And the Army keeps rolling along
So, its been just about 4 months since I have left a post here. Well, I am still in Korea. It is a horrror that I wake up to everyday. When my alarm goes off at 0455 5 days a week, I always think two things. Great, I am still in the army and I am still in Korea..... Dont get me wrong, Korea is great. It is a fantastic country with great people and awesome food (minus the ever present Kimchi stench). The army in Korea however is an epic fail. or at least the part that I am in. The Jigga man is back from his month of leave and he is back to his normal stupidities. This man has issues, and that is an understatement. Today at PT formation he called us to attention and we stood there in absolute silence for 95 seconds. (I counted) That is actually one of the shorter ones. There have been times we have stood there for, I would have to say, 5 minutes or so while he just stands there thinking whatever simple thoughts go through that brain.
My favorite is on Tuesdays. We have to be at the motor pool by 0900 work on our vehicles. Well, half of the company has more important things to do, so they dont have to go to it. Really you only need one or two people per truck there, but he prefers to have 7 people per vehicle, so he has something to yell at you about when you are standing there with nothing to do. So when he shows up and sees only half the company he gets angry and gives the group of us that are there a lecture on why he is the first sergeant and why we need to be at the motor pool, or whereever it is that we are supposed to be. For some reason he likes to yell at the people that are where they are supposed to be rahter than the people that arent there. One day he actually told me that he didnt like my attitude.
One good thing about him is that he is so easy to make fun of that we get plenty of laughs out of doing impressions of the things that he says. Yesterday he said, "The holiday season is over. It is now haircut season."
Nothing like joining the army to make you feel like a little kid again. I have never had so much micro-management in my life. You would think after being in the army for 5 1/2 years, being in a combat zone and having a flawless record that they would show any sign of trust or confidence in a person, but no. I know, they say its all for our protection, and of course every stupid rule is in place because once upon a time someo dumbass did something very dumb and they want to prevent that from happeneing again. Every Friday afternoon we go over our can and cannots. "Now what cant we do?" is asked to us, and the reply is, " Dont do drugs, dont drink if you are underage, no prostitutes, no tattoo shops, no driving, no barber shops, no fighting, no being by yourself off post, no....." "And what time do you need to be back on post on Friday and Saturday night?" "0100!" "And when do you need to be back on Sunday night? Midnight!" "And what time do I come by to change your diaper and tuck you in?" Not so much, but might as well. At least my NCo has the right idea. He just looks at the 4 of us and says, "DDDT. Dont do dumb things." That is all that I need to hear.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. i always hear about people who have been in great units with great leaders who actually care about their soldiers. I have yet to find one of these companies. This past weekend one of the Korean soldiers that i work with was told that he couldn't leave post because one of his soldiers didnt have a short enough haircut, even though it meant that he had to miss his sister's wedding. Gotta love this man's army..... Ok, now its back to the world of army for me where I get treated like a child and people who havent been to Iraq try to tell me what its like. STFU!
My favorite is on Tuesdays. We have to be at the motor pool by 0900 work on our vehicles. Well, half of the company has more important things to do, so they dont have to go to it. Really you only need one or two people per truck there, but he prefers to have 7 people per vehicle, so he has something to yell at you about when you are standing there with nothing to do. So when he shows up and sees only half the company he gets angry and gives the group of us that are there a lecture on why he is the first sergeant and why we need to be at the motor pool, or whereever it is that we are supposed to be. For some reason he likes to yell at the people that are where they are supposed to be rahter than the people that arent there. One day he actually told me that he didnt like my attitude.
One good thing about him is that he is so easy to make fun of that we get plenty of laughs out of doing impressions of the things that he says. Yesterday he said, "The holiday season is over. It is now haircut season."
Nothing like joining the army to make you feel like a little kid again. I have never had so much micro-management in my life. You would think after being in the army for 5 1/2 years, being in a combat zone and having a flawless record that they would show any sign of trust or confidence in a person, but no. I know, they say its all for our protection, and of course every stupid rule is in place because once upon a time someo dumbass did something very dumb and they want to prevent that from happeneing again. Every Friday afternoon we go over our can and cannots. "Now what cant we do?" is asked to us, and the reply is, " Dont do drugs, dont drink if you are underage, no prostitutes, no tattoo shops, no driving, no barber shops, no fighting, no being by yourself off post, no....." "And what time do you need to be back on post on Friday and Saturday night?" "0100!" "And when do you need to be back on Sunday night? Midnight!" "And what time do I come by to change your diaper and tuck you in?" Not so much, but might as well. At least my NCo has the right idea. He just looks at the 4 of us and says, "DDDT. Dont do dumb things." That is all that I need to hear.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. i always hear about people who have been in great units with great leaders who actually care about their soldiers. I have yet to find one of these companies. This past weekend one of the Korean soldiers that i work with was told that he couldn't leave post because one of his soldiers didnt have a short enough haircut, even though it meant that he had to miss his sister's wedding. Gotta love this man's army..... Ok, now its back to the world of army for me where I get treated like a child and people who havent been to Iraq try to tell me what its like. STFU!