I’d prefer not starting on a bad note, and seems a bit “rantish”, but it is reality; besides this is my blog! J
There are some words to describe the atmosphere since the last time I wrote – frustrating, disappointing, and upsetting. The one link between these words is that of a negative connotation. It started with my leadership going behind my back by transferring one of my Soldiers to KAF from the FOB to which she was assigned. I knew some shifting was going to take place. A couple of weeks ago, my Commander called me to let me know what was coming down the pike. He told me to put together a course of action regarding reassignment of my Soldiers with the assumption of decreasing the number of military personnel at my ancillary FOBs from two to one. My Platoon Sergeant and I worked out a solution, and I waited for notification from my Commander that we were pulling the trigger. Instead, I was kept in the dark while MY Soldier was moved without my knowledge or input. Believe me, I was just a little nonplussed – okay, I was livid! Sure, they have the authority to do what they want, but not to at least tell me was very unprofessional, not to mention plain rude. Just another lesson on what NOT to do when (and if) I make rank. I am honestly not sure how much I can trust my leadership at this point. This is only the latest “incident” in a series; this one is just so much more blatant. I wonder if they really have our best welfare in mind.
We had some visitors from my Company at KAF visiting a couple of weeks ago. They did some leg work trying to get bids on NTVs (non-tactical vehicles, i.e. trucks), so that we would have more flexibility getting around our FOB, to complete our mission. They took the bids back to KAF with them; they then put packets together to present to the Battalion for approval. I received an email from one of the SSGs saying that our new Battalion thought the packet was all wrong, and that we needed to get “fresh” bids and put new packets together. Why they couldn’t build new packets with the existing bids (less than two weeks old) is beyond me. IF I were to get new bids and push them up, it would take another couple of weeks to go through the process, and we would be right back where we started. They must think I am a fool. It is obvious they have no intention of authorizing us vehicles (this is not my first rodeo with this matter), and they are just having me spin my wheels, laying out false hope that my endeavors will produce fruit. I am not a fool, so we gave them what they wanted, and dropped the issue. I am not bound to waste my time, or my Soldier’s, on a dead-end project, when we have other things that need to get done. I will be interested to see the reaction when we get visitors (some are coming in a couple of weeks) and they have to take the bus because we lack the capacity to provide transportation. This group won’t be of the lower enlisted, I assure you.
The worst thing that has happened relates to my upcoming promotion board. The Army has what they call ORBs (Officer Record Briefs), which basically relates pertinent information about an officer. It has military and civilian education sections, as well as awards, dates of previous promotions, contact info, special skills, etc… I talked to my branch manager the other night who gave me some disturbing news. It seems that a good bit of info related on my ORB has no documentation to go with it. It was verified at the “local” level and input into my ORB, but the paperwork was not scanned to “HQ,” so now I run the risk of having this important information pulled off my record, making me less competitive, and looking like an idiot. I mean, I have served all these years and have nothing to show for any of my successes? That is what the board members will be thinking. It is possible I could get passed over for promotion. It would not be a big deal if I was at home, since I have all my paperwork. However, that is not the case, and everything is in storage. I am trying to find a workaround. Needless to say, the past couple of weeks have been stressful.
On the plus side, the weather has started to improve. It got into the 50s by this past weekend, and due to hit almost 70 today. Besides not having to wear what little cold weather gear I have to work etc.., it is nice to be able to go to the gym or shower in just shorts and t-shirt. It also has dried out significantly. We had quite the bout of rain the middle of last week.
I have been keeping up with the gym, taking off only one day a week. I throw in a day or two of running each week to give my muscles a little more rest. I made it out onto the running track yesterday, instead of using the treadmill, since the temperature was nice. Managed to run my 2 miles in 14:36, and this on a less than ideal track. On a regular track, I bet I could do 14:00. I started off benching about 135 a couple of weeks ago, and managed to do 185 the other day. My goal is to press 200 by the middle of March.
Finished season 5 of “24.” Boy I miss that show! I switched to “NCIS” to get a little break; currently in season 5, and enjoying it of course. It is probably my favorite show currently airing back in the States. I can’t imagine how much catching up I will have to do when I get back home, given all the shows I would be tracking. I will have to take leave just to have the time! Still continue to read as well; currently engrossed in three novels – T2: Infiltrator (S.M. Stirling), Intercept (Patrick Robinson), and Middle of Nowhere (Ridley Pearson). I have a couple more hardbacks waiting, along with a couple on my Kindle. Need to get more in hand soon, so I will not be without!
Well, that is all for now. Until next time…
No comments:
Post a Comment