Tuesday, March 31, 2009

MEPS

Where does MEPCOM hire their Doctors? I want to see the Career Builder ad for that. Since being here I have seen some ridiculous stuff come out of the medical section. Granted some of the stuff could have been prevented had the Recruiter, Station Commander, someone had asked the right questions. But then again, you cannot help what someone is going to say. Sometimes I wonder if these applicants are applying for disability, or are they trying to join the military. Sometimes MEPS reminds me of a three ring circus act. I mean, you could put that shit on the road and sell tickets to it, and make some good money. Stupid stuff like the Doctor saying someone has a hernia, applicant goes out to civilian doctor they say, no hernia, MEPS Dr. comes back and says nope something still there. I remember one time the flavor of the month was warts on peoples asses. Come on not everyone at one time has warts on their ass. One time there was this dude who had one ball hanging a little lower than the other, that one drew a consult. I remember a little acne on someones face was the flavor one time. One time a female told the doc that one boob hurt a little more than the other one during her cycle bam dq'd. She has never been to a civilian doctor about it, so now what. Some of the stuff they dq is like wtf. I had one kid had his head down on a table one time and doc was walking by and said bam dq'd for headaches. Sometimes when I take these kids to a civilian doctor or when the consult is done, these other doctors are shaking their head and asking why are you here. You tell them and you see the look in their eyes. That look of "ok then if you say so" It's all funny to me at times.


What I like too is when you get that call of hey your applicant is sitting here telling us about a law violation they claim they had. Oh those calls right there are the real fun ones. What gets me is the fact that all the questions they are answering, all the people they talk to. They decide on the day of processing, they want to tell someone about that speeding ticket, or they suddenly fucking remember the assault charge or a weapons charge on school grounds. I want to yell at the applicant when they do shit like that. Here is what I cannot understand. I have broken my ankle when I was younger, I can tell you the doctors name, what the hospital was, the town, etc. As for law violations I can tell everywhere they have happened and what they are. Those are signigicant emotional events in some cases, you remember that shit. Example: I had a to visit the emergency room when I was around 9 years old. To this day, I repeat to this very fucking day, I can tell you where I went to the hospital, who the doctor was and everything. And these applicants some of them cutting above a 50 on the asvab cannot remember what happened in their lives just a few years ago. Again I am pulling the bullshit card on that one too. I do everytime. But that is the way the world works...

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Here we are at a point as to where what do you do, almost like the fork in the road metaphor. One way will be easy the other one hard. So what should you do. At the moment I am sitting here strapped up and ready to go either way. I remember playing chess as a young kid. "If I do this, he is going to do that, then this one etc. Sometimes you are thinking two, three, maybe even 5 moves ahead. This is what has me torn at the moment. What to do. There are at least 4 of the Army Values that cover this subject with me, and believe me I am weighing them all. I can easily bring in the other Values, but 4 are the ones that weigh the most. I have received information that set me back in my chair the other day, it really did. Now what to do. The moral compass is spinning out of control at the moment. Do something, let it lay, in that cycle it goes and goes. Don't worry this is not stressing me out to a point of pulling my hair out. What worries me is the fact that if the one thing is done do I get ran though like the Ho Chi Min Trail. Would definitely be blackballed that one is for sure. But in the end no matter what...Will the right choice be made. This is a true moral dilemma.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

I cannot believe it.

