Being in the army is kind of all about following orders, but what happens when a General isn’t prepared to follow the rules?

One soldier’s strict obedience during a high-profile ceremony caused more than a few jaws to drop, but ultimately, he couldn’t be reprimanded for doing what he was told to do.

Read on for the full story!

Yes, General, No, General

When I was a trooper, many, many years ago, when you were on guard duty at the camp’s main gate, every person had to be challenged and show their ID. EVERY ONE.

In fact, this meant that field officers and generals would drive up and expect the pole to be raised so they didn’t even have to slow down.

One guy in our platoon was Trooper Koos Coetzee. Koos took life in the army very seriously indeed and followed orders to the letter.

So when he was put on guard duty, everyone was in for quite a surprise.

Which meant that sensible sergeants never put him on watchhouse duty—until the new guy showed up, demanding Koos do “his share” on the day the big passing out parade was held.

You can see where this is going, can’t you?

However, as the Brigadier-General swept up to the post and Koos stopped him, demanding to see his papers, he shocked us all—complimenting Koos on strict attention to detail and being a “conscientious chap.”

Luckiest soldier I ever met, Koos.

Well this worked out well for him!

What did Reddit think?

This user isn’t surprised by this turn of events in the slightest.

Sometimes malicious compliance can be just another way to pass the time.

This Redditor shares a similar story.

This was a rather gutsy move by the trooper!

No one expected this trooper’s strictness to win him praise, especially not from the top brass.

If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.