I came across this little dissertation over at the League of Disgruntled Majors . This post is dedicated to my long suffering friends on a certain aging, round bottom vessel, the only amphibious ship in Yokosuka, who are long suffering under the leadership (and I use the term loosely) of one of the Few, the proud, and regrettably-one of the incompetent. You guys know who you are! You have my utmost admiration.
If you have ever served on a staff or done a department head tour such as I had to do-you will understand this guy’s sentiments exactly. For our civilian readers out there-try to imagine forcibly having to work for the pointy haired boss without the option to quit:
So Metatron (the angelic voice of god) tells me that I have some options…most of which suck, but there is one that stands out and looks good. A flash went through my mind, “It looks like the enemy has withdraw, sir. The valley is clear of resistance…and LOOK, there’s a clearly delineated path that leads right through those cliffs. Let’s take that one!!” So, I walked right into the ambush. With a job that has family time (half the year TDY), and a great work environment (a basement in the “historic” old PX at Fort Leavenworth, with the snakes, centipedes, spiders and mice…and 6 other members of the LDM), what more could I ask for? Prepositioning for school maybe? That was the deal. “Do two years in purgatory,” said the all knowing voice of the HRC angels, “and you can go through the gates of ILE and on to your KD assignment!” Besides the 180 days of TDY and bosses that were sent here to be “euthanized”, the community of LDM’s here kept the morale to a level just above suicide watch. Then, 1.5 years into my 2 year purgatory, I realized that branch had sent me into a kill zone. With TRADOC hemorrhaging officers like the air-defense corps getting rid of tactical flexibility, they had made a deal with the golden cherubs at HRC to keep officers for three years, and there was no grandfather clause. So, as I look at another year in the basement, with the rest of my LDM brethren, I make my pledge to embrace the watchwords and stock my bottom right hand drawer with a little bit of hooch. And in the words of Metatron himself…”Wow, that really sucks. They are throwing you guys under the bus. I would really like to help, but I will be going to the Naval War College at that time…HA HA HA, I got mine, sucker!!” Ok…maybe it didn’t go like that, but that’s the way it came across.
LDM Acollyte #137
MAJ, XXX
Chief of Something or Other in a Basment
Somewhere on Ft Leavenworth serving 2-3 for Stupidity