Part Six: The Next Three Days
What happened in the three days following was not dramatic. There were no public proceedings, no assembly, no theatrical moment of formal consequence. The military, at its best, handled these things with the efficiency of an organization that has developed, over centuries, better methods than theatrics.
He received a summons to the operations room at sixteen hundred on the day of the canteen incident. He went in his best uniform, which was an instinct he was grateful for because instincts had served him better today than analysis. He sat across from Captain Deschamps, the base’s personnel officer, who had a file open on the desk and who spoke in the even, precise tone of someone delivering information that has been determined and is not currently subject to discussion.
He was informed that Commander Voss — he learned her name in this meeting, which had its own significance, the specific significance of a name you now know because of a circumstance you wish had not occurred — had filed an incident report consistent with what had taken place in the canteen. The report was factual. It did not characterize; it documented. The documentation was complete.
Captain Deschamps told him that the incident would result in a formal reprimand, which would be placed in his file and would be relevant to his next performance review. He was told that a behavioral assessment was recommended, which was the military’s way of saying that what had been observed suggested patterns worth examining. He was told that his assignment to the week’s field exercise, which he had been scheduled to lead as part of his junior leadership evaluation, had been reassigned.
He was told that Commander Voss had not requested additional formal action. This was presented without comment, which meant it was significant.
He left the meeting and stood in the corridor for a moment.
He thought about the word requested. She had not requested additional action. This was not, he understood, because the additional action was unwarranted. It was because she had made a different decision — had assessed the situation and determined that the formal reprimand and the reassignment constituted the appropriate calibration, that additional consequences would overshoot what the situation required, that the lesson that needed to be delivered was best delivered at this volume.
She had made a decision about proportionality.
He thought about this for some time.
