commander was a Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Schmidt; he had been in 10 th Group for a few years before becoming the active duty commander for the 19 th 5 th Battalion.  
                  They entered the building and hung a left on the first floor then a quick right into his office.  They knocked on the door jamb as the door was open, the Colonel looked up and waved them in, “Have a seat.” He pointed to the couch and chairs in the room.  He got up from his desk and walked over and slapped the Sergeant Major on the back, “How’s it going dog?”
                  “Great Sir, delivering the package as you asked.”
                  “Yes you did and I appreciate that.”
                  Lieutenant Colonel Schmidt reached out and shook the Major’s hand, “Your reputation precedes you Major, it’s an honor to meet you.”
                  John was tongue tied at first, “Aaaaaa thank you Sir, it’s a pleasure to meet you too.”
                  With that the three men sat down, “Major how do you like your office?” the Colonel waving his arm across pointing to the room.
                  “Sir, my office?” asked Major Clayton.  “Sir I haven’t made any decisions yet, beside how do you know I can be reactivated as a Major? And wouldn’t I have to go back through all of the quals first?
                  Colonel Schmidt nodded his head, “Well MAJOR I have spoken to DA and California National Guard and your rank is intact.  As for your quals, I believe the Sergeant Major can take you up and throw you out of the plane to secure your jump status. No you don’t have to run through the Q-course again, no one wants that. There is a refresher course you will have to go through though at MacKall.  It’s about a month long which should take care of weapons, freefall, tactics and all of the rest of it.”
                  “And I would be a Detachment Commander?” Major Clayton asked.
                  “Well yes and no.” The Colonel looking directly at the Major.  “We will be setting up two Companies here; I need someone to oversee both those Companies.  But, you will also have your own A-Team.”
                  Major Clayton took it all in, “That’s quite a bit I wasn’t expecting so much.”
                  “The job really is a Lieutenant Colonel slot, but your old D Commander believes you can handle the responsibility then so do I.  He also said that if I sweeten the deal a bit you were less likely to turn it down. That’s where you get you own team as well but to be honest with you Major I don’t know how active they will be.  It’ll take a lot to run everything around here.”
                  “It’s a great offer Sir but I would have to talk it over with my wife.”
                  “Great! Let’s get her on the phone, Mellissa right?” Again Major Clayton is feeling he was set up from the very beginning.  “Yes Sir, Mellissa is her name and I’m sure she’s busy at the moment with the house and kids.”
                  “Sir,” Sergeant Major Dognillo said, “I’ve got her right here on the line.”
                  “Great! Can you put her on speaker?” asked the Colonel.  Major Clayton was speechless.
                  “Mrs. Clayton this is Lieutenant Colonel Schmidt, I’m the 5 th Battalion Commander for 19 th Special Forces Group.”
                  “Yes Lieutenant Colonel