Another day and another kiddo to play with in Brisbane. This time it's Jack Russell and the game is Army. Caiden loved the idea of being in a unit or squad and saw the perfect opportunity with Rusty and Jack. The wolf tot ran up to the two older pups asked to join their army. Rusty and Jack discussed it with each other and decided that Caiden could join their squad and enlisted him in their army. Caiden was put through their basic training and was now Recruit Smith. His Drill Sergeant was Sergeant Rusty and he helped Caiden adapt to the military life with teaching him how to follow the hand signals, keep watch, and occasionally to push-ups.
Once that training was out of the way, it was time to go on patrol. Rusty and Jack had been on many patrols in the past but this time was different as they had an additional member. Sergeant Rusty decided that it was time for his recently promoted Private 1st Class Russell to take the lead. Private 1st Class Russell and Recruit Smith were ordered to patrol the park while Sergeant Rusty flew nearby in a helicopter (tree house). Caiden and Jack saluted and headed out on patrol. Caiden followed the hand signals of his fellow soldier and kept watch when needed. Jack even shared some condensed milk with Caiden when they stopped for a snack break. Caiden really didn't like the taste of the condensed milk, but put a smile on and nodded in appreciation as Jack seemed to love it.
The two continued on after their snack break. Things were going fine until they heard some rustling in the brush in front of them. The two pups got down and creeped forward to investigate. Suddenly, a wild turkey popped out of the brush and started the two little soldiers. They quickly retreated to the safety of a nearby trench, but the wild turkey was on the prowl.
"There's too many of them! We have to call for a Dust-off!" shouted Private 1st Class Russell as he reached into his bag.
"What's a Dust-off?" asked Recruit Smith as he knelt down beside his leader.
"A Dust-off is when you call in a helicopter to come rescue you. Weren't you listening in training earlier?" asked Jack as he found what he was looking for in his back and pulled out a pencil case.
"I have no idea. I just wear a Recruit and wear diapers." shrugged Caiden as Jack chucked at his response.
"6-1 this is 6-2, we request immediate dust-off! Standby for location." said Jack directly into his walkie-talkie (pencil case), "Oh man...what was our location again...?"
"Oh! We're at Echo point! I 'membered dat cause it echoes here!" shouted Caiden with a smile and nod of approval from his superior.
"6-1 this is 6-2, we are at Echo Point! Request Dust-off!" yelled Jack into his walkie talkie as he then listened intently into the device for a response, "Oh no! The helicopter can't land here Recruit Smith! We're going to have to sprint over to the next landing zone. Are you ready to run?"
Caiden situated himself and nodded that he was ready to make the journey across the field to the helicopter.
"OK! 3...2...1...Go!" ordered Jack as the two boys made their way to the landing zone.
Jack was much faster than Caiden and made it to the helicopter (tree house) first and started climbing up the ladder.
"Run Recruit Smith! You can make it!" shouted Sergeant Rusty from the top of the tree house.
"Faster Caiden! You can do it!" encouraged Private 1st Class Russell as he held out his paw.
Caiden sprinted as fast as he could over the last few meters and jumped to the ladder and grabbed Jack's paw. Caiden made it and they were all safe and flying back to base! Rusty, Jack, and Caiden giggled and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon together. At the end of the day, a little ceremony was held for the brave warriors. Caiden was promoted from Recruit to Private. Additionally, Jack and Caiden were both given a medal for their bravery. The medal was a little soda cap with a thin ribbon safety pinned through it and pinned to their shirts. It wasn't anything too fancy, but the boys cherished the moment.
LittleBearArnold