I am finding it hard to believe that today went by. I mean it just went by, nothing good or bad happened. Didn't get any of those the world is coming to an end phone calls. Or I know it's the end of the day but I really need you to jump through your ass and everyone else's ass to get this done. No you need to come to my location (which is two hours from where you are) and talk to me about this. Looking back on it I mean I just cannot believe it. I didn't even get phone calls after I left work. (Today was the mandated family time) I see everyone is really serious about it now. In the past it was sort of like put it in your plan, but you might or might not get it. That was a fact, an all to true fact. Matter of fact I ran across a guy on my way home today. Get this GA already tested, was thinking about coming back to us. Just lost his job, no law. Guess what? No one would have found him if they were stuck in the office making phone calls, or doing something equally stupid. But I found that joker in a quick mart buying slim jims. Granted he would have probably walked in within the week. But after talking to me he has a sense of urgency now. Now I get to turn that guy over to one of my recruiters that will make his day tomorrow.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Doing good things

So today on the road again. But it was for a good reason. Had this kid that needed an interview. It was approved so he should be in really soon. This is the part of the job that I really do like. This kid was on cloud nine, after he found out he will be approved to join. He was yapping it up all the way back. That is what makes me feel good. That to me is what is being missed at the top. These kids may be numbers to some. But to me they are actual people with actual feelings, with actual needs, wants, hopes, and dreams. The Army is going to fit into their plan. I made or my recruiter actually is going to make a difference in this applicants life. Hopefully he will remember this day for a long time. I usually do, believe it or not if someone was to go through my list of folks I put in I remember everyone, I mean everyone, I even remember some that were not mine. So when these kids come through my station, I actually take an interest in what they are trying to do. I talk to everyone that comes through. After all they are going to be soldiers very soon. They deserve it.

What they don't deserve is someone saying oh hey their day is this day or nothing, fuck them they require this or that. They wait on us. That to me is the biggest downfall. That tells me that person is no longer looked at as a person but they are just another number that no one cares about. Is that the message we want to send to these applicants? After all they are going to be in Army where someone is going to lead them, pay attention to their problems and so forth. They will not be just another nameless number to that Drill are they, what about the Platoon Sergeant, Section Sergeant, or Team Leader? No they will be someones living breathing Soldier. These kids are not just numbers. I guess it is something that I will never understand. Maybe I am not cut out for this.


P.S. Mystery follower note: I left my personal email address up for you to email me. If you don't email me by 2200 EST. Then we will try this again.

Thanks for your concern, but I really don't know what to think of this.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Oh well I cannot figure out how to edit my damn posts. I am not that computer literate. At least when it comes to the internet. But anyhow I see that someone in a very important place is following this blog. I wonder if that is going to bring down the house? But I am glad that is being done. I wish people actually knew the amount of work that goes into someone getting in the Army. I also wish these applicant were not looked at as just "numbers" Also we could make this mission if all these recruiters and the rest of the command just shut down at 1800. I don't know where this belief comes from that recruiters has to work on Saturdays and late into the night.

I remember being out here the first go round and working until 1030-1100 at night, and then having to be in the next damn day at 0800. And it was the same type of workday on Saturday. I also remember having to be at the Company HQ at 0600 on some mornings (if you were a quality zero roller by the second week of the month) And station commanders and the 1SG would go through your tools. I don't care what anyone says if the Navy, Airforce, Marines are making mission and they are getting off early everyday then why don't the Army? Someone needs to answer that one for me. Wait...Don't sit there in your highchair and tell me it all falls on the station commander, I will call bullshit on that one. Let me start letting my guys off at 1800-1900 everyday, and see what the fuck happens. If these soldiers knew for a cold hard fact that they were supposed to be out of the station at 1800-1900 every day. You know what would start happening? Some of those soldiers would start staying late, for that one apt. Or to catch up on something. But when they know they are going to be there from 0830 till 2100. Then the quality of work you are going to get out of them is going to be shit.

"but Station Commander it is your fault they are working until 2100...No it's not it is called a 1sG running a company like a damn station, and not letting his subornates do what is working in their market. This is going on through out the command I am sure of it. I do know this when I am out enjoying myself with my family, out at the park with my kid, I tend to find people to join. But then again I am really outgoing and will naturally talk to anyone.

