It's All in the Details - (Germany) Day 100

This morning for PT we did a run off post in civilian clothes. It was about 3.2 miles and by the end of it I was dripping with sweat. It was a good run and I'm sure I'll be feeling it for the next few days.

Once at work we were told that we were going to have a meeting with everyone, so everyone kind of waited around for a half hour or so until our NCOIC came out and started the meeting. Our NCOIC went over all the issues that were uncovered in the last couple of mini audits that have been going on. We are good right now and we have to stay that way until the major audit comes this June. The audit is done by the highest level back in the states. They will be coming out and going through everything with a fine tooth comb. We have to keep up on our customer's records and anyone that has anything due anytime between now and the audit, has to make sure it's taken care of. A lot of the work is just making sure every detail is taken care of. Once this audit is done, our NCOIC will be on cruise control and will PCS soon after that, so this is her last big thing before she leaves and she doesn't want any issues.

This translates to: we may be very busy until after the audit is finished. The meeting lasted until lunch time. I took my sack lunch to the food court as usual and spent my break there. Once finished I headed back to the office. Now that everyone is back from leave and we also have a new sergeant in the office, space is limited, as are the available computers. I was able to get on first thing in the morning to check my email and do my weekend checklist, but that was about it. We also had to do a weekend counseling statement and sign an "Oak Tree" counseling statement as well as have our vehicles inspected. All the counseling statements were stating that we agreed not to get into trouble over the four day. On my weekend checklist I stated after the portion "If Drinking How Will You Get Back Home" with…"My hotel is within stumbling distance".

The afternoon was spent sitting in a chair watching SPC JayZ work. At one point I left with SPC Matrix and we picked up a TMP van for tomorrow. Once back at the office I continued to sit in a chair staring at the wall until we were released for the day.

At home my wife and I hung out for a while, ate dinner and watched some TV shows. I studied for my Apple Recertification and then turned in for the night.

Destruction Day - (Germany) Day 99

This morning for PT we did muscle failure. It seems like we form up for the morning PT formation, then after everyone is accounted for and some announcements are given, over half the people fall out of the formation because they are not doing any PT. It's getting a little ridiculous because today after everyone fell out to the rear we only had three people left in our platoon. We ended up going inside the racket ball court and then doing a whole mess of push-ups and sit-ups along with some other various warm up exercises and stretches.

Work today was a little more normal. I followed SPC Dub around for the morning trying to keep an eye on everything that he does. The problem is that a lot of this stuff takes repetition and I will not be getting much of it because I'll again be leaving soon for a month long FTX. I went to lunch in the food court with my sack lunch as usual, then came back to work for a bit before heading over to the finance office. Since Korea I've been told that my overseas travel from one overseas to another will allow me 30 days leave that is not charged. I took the 30 days leave, but it was charged. This didn't surprise me, because nothing seems to work as advertised in the army. I had been trying to get an answer since arriving here in Germany and get my leave days back. After I spoke with our NCOIC today she said I should be getting it back and that I needed to head to finance with the paperwork I showed her. Once at finance I realized that I would not be getting a single day back for my COT (Continuing Overseas Tour) entitlement. The finance guy said that rule went out in a past decade. He said the regulation now states that only travel is provided by the government to your home of record. So all leave charged to me will stay charged to me. This really sucks, because if I was told this would be non-chargeable leave…I wouldn't have used all 30 days. Army lesson learned: don't take anyone's word for it ever…even if it's a seasoned NCO or officer. Go check out the regulation on your own.

Back at the office we did the first of the month destructions. This involved taking classified items we have in our safe that are on a destruction list and first laying them out on a table. Not one, but two NCOs checked what we laid out against the list to make sure it was correct. We then started destroying everything that was laid out. This mostly involved shredding (I shredded so much I felt like a guy working for a crooked company trying to get rid of all the evidence as the feds are busting through the door), but a couple items had to be manually cut with scissors and then a few particular items had to be smashed with a sledge hammer! I've never had to actually use a sledge hammer in a job before, and especially not an I.T. job (but you can't really call this an I.T. job).

We ended up staying about a half hour late because all this destruction took a while and when finished we had to inventory the safes that were opened, because of course anytime one is opened we have to do a full inventory which takes a bit.

