15 Minutes Prior

the army has a saying that if you're not early, you're late. when given a specific time to be someplace, you are actually supposed to arrive 15 minutes prior to that time. but sometimes this takes on a life of its own and becomes ridiculous. eventually we get told to be wherever we're supposed to go 15 minutes prior to 15 minutes prior to the time given.

one good example is morning formation back at ft hood. formation was at 6:30. 15 minutes prior we would have to be out on the field formed up. but 15 minutes prior to that, or 6:00, we'd have to be in the company area for a platoon role call before the company role call. but to make sure everyone was on time for the platoon role call, we'd have to arrive 15 minutes prior to that, or 5:45. that was until the time someone came in at 5:50, and we had to show up another 15 minutes prior, or 5:30. this is for a 6:30 formation. so we'd stand around, most of us sleepy eyed, for 45 minutes waiting to go outside to stand in formation for 15 minutes to show that we showed up on time. the army makes perfect sense.