He looked at me over his wire rims for four full seconds.

“Then you have nothing left to lose by going,” he said in a low, commanding tone.

He picked up his pen again and signed his name on the bottom authorization line in dark black ink.

“Your transfer orders have you reporting to Fort Benning on the first of September.”

He slid the signed transfer papers across the blotter to my side of the desk.

“Don’t let civilian expectations talk you out of your career,” he added.