Foot Lockers

My commanding officer was a nice guy and he wanted to do something for the Alabama guardsmen being released. As they were leaving he told them to pack their gear in steel foot lockers they had been issued and take them along home.

That, of course, was against regulation since all issued equipment, except uniforms, had to be turned in. It was no problem as long as the captain remained in command. However, when transferred, all commanding officers must submit to an inventory accounting for all equipment. Our captain had given away nearly a dozen foot lockers when he got orders transferring him to another outfit.

He knew he would have to replace the foot lockers so he went to the quartermaster to see how much it would cost him to avoid a court-martial.

Believe it or not, the base had recently replaced all their foot lockers, exchanging the wooden variety for the new steel ones. Fortunately for the captain, there were a number of old styles still on hand and being sold to all comers for a buck each. Further luck appeared when it was discovered the lot numbers for the two styles stayed identical. So for very little money and lot of luck, he avoided a court-martial. The remaining unit members being discharged had to settle for a hand shake and the Army had to settle for a few wooden foot lockers left in place of the steel variety.