Sensing Session w/ IG - (Germany) Day 98

This morning for PT we had a pretty good workout. We ran a half-mile loop and then stopped to do 25 push-ups, then ran around the loop again to do 25 sit-ups. We did this process twice ending up running 2 miles and a total of 50 push-ups and sit-ups. I got a pretty good sweat going.

This morning I was back in the office from my 2 week break in the mailroom. Soon after arriving in the office me and SPC Dub (a specialist in our office) were told we had to go to another sensing session. Sometimes it seems that I get so many other non-work tasks that I will never actually learn my job here. The sensing session involved the IG (Inspector General) from the states. The person representing them was a SFC female and the entire group was E-4 and below. A sensing session is basically a time when everyone bitches about what is bothering them. I don't know if this actually changes anything or what they do with the information, but it is supposed to be anonymous and everyone is asked to be free with what they say. Everyone had a lot to say and the meeting went all the way until lunch time. Most of it was people bitching about their NCOs or the lack of communication. A lot of people had some valid complaints, I mentioned as many others did that I would just like to be able to do the job I signed up for. When everyone was asked how our moral was personally on a scale of 1-10, most answered with a 8's, 9's and 10's. In stark contrast when people were asked to do the same but rate their moral at work the numbers dropped drastically with ranges from 1-5.

I then ate lunch in the food court with my sack lunch. I like to get out of the office for lunch, because if I stay at a desk and eat I will no doubt be interrupted to do something stupid like make some copies or shred some paper. When I get away from the office I can actually enjoy my entire lunch.

The rest of the day consisted of taking SPC Dub to the shopping center, driving my boss's car (since my wife had our car and my boss couldn't take him). He is going to the promotion board tomorrow and needed some items from MCSS (Military Clothing Store). He also has had his license suspended due to too many tickets here in Germany…hence the need for a ride.

After that trip the day was pretty much done. When we got back I learned how to prepare some of the paperwork needed around the office for the beginning of the month, then we cleaned up and left.

Once home I took the battery out of my motorcycle and brought it up to charge. Since it had been in storage for so long and I haven't ridden in, the battery went completely dead. I'd like to start the process of getting my motorcycle license here in Germany (which is a process). The first step is to make sure my bike will run :)

Weekend Wrap-Up - (Germany) Days 96 & 97

The work area we perform staff duty in. A chair and computer for both 

the NCO and the runner on shift.

Saturday: Today I have staff duty once again, so I woke up with my wife and we had breakfast together before I headed off to the battalion S3 shop where the staff duty desks are located. The shift starts at 0900 and I arrived a little early at 0845. I brought with me my normal staff duty supplies…snacks, drinks, laptop (with hard drive full of movies), and iPad. I spent the first portion of the morning checking my work email and checking my personal email. The NCO with me was the sergeant on our maintenance side. He let me go for an hour and a half lunch, so I headed home and had it with my wife.

Once back at staff duty I did a little more surfing the net and then watched Black Swan. I had heard it won some Oscars and thought I'd check it out without knowing anything else about the movie. I was a little surprised when I started watching it and found out it was all about ballet. The movie itself turned out to be pretty decent because it is a psychotic thriller. The main character Natalie Portmand starts losing her mind which leads to some pretty interesting scenes.

I was later given a 2 hour break for dinner, which I went home again and spent with my wife. Once back at staff duty I read a book on my iPad, surfed the web, and watched a documentary on Air Jordan. What an amazing basketball player! Later on after the maintenance NCO came back I was able to copy a bunch of movies from him. Trying out a new one turned out to be a total flop. I started watching Bloodrayne. To tell you the truth I had never heard of it, but I thought the name sounded good when I was copying the sergeant's movies. The acting was terrible and the fight scenes were so fake I laughed at some points. I had to stop watching it and delete it immediately from my laptop.

The maintenance NCO told me that I could go lay down on the couch if I wanted and get a little sleep, so I took him up on the offer. The couch is not comfortable by any means, but much better than sitting in a chair. I laid down about midnight and would get anywhere from a half hour to an hour of sleep before waking up and having to reposition myself on the tiny couch. I finally got up at 0700 to finish the last couple hours of my shift. Hopefully I can stay awake when I get home, the final four is going to start right when I get off this shift!

