I had to attend some meeting today. I had no idea what it was about,
I was just told by the SGM in my office I had to attend.
I can honestly tell you I could have spent that time in the office
working. The person I had to hear speak only repeated the same shit I
heard the first 4 years I was in Army:
1. Here's some shit and you're gonna like it (unless of course, you're
an officer).
2. Suck it up and drive on.
3. If you're efficient, then you won't get the help or equipment to do
your job even better.
This person went on to talk about how bad things were a few years ago
when coalition forces came in and swept out the Taliban. That's
great. I'm glad that some people like to dwell on the past. However,
the problems that troops are dealing with now are not the same as a
few years back.
One of our biggest problems is housing all the people that don't seem
to have jobs. Here's a suggestion-find them a job or send them home.
Simple enough right? One person at the meeting complained about how
the officers (LtCol and above) seem to do the most bitching about the
housing situation. They have to share rooms but they want really nice
rooms by themselves with new furniture. They are getting ticked off
because all that new furniture and spacious dwellings aren't being
funded by headquarters.
For some odd reason, the officers have been the last to catch on that
we are in a combat zone. Where did all this sense of entitlement come
from? The military. That's all we do is cater to what the officers
want. If we stopped treating them like their shit don't stink and
treat them like everyone else we wouldn't have this problem. But the
military is still in the stone age and refuses to get rid of their
caste system.
One of our computer experts complained that the help desk is down one
man and there won't be a replacement because headquarters got rid of
the position. He also mentioned how there will be a dramatic increase
in workstations. Sounds like a dilemma. There will be more work but
less people to do it. I wanted to tell the guy that if he wanted a
bigger staff then his department needed to stop being so efficient.
Screw up. Blame it on fatigue. The Army only understands that
something is wrong when there's a problem. It's an institution that
doesn't comprehend the need to foresee potential problems to enact
preventive measures to avoid those potential problems. The preferred
method is to wait until there is a problem and try to do a quick
fix-like putting a band-aid on a gunshot wound. Makes sense right?
I can't speak for anyone else in the Army, but I'm tired of getting
fed the suck it up and drive on line. I think it's one of the reasons
why the Army didn't recognize mental illness. Sometimes you just
can't suck it up and drive on! Sometimes you just need help!
Especially if you working long hours/weeks with no rest or relaxation
for-I don't know-15 months! As it stands, I get one day a week off if
I'm lucky. I get tomorrow morning off but it will be my last time off
for the next 3 weeks. Did I mention the equipment I used to do my job
isn't working properly? It's going to be great. I totally see a
nervous breakdown in my future. But hey, it's shit and I have no
choice but to like it.
--
Shavonne
