"Murphy's Law states that if something can go wrong, it will and usually at the worst time, while Boyington's Law states expect the worst, if it hasn't happened yet, just wait. I never knew Murphy, but it appears that we are both alike in our thinking and looking back if I would have known everything that was going to happen that would directly affect myself and the Black Sheep I would have added that Murphy also was psychic. Things had been fairly quiet on Vella La Cava, not in the sense that pertained to the war, our mission logs and number of planes needing repairs could attest to that. No, there had been no fighting among any of the guys, Colonel Lard was not griping about what we had or had not been doing, and there had been no romantic quarrels with any of the nurses to stir things up.
Greg leaned back in his chair, stretched, and looked down at Meatball, his white bull terrier.
"Something is definitely wrong," he said to the dog. "Things around here are never going this smoothly."
Meatball just gave a soft woof and went back to sleeping.
Casey stuck his head in the door.
"Message for you from General Moore, Pappy," he said handing Greg a piece of paper.
Casey stood by Greg's desk waiting until he had finished reading the message, in case he needed to send a reply back to General Moore.
"Have you read this, Casey?" Greg asked.
"No, it was already printed out when I got over to the Ops Shack, why?"
"I don't believe it," Greg told him. "Apparently within the next few weeks Colonel Lard, General Moore, and two, as yet to be determined, high ranking officials from the Pentagon are going to be doing an inspection of all the squadrons in this area of the Pacific."
"Oh!" Casey looked shocked.
"That's not all," Greg continued. "The squadron that receives the highest marks is going to get a $1,000 per man bonus to be applied in $100 increments over their next 10 paychecks and each man will get an additional three weeks leave to be approved at the commanding officer's discretion, although the leave cannot be taken all at once and must be granted in three day increments."
Casey's eyes lit up at that news and then a look of defeat overcame him."
"We don't stand a chance," he said.
"What do you mean we don't stand a chance? We stand as good a chance as anyone else and if we all put our heads together we can think of ways to improve those chances. Now go tell everyone that there's going to be a meeting in the Sheep Pen after supper and I'll explain everything in more detail then."
Casey left heading towards the Ops Shack and Greg bent over a piece of paper, furiously writing, as some plans of his own began to come together more strategically in his mind.
"I'm telling you, Bragg, it's foolproof! We sneak out, get to the nurse's quarters after "lights out", French does an imitation of one of the nocturnal animals around here as a signal, Annaliese lets us in and then, well, what happens next is up to us and how much liquor we can get into them," Anderson said trying to be as optimistic as possible that his idea would work.
Before Bragg could answer Casey walked up.
"There's a meeting in the Sheep Pen right after supper, Pappy's orders," he told them.
"What's it about?" Bragg asked.
"We'll have to wait until the meeting to find out he's still working on pulling some ideas together, but I can tell you that it concerns a message he got a few minutes ago from General Moore," Casey said.
Anderson and Bragg looked at each other and Anderson didn't seem too happy since it looked as if his plans for the evening were in danger of not working out.
"I've got to get over to the Ops Shack and finish up some paperwork and have Pappy sign off on it, so if you two see any of the others let them know about the meeting," Casey said.
After he left, Anderson looked dejectedly at Bragg.
"You realize that we might have to try out our idea tomorrow night?" he asked.
Bragg none too happy about the unexpected turn of events nodded, he couldn't think of any way to describe his disappointment at the way things were looking.
That evening everyone had gathered in the Sheep Pen curious about what was going on that as far as they knew was not a mission, but important enough for a meeting to be held. Everyone was talking among themselves and trying to figure out what was going on when Greg finally entered and leaned against the bar. It took a few more minutes before they realized that he had entered and quiet slowly descended over the Sheep Pen.
After Greg had explained the purpose of the meeting, the upcoming inspection, and the reward that would go to the squadron that attained the highest marks everyone was silent for a few minutes as they considered how much work it would take to get things in order to the point that they stood a halfway decent chance of getting the money and three weeks leave. Finally, Bragg spoke up and stated that he thought the first thing they needed to do was inspect every building and see what needed to be done immediately and what could wait, since the possible dates of inspection had not been announced yet. Several of the others liked that idea, but then the question was raised as to how would be the best way to go over everything.
Finally, Anderson, anxious to get the meeting over and done with as soon as possible and hopefully still be able to put his plan into action stated that he thought Greg, Casey and Gutterman should be in charge since they were the CO and Executive officer and Casey was in charge of supplies and, to put it nicely, their less than above board deals. Greg and Jim also could assign areas to be inspected to the others and once all that information was in decide what should be done first.