Sunday: I arrived home and was able to stay awake to watch both NCAA final four games. I did take a nap in-between the games and during the halts. The rest of the day was not too exciting…just cleaning up a bit around the house and watching TV shows and such with my wife. I really hate Saturday staff duty shifts because they kind of screw up the entire weekend!

Last Day in the Mailroom - (Germany) Day 95

Just another random note hanging on one of the mailroom walls next to the boxes

We had no PT this morning because of "Days of Excellence". One of the nice things about being assigned to the mailroom is that I do not have to go, however I did have to get up, get dressed, and attend a formation our company was having at 0645 before leaving. I can't complain too much though because with a donation to The Army Emergency Relief Fund we were allowed to wear civilian clothes all day. My boss actually made a donation for each of his soldiers so we could all dress in civilians without even having to think about it. So I showed up, waited around for a while, then went back home to get ready for the day.

I worked once again in the mailroom on my official last day being tasked out to help them. I had thought about wearing my kilt since it was civilian clothes day, but I think I'll save that for another day in the office. I spent the morning getting out mail that was not put in people's boxes the day before, then chatted for a while with the boss. I found out some interesting details on the work situation in the mailroom here. There are a total of 8 civilian employees that work there and only 3 of them are permanent. The rest are temporary, there is a hiring freeze for any permanent workers. The temporary folks time is limited and will probably be out of a job before the end of the year. I guess once you get a permanent job with the government, it's best to hang on to it for as long as possible.

I worked customer service by myself once we opened at 1100, my helper the SSG who is going to get med-boarded had some appointments to start the day. It was a lot more comfortable working in civilian clothes and I have to say that I also instantly got a lot more respect from everyone. It's a lot different when you look like a civilian rather than when you are just a PFC working behind the counter. Soon however I will be promoted to specialist, in fact I would have been "pinned on" today at the Days of Excellence but I wanted to have my wife there and she had to work. An easy enough excuse, so they will do a small ceremony with just the office next week. I don't even think any ceremony should be done at all because I did nothing special to deserve it, other than survive for 2 years. I can see having a ceremony for any early promotions or E-5 and above because they have to actually do something in order to get promoted. E-1 through E-4 is just time in service unless you get an early promotion.

So the day went by without any issues and the last couple hours I worked in the back sorting mail that will probably sit in sorting containers for about a week before they get delivered to their boxes. I used to work for UPS a long time ago and we had to make sure everything went out each day, so this is a whole new experience for me…and also why I keep mentioning it (it just blows my mind). I also took a break when my boss came in. We went outside and he gave me my quick monthly counseling statement. Basically good work and in the future he wants to start preparing me to go to the promotion board. I really have mixed emotions about that. On one hand it will be nice to have the higher rank and be an NCO, on the other hand an NCO has a lot more responsibility and crappy work they have to do. It seems NCOs get tasked to do training that has nothing to do with their job, they get tasked with all sorts of other miscellaneous things, and also have a whole level of supervisory work that needs to be done. This means if I ever do get to a place that actually does I.T. work, the chances of me doing it as an NCO is drastically less…and I have no desire whatsoever to stay in the army. We'll see how it goes.

I went home and after my wife and I ate, we left to Mannheim to go watch a movie. Here in Germany at the Mannheim Cinemaxx theatre, they play movies in English and you can also reserve seats via the internet. My wife reserved the seats and we went and watched "The Hunger Games". The theatre is much nicer than the one on post and it also has stadium seating which is also very nice. We had both read all the books, so we were excited to see the movie. The movie was pretty good and kept pace with the book for the most part, but there is just so much more detail in the books. I can see where someone who hasn't read the books may not get as much out of the movie than people who have already read the books. My wife was surprised they served beer in the theatre, I had to remind her we are in Germany…they even sell beer in the McDonalds here!

MRT Training - (Germany) Day 94

The details of our ruck march this morning for PT around PHV

PT this morning was a ruck march around PHV. We ended up going the extended version which ends up going through all the fancy pants officer's housing area. Their houses have garages and are nice and big. It made the ruck march almost 3 miles. The sergeant leading PT said he wanted to have everyone finish it in 45 minutes. His goal is to have us do a six mile ruck march in one hour and 45 minutes. I have to say that I think ruck marches are the stupidest thing ever…especially in today's army. Troops don't ruck around for miles…especially computer geeks.

