Page 97 - Total War on PTSD

As an Ensign and the 'Boot' officer (even though, because I was a Limited Duty Officer and a former Chief Petty Officer I wasn’t actually a ‘Boot’), I was ‘supposed’ to carry this boot around with me. I went along with it for fun and Seabee tradition’s sake. I ended up using an extra M16 harness to help me carry it. Well, given the weight, I also didn't waste any time finding a hiding place for the damn thing as it was also killing my shoulder and ‘technically’ UNSAT in uniform. Nevertheless I still carried it in my possession to and from my barracks ‘just in case’.
There was one time that a Petty Officer who worked for me stole my wonderful boot, held onto it for a week, all the while having other people sending me random photos of my boot ‘in action,' and then some inventive person decided to hoist it up on our flagpole after evening colors. Well, I was 'summoned' outside and found my boot floating in the breeze, if that was even possible, and busted out laughing. That was the only time I laughed like that during the entire Afghanistan deployment. It felt so good.
In the end I had to get the boot down myself...and it went right back into a selection of hiding places for the remainder of the deployment...hidden from prying eyes and potentially deceitful Petty Officers.
CHAPTER 6 - ATEASE THERAPY GLASSES Steve Clute
Source (all images): Chapter Author
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