Everyone seemed to like that idea, although Anderson was not happy with what Greg announced next.
"Okay, now that we have an idea of how we want to start. I think the sooner we know what's going to require the most time and effort on our part, the better. And since we still have quite a bit of daylight left now is as good a time as any," Greg said. "Casey and I will go over things here in the Sheep Pen, where we keep our "unrecorded supplies" and the Ops shack. TJ, Boyle, and Anderson, the three of you, will go over the outside of all the buildings and note anything structurally that needs to be taken care of. Jim, French, and Bragg you all will go check over the maintenance area. I doubt if Hutch will give you any problems, matter of fact he will probably offer to help, if Micklin raises a stink tell him he can come see me. Everyone will look over your tents and note anything that needs taken care of with them as well as make certain they are cleaned and straightened. We'll get as much done as we can before it gets too dark to see and then continue tomorrow afternoon."
As everyone got up to start going over things a thought passed through Greg's head.
"Oh and one more thing, Anderson, if you and anyone else that you have talked into joining you plan to sneak into the nurse's quarters you can get that idea out your head this instant. I catch or hear about you or anyone else heading over there after dark and you'll be very sorry you disobeyed me."
"Pappy, how did you….?" Anderson started to ask, but the look that Greg gave him quickly silenced him and he, along with TJ and Boyle, went outside to start looking over the buildings.
I could tell by the look on Anderson's face that he was wondering how I had come to find out about his plans for that night and the truth was that I had had my suspicions for several days that he was planning something. All the Black Sheep snuck out from time to time and usually I looked the other way and didn't say anything, but it had been getting out of hand and Suzette had told me it was starting to affect the nurses' work. So, I had agreed to put a stop the Black Sheep's nocturnal activities of a more romantic and intimate nature for the time being.
Casey and Greg decided to start in the Sheep Pen since they were already there. It was clear that at some point everything would need to be moved out, tables and chairs cleaned, the walls painted and the floors scrubbed. First though, everything would have to be taken off the shelves and they would need to be cleaned. Casey remarked that they didn't have to go so far as to label where everything should go, but just make sure that they put things in some kind of order and Greg agreed. It took a page and a half of notes on what needed to be done in the Sheep Pen and that was just on the inside. They were about ready to head over the Ops Shack when the sound of arguing reached them from the direction of the flight line and maintenance shed.
"Come on Casey I've got a bad feeling that a fight's about to break out between Mickin and Gutterman," Greg said.
As they reached the maintenance shed it was clear that things were about to get seriously out of control between Gutterman and Micklin.
"I told you damn college boys to stay away from my area and my planes!" Micklin roared.
"All right what's going on?" Greg asked trying to keep the situation from escalating to the point that it would be necessary to make a trip over to the hospital after things were settled.
"Pappy, we were just looking things over in the maintenance shed and taking notes like you asked us to and then this big ugly gorilla starts in on us like he always does," French explained.
"And I've told you college boys at least a thousand times to stay away from my planes and tools and every time I turn around y'all are in here messin around where you've got no business in messin," Micklin shouted.
Greg sighed. "Did any of you explain why you were over here?" he asked.
The three of them shook their heads.
"I don't care if they're hiding Rita Hayworth, Betty Grable, and Lana Turner in here. I told them until I'm blue in the face to stay out and I mean out!" Micklin wasn't quite to the point of throwing some punches yet, but he was getting close.
"Micklin if you will calm down I'll tell you why they were in here and what they were doing and it affects you and Hutch."
"Huh?" Micklin looked at him like he was a few bricks shy of a complete wall.
Greg explained about the inspection that was to be held soon and what the squadron that got the highest marks was going to get and that same bonus would apply to their maintenance crew as well. That smoothed things with Micklin to some degree, but he still wasn't happy.
"If they find anything and I mean anything that is questionable as far as meeting standards I want to hear about it. Unlike you and these college boys," he poked Greg in the chest with a finger. "I run things according to Marine Corps regulations and everything is in its place and recorded."
Greg assured him that if anything was found that would count against them he would have Gutterman talk with him about it and they would all work together to get the matter taken care of.
"Now," Greg said. "Can they continue checking out things or would you and Hutch like to take time from the planes and do it yourself?
Greg already knew the answer to that, but he wanted to hear what kind of response Micklin would come up with.
Micklin chewed on his cigar for a few moments before replying.