I am tired of hearing that everything going wrong in the command is the Station Commander's fault. When is the leadership above us going to take some damn ownership? They know what they are putting out in emails, they know how they are acting on conference calls, they know what they are putting out. But yet it all comes down the the station commander. How so. Funny how things shift, when I was out here the first time it was always the Recruiters fault, when I make 1sg I guess it will still be my fault. Maybe I am not cut out to do this business. I can do it and do it well I just hate everyday of it.

Something else too. Since all this "time off Bullcrap" my wife keeps a log of when I leave the house and when I return home. Now it takes me on average of 30 minutes to get to and from work. Most days I leave around 0800 and return around 2130-2145. Is this my fault. Or is it the fault of my leadership saying that no one can depart the station until he verbally closes out with us. So sometimes he will not even call. But on the nights I say fuck it and leave the jackhole calls, and rides my sack about why did I leave the station without his permission, damn dude it's late I would like to have some well rested recruiters for the next day.

When you have people out here that say this is just a grind day in and day out something is wrong. It should not be this way. These guys are told in the school house that this is a fun duty. Apparantly you can take your wife shopping and family out to all these neat places as long as you are prospecting. They need to quit selling that pipe dream right now. What they need to do is tell them about all the late nights they are going to be working, all the early morning runs they are going to be making. Well for example there is not a week that goes by that I don't have to get up at 0300 in the morning and be at meps, that and some damn dumb ass meeting. Sometimes there are several days like that in a row. Now let me get in a wreck on the way to meps, I would be willing to bet that my command would turn a blind eye to the fact that they know there are recruiters and station commanders up that early in the morning running people to meps. I mean how do you think those applicants got there? They were beamed to the meps. No someone had to get up early in the morning, usually after being worked until 2100 the night prior. I wonder if I sent my BN Cdr a risk assesment would they approve it? Most likely I would get the third degree for doing the right thing.

I know I have let this little journal of mine go over the past few days but I promise to start putting more on here.
Ok remember my rant not to long back about how we waste gasoline just to have a damn meeting? Well the last week we had a message about how if your station was not at 50% by the end of the week, then you will be at the BN Hq Monday at 0830. So guess what Monday morning 28 Station Commanders were at the Hq, sitting there. Again I am thinking to myself, so 28 govt cars were on the road this morning burning up 55 cents per mile in tax dollars. Mind you some of these people had to travel over 2 hours to be there. And get this we sat there for most of the day. I don't understand, pull me up there at 0830 fine, tell me we are way behind, ok. But to take me out of my station all damn day just to sit there most of that time, well is fucking stupid. Then they wonder why you don't make it. Well dickhead I was sitting at your Hq on the heaviest prospecting day of them month. Yeah and I also loved the loyalty speech today too. "I know what was said during all this Dept of the Army IG, remember I know who you are and what was said, and loyalty goes along way with me" Well piss off, no you don't because if you did something would have already been said, and they would have broken their regulation about disclosing who said what. So you can sit there and threaten that bullshit all fucking day. I don't give a shit.

In other news I heard today that USAREC is over on their 79R's...I hope so. I will put in a transfer back to the mainstream Army quicker than you can say Iraq. These people here don't know shit about leadership, and slowly I find myself being sucked into their warped ass world.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

So the other day...My 1SG send me an email telling me that I need to watch my back. And that it is no blows goes time. All I did was ask a simple question to someone at the MEPS. Then I get the third degree. Being told that I could not be trusted and such. The only thing I was doing was looking out for the applicant and myself and my recruiters. What I don't understand is this. This guy is nothing like what the leadership manual says we should be as leaders. All he knows how to do is jump to conclusions, raise hell, lead by fear, in other words he is not a leader. I would never follow someone like that jackhole into combat. He gives his subornates no leeway to think for themselves, he wants to have total control. It makes no fucking sense to me. It makes no sense to me. I thought as leaders we are supposed to grow one another in a positive environment. He don't even know how to do that. I have to vent about this somewhere. I don't trust my fellow station commanders within this company. I don't trust my 1SG anymore, not after that email. I am going to look into this and see what can be done about it.