SBTC: Prologue
During my lifetime, I’ve had the honor and privilege of serving for over 20 years as a member of the United States military.
From that life-period, I’ve become very familiar with and fond of the use of acronyms. Acronyms are used to abbreviate a connected group of words by making them into a single word. This is accomplished by taking the first letter of each word in a succession of words forming a collective thought, to make them into a single word that combines them all. You probably can find a simpler definition of the word “acronym” in the dictionary…the one I used just works for me…
For example: “METL” is the acronym word known as and pronounced, “metal.” The M,E, T and L are the first letters of the words, “Mission,” “Essential,” “Tasks” and “List.” Many military missions have essential tasks necessary to complete a mission as a whole and it’s beneficial to operate from a “list” of those “tasks” to ensure the mission is completed in the manner or sequence required and/or vital for its success — thus the acronym “METL.”
An acronym many people in the great ol’ U. S. of A. would be more familiar with (than “METL”) is the one that refers to the nationally-known organization known as “MADD” — “Mothers Against Drunk Driving.”
Very often, acronyms don’t form pronounceable words and are more like abbreviations, but I often view them as acronyms. Examples of this would be “ETA” and “SPU.” There are no words currently (that I’m aware of) in the English language known as “Eta” and “Spu,” but these letters are acronyms for the words, “Estimated Time of Arrival” and “Skill, “Precision” and “Uniformity.” The latter is an acronym I used to train troops when I served as a Basic Combat Training (acronym — BCT) Drill Sergeant in the 1980’s. Whenever we competed against another BCT unit, we would use “SPU” to win the competition.
I recently attended a “Town Hall Meeting” my organization of employment held. During the meeting, several individuals and groups addressed how they were going to work toward making things better within the organization for the overall benefit of employees and customers. As I listened, my “DAD” deposited a new acronym within me that addressed the real, underlying truth of many of the “improvement agendas” that were addressed. This acronym was “SBTC.”
I won’t be able to break it down for you during this submission, but if my time on this earth and in this life is extended by “DAD’s” goodness and grace, I’ll clarify it when I write and you read again.
Just know this…because “DAD” gave me the acronym, you can be sure it’s foundation is in His Book — the Bible.
So, I close this submission via an invitation using words from one of my favorite movies, “Circle of Iron;” “Come again, welcome guest.”
Copyright © Paul Schneidmill 2008 All Rights Reserved