"Fine, but they better not mess anything up."
Greg nodded. "Back to work and Jim let me know if he gives you anymore problems."
Greg and Casey then headed to the Ops Shack to look things over in there.
The Ops Shack was in fairly good shape as Casey kept up with the paperwork and had everything filed and organized, although his filing system was one that he had come up with himself it was simple enough that even Meatball could have found something, not that he would ever need to. However, Casey did suggest that they move as much as they could out and give the floor a good scrubbing as well as paint the inside; Greg agreed and added that to the list of things that they'd decided needed to be done.
"Well, that seems to be all that needs to be done in here, so I guess that just leaves where we keep the "unrecorded supplies" and then see what everyone else has come up with," Greg told him.
The "unrecorded supplies" were the items that the Black Sheep used in their secret trades with other squadrons and Navy ships that passed through the area. If Colonel Lard ever got wind of it they knew that they would be in serious trouble and so none of those items were ever listed on any records that were sent to either General Moore or Colonel Lard. They ran the trades out a shed that, unless someone was to really go looking, appeared to be nothing more than a shed made out of crates and filled with an assortment of items that at any given time might prove useful. It was one of many such sheds that were located around the camp and were basically used to hide things that the Black Sheep didn't want being found by those of a higher rank, namely Colonel Lard. Greg lifted a tarp and read the writing on one of the boxes and looked at Casey.
"Why do we have a box with 100 children's Bibles? I don't remember trading anyone for those and what did we give them?" he asked.
"Those aren't to be traded," Casey explained. "I'm holding those for Sister Mary Elizabeth and Father Patrick at the orphanage. The cargo plane can't deliver them until the Seabees finish clearing the area where it usually lands because of all the trees that fell during that last tropical storm a few weeks ago and the rain caused a mudslide which will also need to be cleared. However, the Seabees are currently working on Espritos doing some landscaping work at the Officer's Club and until that's completed they've been told to postpone all other projects. Once they're able to clear it then someone will pick them up and fly them over to the orphanage"
"Okay, let Father Patrick know that if they need them before the landing area is accessible I'll try and find a way to get them to the children," Greg said.
Although not overly religious he would have felt bad if they had taken the Bibles in trade for something that Sister Mary Elizabeth would have thought inappropriate and after she had been so helpful in getting Emily adopted by TJ's brother and sister-in-law he tried to help her, Father Patrick, and the orphans out anyway he could. Other than making sure that there was nothing visible that would give away what was actually kept in the shed, Greg and Casey agreed that nothing more needed to be done there.
After supper, everyone met back in the Sheep Pen to go over what they had found in regards to how much work was going to be needed to get to the point that they stood a decent chance of getting the inspection bonus. Greg told them what he and Casey had found and that it looked as if the Sheep Pen was going to be one of the things that would require the most work.
Gutterman stated that other than a fresh coat of paint on the maintenance shed everything looked to be in good shape there and he had let Micklin know that. To which Micklin had responded that if Gutterman had any sense he would have known that nothing would be out of place because unlike the college boys that did little more than make more work for him, Micklin took pride in keeping things neat and in order.
TJ informed Greg and Jim that they had discovered a few places on the roof of the Sheep Pen that appeared to be in need of repair and it needed painting. Plus as they had been walking by the head it was starting to smell pretty bad and it would probably be a good idea to dig another one and soon.
Greg added that to the page of things to take care of immediately.
"Anything else?" he asked.
"We passed the mess kitchen and since no one was assigned that we decided to go over that and it needs a good cleaning."
"How bad is it?" Greg asked.
"Let's just say we should probably put that on the list of things to take care of immediately," TJ replied.
This place was in worse shape than I had thought. So far we had on the list of things to take care of immediately the Sheep Pen, the head, mess kitchen and the water tower. At least Micklin and Hutch had kept the maintenance area in good shape and the painting on the maintenance shed could probably be one of the last things we did. Plus, all that really needed to be done with the Ops Shack was a coat of paint or two on the outside, move things out, and then give the floor a good scrubbing, so those were a few things we would could put off for awhile. I also figured that everyone could take care of straightening their tents when they had a moment to spare, so I wasn't too worried about that.
"The water tower for the shower has a lot of brush and stuff in it and we may as well paint it too."
Greg looked perplexed at that statement.
"I thought it was covered, unless it looked like rain,that was the idea to keep it from getting full of branches and leaves, among other things."
"Ummmm, it hasn't been covered for several months since Boyle and Anderson used the cover for target practice," French replied before realizing that maybe he should have kept his mouth shut.
