I am but a small cog in a very large process. Not that it is not an important piece I play, because defending our freedoms and protecting lives is always important. Rather, that I was just one of many that had been mobilized to serve our country in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
I work in the Operations Center of a unit that has been preparing and getting ready to go overseas. I work on the night shift. It was yet another one of those exercises when this story took place.
It had been almost three months since I had last been able to take any leave from the Army and I was starting to get a little irritable. At first I couldn't figure out why, as the training hadn't been too intense. But I figured something must be bothering me. That is when I realized that I hadn't had any sex for the last three months. I had gotten so engrossed in what we were doing that I never noticed. But now that we were out of the field environment and back in garrison, I felt the need brewing. A need to release.
One of the men in the Center that I work with caught my eye. He was the person in charge during the night shift. Not an overly aggressive, cold, cocky officer like I had seen on the day shift. Rather a calculating, mild tempered person with an aura of self confidence that seemed to radiate from him.
I was probably just another enlisted soldier to him. Another person that he needed to rely on to get the answers he needed to make the decisions that could affect so many. I began to be friendlier towards him. A quick smile, a flirtive glance occasionally. Nothing that would border on being insubordinate or disrespectful mind you. That could get me into a whole different world of fraternization that could spell doom to anyone's career.
It was another long night when I went outside heading over to the food tent. Since we couldn't bring anything into the Center, we had to go outside to get our coffee and snacks. As I entered the food tent, I realized that the officer and I were the only two in there at that time. Looking up at me as I entered, he cordially said hello. I returned the greeting as I reached for the Styrofoam cups for the coffee.