Always ask questions!

Army Deuce and a Half

“Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.” (Prov. 19:20)

You don't know what you don't know! So always ask questions!

I learned this lesson the hard way many years ago, and it almost killed me!

Shortly after graduating from high school, I was drafted into the army. Up until this time, life for me had been pretty uncomplicated. I lived on a small island in Alaska and my life revolved around attending school, working a part time job, and for fun, hunting and fishing.

Army basic training was pretty straight forward where we were turned into soldiers. After basic, we were assigned "jobs" and sent off to advanced individual training schools (AIT). I was sent to Fort Huachuca, Arizona, to be trained as a truck driver. This new "truck driver" job description seemed odd to me since I didn't know how to drive.

Soon after arriving to Fort Huachuca AIT, training began with a trip up a steep mountain for a driving skills test. The mountain was very different from the kind we have in Alaska. It was completely bare of anything growing. At the top I could see a long road zig-zagging steeply down the mountainside with lots of sharp switchbacks marked with orange cones at each turn. At the top was a long row of canvas backed deuce-and-a-half military trucks.

The trucks were running and on the passenger side of each truck sat a training instructor sergeant with pen and clipboard in hand.

One-by-one, soldiers got into the driver's side of a truck and proceeded slowly down the mountainside making turns left and right at the orange cones.

When it came to my turn, I too got into a truck and sat down next to a sergeant. I could feel the rumble of the truck beneath me as I peered nervously over the steering wheel at the steep downward slope stretched out before me.

Then the sergeant said firmly, "Navigate the cones!"

At this point, I figured I should let him know that I didn't know how to drive.

"But, I ...."

Before I could finish the sentence, the sergeant repeated what he had said previously, only louder this time.

"Navigate the CONES!"

He startled me! I tried to tell him again.

"But, sir, I don't ..."

The sergeant slammed his clipboard against the truck's dashboard with an ear-piercing crack and screamed at me at the top of his lungs. . .

"I SAID NAVIGATE THE CONES, AND DO IT NOW YOU NO GOOD WORTHLESS PIECE OF...."

I practically jumped out of my skin!! And, as a reflex action, I jammed the stick-shift forward and stomped on the floor peddles with everything I had. We lurched forward and downward at breakneck speed! Forget about the cones! Forget about the turns! Straight forward and downward we went plowing a new path through all the side winding roads along the way without making a single turn! There were no seat-belts and we were thrown all over the cab including into each other. We both yelled, me in shear terror, and he, cursing loudly as he fought wildly to gain control of the rampaging vehicle.

Somehow we managed to get all the way to the bottom of the mountain without rolling over. Finally, we stopped in a great cloud of dust.

For a few seconds we sat in stunned silence. The sergeant's face was white as a sheet.

He then spoke softly to me for the first time

"Son, why didn't you tell me you didn't know how to drive?"

"Well sir," I said, "I'm from a small island in Alaska and we had boats, not cars, and I don't know why they made me a truck driver when I don't know how to drive. Why didn't they draft me into the navy?"

This incident taught me the importance of asking critical questions before doing anything new. And, never to assume anything! Get important information at the beginning of everything you do. Be open-minded and willing to learn in every circumstance. If you are stuck in your ways, you will never move forward! You may even get into serious trouble.

The sergeant giving me the driver's test was close-minded and assumed some critical things about me that weren't true and he didn't bother to check to see if his assumptions were accurate. His error was a barrier to success and it just about killed both of us! He should have asked at least one very important question to every driver before starting the test, "Do you know how to drive?"

The Bible says

“Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.”(Prov.  19:20)

“Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.”(Prov. 15:22)

"The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.” (Prov. 12:15)