Greg looked at Boyle and Anderson and shook his head.
"Anything else?" he asked.
No one could think of anything else other than everyone going through their tents and getting things in order there.
"All right, if anyone thinks of or sees anything else let me, Casey, or Jim know and we'll put it on the list. Tomorrow we'll start cleaning out the Sheep Pen after lunch."
The almost full moon made it seem like daylight and Greg and Meatball were sitting in front of their tent before going to bed. Everyone had left the Sheep Pen hours ago and now they all were sound asleep or at least Greg thought they were. Suddenly, Meatball raised his head and whimpered.
"What's wrong?" Greg asked and then he noticed a shadow moving slowly through the camp. There was enough light that Greg was able to make out who the owner of the shadow was and he had a very, very good idea where he was headed.
"ALL RIGHT, ANDERSON GET OVER HERE THIS MINUTE," he yelled.
Robert Anderson stepped out from behind a tree where he had been hiding.
"Hi Pappy, nice evening isn't it?"
"What are you doing, Anderson?"
"I was…..I decided to….It's such a nice evening that…"
"That you decided to try and sneak over to the nurse's quarters after I warned you all about doing so?" Greg knew full well what Anderson had been up to."
Anderson knew he was caught red handed, but he thought that maybe he could talk his way out of the situation.
"Pappy, I'm just taking a walk since as I said it's such a nice evening."
Just then the sound of a bird or rather the sound of someone doing a very poor imitation of a bird broke the silence followed by French's voice calling. "Anderson, hey Robert, where are you?"
"He's over here about to hear what his punishment is going to be and you and Bragg may as well join him, French," Greg called out.
From the edge of the jungle, near the path that lead to the hospital on the other side of the island French and Bragg approached looking at Anderson with an "I told you so" look on their faces.
"Did the three of you have a problem understanding my meaning when I told you to stay away from the nurse's quarters earlier?" Greg asked.
The three of them replied that they had clearly understood him.
"And did I not tell you that you would not like the punishment if any of you didn't follow my orders?"
All three of them nodded.
"Yet you all decided to see if I was serious or not, so let me assure you that I was very serious and three of you are not going to like your punishment."
"What are we off the flight list?" Anderson asked.
"Worse than that," Greg gave them a sly smile. "The three of you are going to dig a hole for the new head and then use the dirt and fill in the old one."
"PAPPY!" The three of them exclaimed.
"You all heard me; maybe this will teach you three to follow orders from now on. Now get back to your tents and stay there until you're due on the flight line for the morning patrol!"
The morning patrol was one of the quietest Greg had experienced in a long time and he attributed that to Anderson, French, and Bragg not being too happy about their punishment, but it was their own fault for not obeying orders, Greg admitted to himself. They were just off the coast of Rendova when Gutterman spotted five Zeros below them.
"What do you want us to do, Pappy?" he asked.
They all had good fuel levels, there were no storms approaching, and the patrol had thus far been boring.
Greg who was bored himself thought for a few minutes before replying.
"Let's see if they want to play for a while,"
That boosted everyone's spirits and they quickly dove, firing on the Zeros, who put up quite a challenge. Casey blew two up, followed by TJ and Gutterman working together to send one spinning to the water below in a several pieces. Boyle almost got one, but had to be rescued by Greg, when his plane was hit in the wing. Greg managed to blow that plane up and in the fracas the final plane headed for the horizon apparently not liking how rough the Black Sheep were playing.
"Boyle, how bad is the damage?" Greg asked.
"Oil pressure is low, but if I take it slow I think I can make it back with no problems," he replied. "Can anyone see how bad the wing's damaged?"
Gutterman was close enough that he could see that a small chunk of metal had been blown off the wing tip, but what worried him more were the several holes in the underside of the plane and that could account for Boyle's low oil pressure.
"There's just a small chunk out of your left wing, but you've got several hits to the underside of the plane, take it real slow like you said and let us know if you start losing fuel pressure or anything," Jim said. "Pappy, do you want me to stay with him?"
"Sure, Jim, TJ can fly as my wingman for the rest of the way back," Greg replied.
Once everyone had landed, Boyle had turned his plane over to Micklin for repairs and endured a several minute lecture from him about irresponsible college boys who needed to learn to treat his planes better and bring them back in the same condition they took them out in. The Black Sheep ate a quick lunch and then began to remove the tables, chairs and other things from the Sheep Pen. Everyone that was except for Anderson, Bragg, and French who were busy digging the hole that was to be the new head.
