***
“Commander Hunter? Do you copy?”
My eyes snapped open, but it took me a moment to realize who was actually being addressed through my earphones. I must have dozed off.
“Yes, Captain,” I replied, addressing the aircraft’s skipper. “I read you Lima Charlie.”
“Good. We’ll be reaching your drop off point soon. Keep yourself strapped in until we reach it. Turbulence is expected to continue.”
“Copy. Wake me when we get there.”
“Yes, sir,” finished the Captain, clicking off the intercom.
Newly promoted to the rank of lieutenant commander, I couldn’t help but smile, still not comfortable being addressed as “sir” by a captain. Navy captains were two ranks higher than lieutenant commanders, but Army captains were about the equivalent rank of a Navy lieutenant, which I had just been promoted from earlier today. I was barely used to hearing the formality from the men under my own command, let alone half the military.
It didn’t matter. I wagered that when I joined my new unit, it would be back to “yes, sir” this, and “no, sir” that. I suppose I couldn’t complain too much. Leading men into combat was always more stressful than being responsible only for yourself and the enemy in your gun sights.