“If a man doesn’t keep his own knife sharp, why should I trust him to take care of my mine?” — Colonel Phil Calahan, US Army (Retired)
This bit of wisdom was passed along to me years ago. At the time, then-Major Calahan was commanding the 380th Personnel Battalion, US Army Reserve, headquartered in Bothell, Washington. I was his Operations Officer.
Phil is an Infantryman from way, way back. He’s veteran of the 75th Ranger Regiment, a CIB recipient from Operation Just Cause in 1989, and a steely-eyed bad-a** from the word “Go!” Some soldiers are tight-lipped and non-communicative; not Phil. He’s always ready to talk the tools and tricks of his trade, and has always been a total professional. Even so, Phil rarely talked about himself, and even less about his growing-up years, but one morning he did share the observation quoted above.
In Phil’s telling, he related how an older gentlemen of the Calahan family’s acquaintance when he was growing up had owned and operated an auto shop. From time to time the business owner would need to hire new mechanics to work in the garage with him. While interviewing potential new hires, the shop owner would casually ask to borrow the fellow’s pocket knife. This being Texas in the mid-1960’s, of course the prospective employee carried a knife. Didn’t every man and boy carry a pocket knife at that time? The garage owner would casually trim a hangnail, and in the process determine if the knife blade was sharp, clean and well-kept. If it wasn’t, the applicant was steered politely towards other opportunities. It mattered less how well the man spoke in the interview; what mattered was how well the man was able to demonstrate his character in a small but meaningful way.
Then as now, I was impressed by the elegance and simplicity of the old mechanic’s wisdom. It made perfect sense, and I could see why it would have stayed with Phil after so many years.
Phil wrapped up his story, smiled, and handed my knife back to me.
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