"Pappy, what should we do with these?" TJ asked coming outside to where Greg was busy scrubbing one of the tables and showing him the contents of the box that he held.
"What is it?"
"A pile of rib bones from the wild pigs we catch. They were behind the jukebox," TJ explained.
Greg chuckled. "That must be where Meatball is storing his bones now. Just sit them by the door and he can find a new hiding place."
As soon as TJ had set the box down Meatball ran over took the bones one at a time and went under the Sheep Pen to bury them.
"Now who could that be," Casey wondered looking up from washing off the back of one of the chairs and seeing a jeep pull into the camp.
Suzette, Kathlynn, and Clarissa got out and the guys briefly stopped working to talk with them.
"Greg finally got you all to do some work?" Suzette teased.
Greg, who had just finished helping Casey wash the tables and was now inside with Gutterman cleaning the shelves, came out and replied.
"I gave them a very good incentive to do this and that's not the half of it. He then explained about the inspection and the bonus that the squadron who got the highest marks would earn. The girls were very impressed and offered to help.
"That might be able to be arranged," Greg told them. "Was there any special reason why you all came over?"
"No, other than if you can tear yourselves away from cleaning and scrubbing this evening we decided to have a bon fire on the beach and you all are invited to bring the drinks." Suzette said giving Greg a very provocative smile.
Greg looked around at the guys. "I don't think that they'll need much persuading to take you up on that offer," he replied.
The setting sun painted the sky in shades of violet and pink, coloring the ocean in the same brilliant colors. Greg and Suzette were sitting on the beach looking out at the view with Meatball dozing on the sand beside them. Greg leaned over and softly kissed her.
"You're quiet this evening?" he commented.
"I've got a lot on my mind," she said before returning the kiss. "I need to make a decision about something and every time I think that I've made the right decision I start to second guess myself."
"I might not be able to help, but I can listen," Greg told her. "What's going on?"
Suzette looked at him for a few moments as she tried to find a way to tell him what was bothering her.
"I had to take some tests the other day," she began and then seeing his concerned look added. "No, they weren't of a physical or medical nature. I had to take a proficiency examination."
Greg got an even more concerned look on his face.
"Are you in some kind of trouble?"
Suzette shook her head. "The training hospital at Pearl Harbor is desperately in need of a new Director of Nursing and all senior nursing staff in the military were required to take a proficiency exam. Those who achieve the highest scores on the exam will be the first ones to be considered. If I'm one of them I'll know in a few weeks and then if I'm chosen I'm not sure if I'll have the option to turn the position down or if I'll be required to go."
Greg looked at her smiling. "Suzette, that's great, I don't want you to leave, but considering how badly that hospital was damaged when the Japanese bombed us and got us into this mess, well the fact that they're even in a position to be looking for a Nursing Director says a lot about how far they've come getting back to a normal routine and you'd be perfect to lead the students and other instructors. I'm not going to worry about you leaving just yet, though because right now I just want to lie back here in the sand with you and enjoy the evening," he replied gently taking her in his arms and pulling her with him onto the soft sand.
Meatball got up and moved farther down the beach to give them some more privacy. It didn't take long before Suzette had Greg's shirt off and he had her's halfway unbuttoned. Greg was just about ready to unhook her bra when a voice could be heard nearby.
"Pappy," Anderson called.
Greg swore under his breath and he and Suzette did their best to get their clothing arranged in some semblance of decency.
"What Anderson?" Greg replied coldly when he walked up.
Realizing that he had interrupted them during what was turning out to be a very romantic moment Anderson quickly got to the point. "French, Gutterman, Boyle and TJ just came back from the opposite side of the beach with several strings of fish they caught and we've got those cooked if you two want to have some."
"Thanks Bob, we'll be there in a few minutes," he replied.
Then he waited until Anderson had left before looking at Suzette.
"Sorry," he said.
Suzette kissed him softly. "No, it wasn't your fault and maybe we can have some privacy later. Right now though we better go eat before anyone else comes looking for us."
Everyone admitted that the fish was good almost as good as the liquor that they had to go with it and it was almost daylight before the Black Sheep stumbled back to camp.
A few days later, Greg, TJ, and Boyle were painting the outside of the Sheep Pen. Anderson, Bragg, and French had finished digging the new head and were now filling in the old one and their complaining could be heard by almost everyone.
"Just ignore them," Greg said to TJ and Boyle. "Maybe next time they'll listen when I give an order not to do something."