Since I was scheduled to work in the mailroom, I thought I would get out of the sergeant's time training today just like last week…but right before the end of PT I was told I needed to attend the training and then go to the mailroom afterward. The training started at 0900 and was in a nice conference room that we've never used before. The room was nice and the chairs were comfy, which turned out to be a problem for a few soldiers because they were told to stand up after nodding off. I have come to loathe most army training that we get. It is a complete waste of time and they give us the same training over and over again like they are trying to beat the information into us. Such was the case with our first training brief this morning. It was given by community bank (operated by Bank of America) and was about finances. Every soldier has had this class in AIT and during in-processing here in Germany. Why do we need it again? Why do I have to hear propaganda from a for-profit bank? Personal feelings aside (I don't use banks, they are "for-profit" greedy corporations that contributed to the collapse of our economy and caused the great recession…I use only credit unions…these are not-for-profit institutions) I think if they offer this class, have an independent financial adviser give it and have them give some better information than the interest rates offered by their bank.

The second class was MRT (Master Resilience Training). This class was all about resiliency. We need to be more like tennis balls and not eggs…we need to bounce back up when we get down…we need to be positive…we need to be optimistic…we need to be enthusiastic. I guess they started this training after so many people were having issues during and after deployments. Now it is being taught to everyone in the army, not just soldiers that are deploying. The concept is not a bad one, and if I came in with an open mind I would get more out of it. I just really wasn't in the right frame of mind after the first training brief.

After the training I went to lunch, then headed to the mailroom. I was shocked to see all of the civilian workers actually putting mail in people's boxes. It was crazy…every single worker was busy getting all the mail delivered. This is something I thought would be normal, but it's the first day I've seen it. I was in shock. I worked customer service at the front counter. It was a pretty slow day with customers coming in at a very slow pace. I did learn how to close a person's box and open a new one for people that are in-processing and out-processing. I'm going to know how to do everything, then I'll leave and go back to my other job…lol.

One nice thing about working in the mailroom is that right at 1700 I leave. I don't have to wait for the boss to come and give any announcements and then dismiss us…I just walk out the front door on time…every day. I went home with my wife and we hung out watching TV shows. Now it's time to go lay in my comfortable bed once again.

Bed Arrival - (Germany) Day 93

PT this morning was a run off post. Unfortunately since I've been working in the mailroom, I was not told to come dressed in civilian clothes. So here I am with my PT uniform on, while everyone else has their civilian clothes on. I was going to bring my iPhone to use runkeeper, but my phone didn't have enough charge. We made a similar run before and it was a little over 3 miles. My legs were still pretty sore from my PT test yesterday, but I pushed through it.

Work this morning was another day in the mailroom. Like I said yesterday, I'm not sure how long some piles of mail would just sit around. There were some piles from the beginning of the week still sitting there. I was able to get a few piles out, but I ended up getting called back to my office to take care of some business. I had to submit some paperwork for an FTX that I have to do. I still haven't been given many details about it other than the dates. It's coming up and it's a freakin' month long. I'm not too excited about going…other than I'm supposed to actually be doing my job when I go. I guess I'll hear more when it gets closer.

Back in the mailroom I headed up front to help with customer service (getting people their packages). For some reason the day was really busy. At one point there were three of us working the counter and the line still stretched through the hall. Everyone is doing some spring shopping online I guess.

I left early to be home in time for our long awaited bed to be delivered. I forget what I've said already, but long story short…we didn't ship our huge bed from the states because we weren't sure if we would have enough room in the housing here. We ordered a bed from the PX in January because we knew it could be delivered to our house. We then bought a smaller guest bed at IKEA along with some other furniture on a shopping trip with SPC Whirlwind and his wife. We rented a van for that trip. Since then we've been sleeping on the guest bed with just the mattress laying on our floor thinking it would be a couple weeks before our bed arrived from the PX. After many delays we found out the frame we ordered was on back order. We then decided to just get rails instead…waited and waited. We checked back and after a few phone calls we were told it would be coming soon…waited and waited. Finally it is now here and being delivered.

I was at home waiting and around 1530 they finally came. The nice thing is that not only did they deliver it, they set it completely up and took out all the packaging that came with it. I'm looking forward to a great nights sleep…probably the best since I've been in Germany.