This Says It All

A young Marine Major meets with the Headquarters Company First Sergeant in his office. He asks, "1stSgt, how do you run such an efficient outfit? Are there any tips you can give to me?"

"Well," says the 1stSgt, "The most important thing is to surround yourself with intelligent people."

The Major frowns. "But how do I know if the people around me are really intelligent?"

The 1stSgt takes a sip of coffee. "Oh, that's easy. You just ask them to answer an intelligent riddle."

The 1stSgt yells out to one of his favorite Gunnery Sergeant’s. The Gunny walks into the room. "Yes, 1stSgt, what can I do for you?"

The 1stSgt smiles "Answer me this, please. Your mother and father have a child. It is not your brother and it is not your sister. Who is it?"

Without pausing for a moment, the Gunnery Sergeant answers, "Well, that would be me."

"Yes, Very good, thanks" says the 1stSgt.

The Major goes back to his office to ask all of the junior officers in his section the same question.

"Answer this for me. Your mother and your father have a child. It's not your brother and it's not your sister. Who is it?"

All of the officers look at the Major in amazement, "We're not sure, Sir. Let us get back to you on that one."

The junior officers then have numerous meetings to discuss it without a resolution.

Finally, they run into the Sergeant Major, "SgtMaj! Can you answer this for us? Your mother and father have a child and it's not your brother or your sister. Who is it?"

The SgtMaj yells back, "That's easy. It's me!"

All of the officers smile, and say, "Thanks!" Then, they schedule a meeting with the Major, "Sir we found the answer, we did some research and we have the answer to that riddle. It's a SgtMaj."

The Major gets up, and starts screaming at them, "No, you idiots! It's a Gunny!"