Nobody There
One of the guys in our group does a lot of the logistical toing and froing on this big base. All the little things that you pay no mind to until they stop the operation. "What do you mean we don't have any paper?!" Things like that.
Last week he to go make some arrangements at the base finance office. The Specialist on duty told him he didn't have the authority to do what was needed. He would have to wait until the Lieutenant reeturned.
"Where did the Lieutenant go?"
"She just went to lunch."
"When will she get back?"
"I don't know sir."
"Well what about the Sergeant in charge?"
"He went with the Lieutenant."
No joy there, so our man went to have some keys made. He found the key maker after some searching around and discovered he only made keys one day a week and that wasn't the day.
This is no real big deal to us. We are just starting up our op so we have the time and opportunity to come back again another day. But what about all the Soldiers on the deployed outside the wire in little patrol bases. Or the guys on the big base who have pressing things to do like clear roads of ieds. Those guys have only limited time to do these little things and that time comes at odd hours.
It would be good if the Army could have somebody in the finance office during lunch who had some authority or if the keymaker could fire up his machine more than one day a week. All the outside the wire Soldiers have plenty of other things to worry about without adding these kinds of frustrations.
A long time ago I read a book called "Torpedo Boat Sailor". It was a very good book about a Sailor's experiences in the USN before during and after the 1st World War. At the war's end a group of sailors were going through New York City either out processing or trying to get home leave and a clerk closed the office on them and said come back tomorrow. The sailors went to the home of a Naval Captain (or Admiral, I forget) and told him what had happened. The officer went to the clerk told him to re-open the office and get those men on their way that night.
I am sure things like that happen nowadays, I just wish I could hear about it more.
Last week he to go make some arrangements at the base finance office. The Specialist on duty told him he didn't have the authority to do what was needed. He would have to wait until the Lieutenant reeturned.
"Where did the Lieutenant go?"
"She just went to lunch."
"When will she get back?"
"I don't know sir."
"Well what about the Sergeant in charge?"
"He went with the Lieutenant."
No joy there, so our man went to have some keys made. He found the key maker after some searching around and discovered he only made keys one day a week and that wasn't the day.
This is no real big deal to us. We are just starting up our op so we have the time and opportunity to come back again another day. But what about all the Soldiers on the deployed outside the wire in little patrol bases. Or the guys on the big base who have pressing things to do like clear roads of ieds. Those guys have only limited time to do these little things and that time comes at odd hours.
It would be good if the Army could have somebody in the finance office during lunch who had some authority or if the keymaker could fire up his machine more than one day a week. All the outside the wire Soldiers have plenty of other things to worry about without adding these kinds of frustrations.
A long time ago I read a book called "Torpedo Boat Sailor". It was a very good book about a Sailor's experiences in the USN before during and after the 1st World War. At the war's end a group of sailors were going through New York City either out processing or trying to get home leave and a clerk closed the office on them and said come back tomorrow. The sailors went to the home of a Naval Captain (or Admiral, I forget) and told him what had happened. The officer went to the clerk told him to re-open the office and get those men on their way that night.
I am sure things like that happen nowadays, I just wish I could hear about it more.
posted by Carl at 10:22 PM
2 Comments:
There is a new tourist attraction, a sky walk which juts out over the edge of the Grand Canyon a certain distance, built with a transparent bottom, by the Navajos on reservation lands in the Grand Canyon. Shortly after it opened, an English man decided that this was a worthwhile trip for him and his young son to make, although they only had a week off. So they hopped on a transatlantic flight, then on a transcontinental flight, then rented a car and drove 8 hours out to see this wonderous sight. They had only that afternoon to enjoy the view, as time required that they reboard their transcontinental flight early the next morning. Upon reaching their destination in the early afternoon, they were greeted with a sign stating that the tribal leaders had decided to close the attraction at noon that day, and would no reopen until the next day. Plea's to the powers that be fell upon deaf ears, and they went home. Sounds like the plot of National Lampoons Vacation, except that truth is stranger, and more cruel, than fiction. Unlike the situations you describe however, this was a considerable inconvenience, but not a matter of life and death.
This isn't a matter of life or death either, but soldiers who risk their lives should be given a little more consideraation.
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