LT McDonough’s interaction with Pfc King stands out to me as the key moment in the book thus far that he truly establishes complete authority over his platoon. It is clear that it took a decent amount of time for McDonough to develop thick enough skin to handle himself with confidence. This skill did not come overnight, it was gained through a process of trial and error. Sustaining an injury while out on patrol helped garner respect from seasoned members of the platoon, as he was no longer regarded to be a blind, rookie lieutenant but instead a combat veteran just like the rest of the guys who had been out in the bush. In my opinion, the increasing confidence and comfortability in the situation he was placed in played a big role in dealing with Pfc King.

It was clear from the start that King was going to be a problem and McDonough recognized this and kept him under scrutiny. After finding marijuana in his rucksack, he did not pursue any formal disciplinary methods again King but instead burned his stash. I think this was the correct way to deal with the situation as he made it clear that these things were not going to fly in his unit. Despite drug problems being rampant across Vietnam, LT McDonough showed that he would not turn a blind eye to it and let it threaten discipline and standards.

In an even more shocking turn of events, Pfc King takes his idiocy to a new level and intentionally discharges his grenade launcher in an effort to intimidate McDonough. Not your best move King. Once he realizes what King just tried to do and the unnecessary danger he was just put in, he reacted like a real cowboy. Walking up to King and putting the muzzle of his M-16 to his throat showed the guys that he wasn’t afraid to step up to a soldier who clearly lacked respect, discipline, and overall common sense. However, if I was in that situation I would have a hard time walking away from King without flinching wondering if he was going to pull the trigger. He might have been foolish for doing this because he didn’t have much time to get to know King as a person, and from the way he acted in the first few hours who knows if he was a psychopath. I don’t really know the channels of discipline McDonough could have used, but I for one would have wanted him out of my platoon as soon as possible. Its one thing to mouth off but another to “accidentally” fire explosives in a friendly’s general proximity on purpose.