The Sarge;

I first met him at the age of 15, the Sarge.

Little did I know the impact he would have on my life.

Rather quite large,

I was tall, arrogant, egotistical, interested in doing things the way I wanted,

For the first year, he bent me back into the line, forming me to the man I am today,

He punished me when I FUBARed to the extreme,

I always thought that they were quite literally out to make my life hell,

Being the only Canadian in a Cadet unit filled with Americans

I was the talk of it, the Canadian "Hothead", "Asshole" were just some of the names,

I remember him saying "You've got the potential, just fix the attitude problem,

Then the next year, a new CO, still the same Sarge,

The Colonel and I were both Type A personality,

Instead of making a friend, I made my CO an adversary,

I left the unit because I had made an enemy of my instructor,

I had my friends in that unit, I tried to keep them inline sometimes,

But no matter my efforts, there was always that background,

The Hawk, the unit's #1 asshole,

They say a tiger can't change it's stripes,

But I tried the impossible, but sometimes it came up empty,

Sarge would say good job when I did right, and chewed me out when I did wrongm

I deserved it when he did, the Colonel and I still butted heads,

A new command, given the job of handling the Corps Logistics,

I trained my NCO's the way I knew, I trained them to be on Sarge's watch,

Didn't help much when I started dating that cadet officer, a mistake I regret making,

I know I could've been so much better if I had listened to Landfair and stayed clear of the women,

Now here I am,

This close to my dreams, in the motherland [Canada], just about to become a soldier for my nation,

I still think of the Sarge, the mistakes I made, I hiccup here and there,

But no one is perfect,

I want to thank the Sarge, and apologize to the Colonel, for the shit they put up with from me,

And when I think of it, there is no other word to describe it,

I was the units "Maverick", if you will,

To my friends I'm respectable, and even headed, cool tempered,

I am only that way,

To this day,

Because of the Sarge.

Thank you TSgt. I owe you much respect… and when I comeback when I am legal US age,

Drinks are on me. Thank you