"Pappy, how close are we to having everything ready?" Casey said running over from the Ops Shack.
Greg looked down from the ladder where he had just started to paint the west wall of the Sheep Pen. "They finish filling in the old head and we get this painting done this afternoon that will just leave painting the water tower and working on our tents. TJ and Boyle cleaned out the mess kitchen the other day and Hutch helped Gutterman paint the maintenance shed yesterday, so those are done. I checked over all the storage sheds and everything we don't want discovered appears to be hidden. Why?"
"I just got a message from General Moore, he, Colonel Lard, Admiral Josiah Speckleburger and General Harrison Kenlay will be arriving at the end of the week for our inspection. The brass from the Pentagon had other commitments in Washington so Admiral Speckleburger and General Kenlay are taking their places."
"That doesn't give us much time, but I think we can pull things together by then," Greg said optimistically. "Reply back telling him that we look forward to their visit and hope they find everything to be satisfactory once they have completed their inspection."
I had no doubt that the inspection would go well, however after what happened a few days later I began to think differently. Colonel Lard had requested we come to Espritos to discuss an upcoming mission and when we got back well let's just say we were in for a surprise.
"What in the world."
"Who did this?"
"PAPPY!"
` Greg was just as shocked as any of them, beside each their tents were pots of tropical plants and flowering tropical plants had been planted on each side of the Sheep Pen, inside it was, at least to the Black Sheep, much worse. Lace curtains hung at the windows and the tables were covered with lace table clothes. Just then Micklin and Hutch walked up.
"Some of those nurses you college boys like to fool around with came over and did this while y'all were off on Espritos Marcos," he explained. "I didn't stop them cause it wasn't any of my concern."
"What are we going to do, they could show up for that inspection at anytime," Gutterman was about to lose it. "The Sheep Pen looks like a little girl's playhouse. Did you notice they took down all the pin-ups and put up pictures of pictures flowers?"
"Everyone just stay calm and I'll think of something," Greg replied.
Micklin gestured towards the road with his cigar. "Y'all better do something quick cause I think that's your inspection committee now. Good luck," he said walking back to the maintenance area with Hutch following.
"Well, I guess we'll just have to make the best of it," Greg said not as hopeful about their chances as he had been.
"Good afternoon, Colonel Lard, General Moore, Admiral Speckleburger, and General Kenlay," Greg said giving what he hoped was proper salute.
"Good afternoon, Major Boyington," Moore replied. "I think you know why we're here."
"Yes sir and I hope you find everything to be in order."
Greg noted that Colonel Lard had a look on his face that clearly said that would never happen.
"Major Boyington, you and your men just go on as if we weren't here. We'll look things over, take a few notes and be on our way. You'll get the results of the inspection in a few weeks since this is the last squadron on our list," General Kenlay replied.
"Thank you, sir, and if you have any questions my men and I will be over there," Greg said indicating the flight line.
The Black Sheep stood by Greg's plane acting as if he were discussing something with them and casting looks towards the inspection committee. Several of the Black Sheep looked at Greg concerned when they came out of the Sheep Pen engaged in what appeared to be a heated discussion and then wrote several things down on a clipboard. They didn't stay long in the Ops Shack, which Greg and Casey took as a good sign. Then they briefly looked in each of the tents and wrote a few things down. Finally they spent several minutes in the mess kitchen and that made everyone slightly nervous. Finally, they headed over to the maintenance shed and flight line. General Kenlay looked inside for a few moments and nodded to Micklin and Hutch. Finally, they left and the Black Sheep breathed a sigh of relief. Now as with most things in the military it was hurry up and wait.
A few weeks later, Greg was standing beside his plane talking with Gutterman and TJ when Casey ran up, so excited he could barely talk.
"Pappy, Colonel Lard's on the phone, he says it's important and he wants to talk to you now," he told Greg.
"What did we do now," he muttered following Casey back to the Ops Shack.
"Hello, Colonel, yes….yes…really….well sir I don't know how we did it either, but I can assure you everything was done according to regulations. That, oh that was the nurses doing and he did…..well tell him thank you… and assure him it's normally not like that. All right, sir and I'll let the men know."
All of the Black Sheep had gathered around the Ops Shack door waiting to find out what was going on.
"You'll never believe this," Greg said standing in the doorway with Casey. "That was Colonel Lard on the phone with the results of the inspection and I have no idea how it happened, but they've gone over everything three times and we're getting the bonus…WE GOT THE HIGHEST SCORE!"