Promotion

Matthew was promoted to Sergeant today in a ceremony on post. He has been waiting for this promotion for awhile now, so this was a really exciting day for us.

There were a lot of people there (more than I expected!! I'm glad I brushed my hair). I, of course, did my part to spice the solemn ceremony by being the one to "promote" Mateo (otherwise it would have been his squad leader in uniform...only one other person was promoted by their wife). I ripped off the old rank and tossed it in the air behind my shoulder. Then I secured the new rank on his uniform and everyone made hoooah noises and chuckled.

The first sergeant and the company commander both said a few words about Matthew. Then Matt had the chance to speak.
He (Mateo) was really nervous to have to speak in front of people, but he came off as really eloquent, poised: thanking family, fellow soldiers, and giving the advice to others to work on their promotion now, etc.

What does the promotion mean? Well, he's now a non commissioned officer in rank, so he can strut around on post a little more. There's the pay raise, which is excellent. And, then there's that little "with increased rank comes increased responsibility" part that the commander repeated three times this morning.