"Give Me BACK My Coin!"

Yesterday, after I got out of my conference in San Diego, I was driving off base and I recognized a former Shipmate of mine from when I was stationed in Great Lakes, IL. He pulls up next to me and I motion for him to pull into the nearest parking lot. He was VERY excited to see me and even more SURPRISED to see me as an officer that he didn't know WHAT to do! He saluted as we were driving and was laughing at the same time. Quite a moment!

We pull into the nearest parking lot and man... it was NICE to see a familiar face! Stan was my supervisor at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, IL when I was a Recruit Division Commander. I trained at least 3 or 4 recruit divisions while under his charge. He was my Leading Chief Petty Officer (and he was a Senior Chief back then... E-8). I noticed he was now a Master Chief Petty Officer (E-9 highest rank you can achieve as an enlisted man) and I was SO proud of him! I, on the other hand, had worked for him as a Petty Officer First Class (E-6, 2 paygrades junior to him at the time) and later on was selected for Chief Petty Officer (E-7) and was eventually selected as a Mustang Officer (Navy LDO) and immediately bypassed the ranks of E-8, Chief Warrant Officer 2, 3, 4 and 5 and put on O-1E (Ensign with prior enlisted service). Yesterday, when we met again, I was already wearing O-2E (Lieutenant Junior Grade) and he was SO, SO happy for me. :)

Proper military protocol does NOT allow for "hugs" in a parking lot between ANY military members but... we both thought... "Court-Martial us!" ;)

Anyway... we had a great talk. Towards the end, he mentioned how taken back he was at how much YOUNGER I looked than the LAST time he saw me (which would have been around... 5 years ago now?). But, since I told him I was a steady 172-175 lbs. back then and am now at 150, he wanted to know what had happened. "I'll SHOW you." was my response as we walked over to my car.

In the back seat, I had a backpack with all of my clothes for this trip, another backpack with papers, workout gear, etc. and an even larger duffel bag. This one was black in color, with gold "United States Navy" embroidered on the side (pretty official sounding, right?). I open it up and inside... there was a tiny blender, meal supplement/protein powder, multi-vitamins, wheat crackers, cherry tomatoes, salads that I had prepared in individual containers in advance, oranges, apples, bananas, rice crackers, and the list goes on and on.

We talked about health and fitness.

I have learned SO much these past few months and I felt compelled to share. So I did. And, at the end of my non-stop jabbering, he looked at me. Placed his hand in mine and handed me a Navy Challenge Coin as a gesture of true friendship. He went on to explain how he needed a change in his life with regards to his health and it had been weighing heavily on his mind (no pun intended). That I motivated him. And THAT. Felt GOOD. Felt beyond good.

I owe it to him to at least give you this sidebar on our history together... I remember we were at a promotion ceremony for a Chief Petty Officer who was getting advanced to Senior Chief. After the ceremony concluded, it was time for folks to line up and shake her hand to offer their congratulations. Customarily, senior personnel line up first then juniors follow. This day, I was standing next to Senior Chief (Stan) and I motioned with my hand for him to go first ("after you, Senior"). He says to me... (and I have never forgotten) "Petty Officer Garcia, you go first. You are already a Chief Petty Officer. You just aren't wearing it yet." Man... talk about an uplifting, motivational compliment. It felt great. Always wanted to repay the compliment.

And so at this point, what else was a man in my position to do but offer him the only thing of value that I COULD offer him at the time... one of my yummy salads! But, the look on his face... melting inside (I could tell). He was speechless (or maybe thinking "Give me BACK my coin!"). Ha!

No, he was very appreciative and we exchanged numbers and said "until next time, Shipmate.."

Both of us left grinning ear to ear.