While stationed at Columbus Air Force base in Columbus, Mississippi, I had the pleasure of picking up racquetball games with my commanding officer (CO) at his beckoned call. On any day, at any time, I could receive a phone call from the major’s secretary telling me to report to the base gym, usually within fifteen minutes of the call. Consequently, I kept my gym bag with me everywhere the workday took me, all packed and ready to go for whenever the call came. The CO informed my boss of this “additional duty” that I had inherited and was told not to interfere with any of my ongoing, spur of the moment, gym commitments. The major wished to hone his skills as he had been selected to be the wing commander’s doubles partner for the upcoming base-wide tournament. My primary duty was to practice racquetball with my CO leading up to the tournament. My actual Air Force duty as Staff Sergeant, E5, was to maintain air traffic control radar systems when not at the gym.
Then, one day I got a call at work from the Wing Commander’s secretary, informing me that the colonel wished to see me right away in his office. She politely suggested that I not keep the colonel waiting. I hear my boss who’s standing there shaking his head, say to me, “Squadron commander, now the wing commander? You must be one hell of a racquetball player. Just go. We’ll talk about it when you get back.”
The wing commander’s secretary announces my arrival. As I walk in, expecting to stop at the front-center of his desk, and render a sharp salute, as protocol required, the colonel stands to his feet, saying, “Let’s dispense with the formality. Just come in, take a seat over here, and relax.” Then he goes into explaining why I had been summoned. As fate would have it, my CO received last minute orders to report to the Squadron Commanders School at another base, and there was no getting out of it. It was mandatory for the position he held.
“So, Durrschmidt,” the colonel says, “this leaves me without a doubles partner for the upcoming racquetball tournament. So, what do you think?”
“Sir?” I say, unsure what the expected response might be.
“Oh, don’t be coy, Durrschmidt,” the colonel says, a bit annoyed having to explain further. “The major tells me you play a pretty mean game, and he thinks I would do well having you as my partner. So, what do you say?”
“Yes, sir,” I respond, “I’d be honored.”
“I could give a rat’s ass about honor, Durrschmidt,” he barks. “What I want is to win the damn tournament!”
“I’ll give it my all, sir,” I say, afraid that it might be too much.
“Good, then,” he says. “Keep your game gear packed. My secretary will call when I have free time to hit the gym. Be ready.”
Over the next three weeks, I begin to think I’m living at the gym. At one point, my wife, and mother of our recently first-born son, expressed her growing suspicion that I was seeing someone else. I told her that she was correct, that it was the wing commander. I got in a lot of practice time with that someone else, and surprisingly, we played well together -- much better than me and the major. The colonel had a real sense of presence, a talent for anticipating where to position himself on the court at any given moment. We developed a fluid momentum, not running into, or over, one another. He possessed a sharp analytical mind and insisted on providing me a point-by-point instant replay between volleys, to evaluate whether our last series of moves could have been made better. I never knew what to tell him. I moved on instinct, court sounds, player responses, never giving any thought to the choreography of play. I learned a lot and gained a new respect for him.
During the tournament, the colonel did not slow down on practice sessions in between games. Midway through, it was brought to my attention that the colonel’s name had been included on the newly released promotion list for brigadier general. I made the mistake of bringing the knowledge of that fact up as we began a practice session. He played it down telling me to just drop the matter and stick to the game. Getting ready to serve, I turned back toward him and thought and wryly asked, “Sir, do you think who you selected as doubles partner had anything to do with that?” It may have been a little too familiar. As I went to serve the ball he gave me a swift kick in the ass, so hard that it knocked me off balance and into the side wall. Getting up and regaining my composure, he asked if I was all right. I took that as an apology.
“I said to drop it,” he repeated. I now had gotten the idea of how serious he was about it.
“Yes, sir, general,” I replied, looking back around to see if there might be another kick coming my way. There wasn’t. I never brought it up again.
Long after the tournament, an additional duty as Intra-Base Radio Maintenance Contract Monitor found me back at his office. Once again, as I entered, he told me to dispense with the formality, to just come in and take a seat. We went over the business at hand, and then he decided to go full informal to chew a little fat with his old racquetball partner. He shared with me that of all the ranks he had been in the military, he found general to be the best of all. Right up to that promotion, junior officers and senior sergeants constantly questioned his every decision and criticized his every move. He was having to justify himself over everything he said or did.
“But the moment I pinned that star on,” he said, I’ve been praised and applauded, even over the least little things! ‘Yes, general. Of course, general. Great idea, general.’ It was like the star possessed a powerful magic.”
Over the twenty years I went on to spend in the military, there were a few magical moments that I now have to look back on. Playing racquetball with the colonel and getting to know the general on a personal level, was the first. Oh, I almost forgot. In that double elimination tournament, we did manage to come in first, only it was first in the loser bracket. All said and done, I got to play some of the best racquetball of my life, and my partner got promoted to brigadier general. Not too shabby. The entire experience was a win-win overall.