In high school Samantha had gotten into the playing pranks. She avoided anything that harmed someone else but didn’t mind embarrassing them. Plebe year had been too tightly controlled for her to come up with something but short-sheeting Wilson’s rack (bunk). Third class year was another matter.
Ashley, Danielle, and I remained in 16th Company, but once the third class academic year started, we were assigned to different platoons and got new roommates. Even so, my reputation had preceded me and my new roommates, Sarah McCord and Meghan Dreisbach, looked to me for leadership. They should have known better because I got the whole company in trouble.
I hate to admit it, but by the time we finished the third class summer training, I was bored. I hadn’t lost my motivation, but I needed to do something exciting, and I decided to involve the whole company.
I wanted to pull off a memorable prank and get away with it. The fact that we were quartered on the fourth deck gave me an idea. Outside our window was a wide ledge that ran the whole perimeter of Bancroft Hall. It provided access to every room on the deck that had a window. Since air conditioning had been installed several years back, most of the windows stayed closed and locked, but they weren’t sealed.
To keep up with current events when we were plebes, we all subscribed to newspapers, and most of us continued the practice afterwards so we could ask the plebes intelligent questions. That produced a significant amount of recyclable trash every day, and I had come up with an idea of how to use it.
The 15th Company Officer, Marine Captain David Simpson, was a real jerk with little or no sense of humor. He was suspected of harassing more than one of the female mids in his company, and we were going to pay him back.
Once the idea gelled, I got together with Sarah and Meghan to see if the idea would float.
I concluded with, “So, what do you think?”
Meghan’s eyes twinkled when she answered, “I think you’re out of your mind. How do expect to get the whole company to go along with this nutty idea?”
Sarah followed with, “I love it, but I have to agree: how are you going to get the whole company to go along with this?”
“Give me a little time. I’ll sell it.”
Actually, I had less than a week to sell my idea because Captain Simpson would be leaving for a three day TDY (temporary duty) in six days, and we had to be ready by then.
The upperclassmen were skeptical at first. “The captain’s a mean son of a bitch. You don’t want to mess around with him.” “You’ll get us all in trouble.” They were right about that one. “We can’t make the plebes do this. Heck, we can’t even be sure they won’t spill the beans.”
“I agree the captain is mean. I’m counting on that to keep anyone who finds out about our involvement from reporting us. And I can’t guarantee that we won’t all get in trouble for it, but I can guarantee I’ll take full responsibility if we are found out. And I also agree we can’t force the plebes be a part of this, but we do have to be unanimous. If even one person is squeamish, it will be a no-go.”
My strongest selling point besides Simpson’s reputation was that the prank would be a teamwork exercise. It would involve all of 16th company working together.
Marilyn Pascal, the current company commander, looked everyone over before speaking. “How do all of you feel about this?”
Brian Phelps, the one I suspected would be the least supportive, proved me wrong. “If we can get unanimous agreement, count me in.”
One by one the others agreed, and Marilyn addressed me. “How do we go about getting unanimity without pressuring the plebes?”
“A secret ballot. We’ll hold a short all-hands in the hall just before lights out, and I’ll give the details to the whole company. Then everyone will write yes or no on a blank sheet of paper fold it and drop it in a hat being passed around. We’ll count the results and announce the decision.”
Marilyn nodded. “Sounds good to me. I do want to clarify one thing: I’m the company commander, so if anyone has to take responsibility for this it’ll be me.”
Brian shook his head. “You won’t be alone. I’ll take responsibility too.”
The other first classmen joined in, adding themselves to the list of responsible players. I added, “I appreciate the support, but I’ll stand by my pledge.”
That evening when the company had gathered in the hall, I stepped forward. “Plebes, at ease. Everybody gather round. Get close. I want to keep my voice down.”
After I had explained what I proposed, I called for the vote. Marilyn counted the votes. When she finished, she announced, “There was one no-vote.”
I tried not to show my disappointment. “Well, any of you who were tense about doing this can relax.” I turned to Marilyn to dismiss the company. “Midshipman Lieutenant Pascal.”