First I had a breakup and then I went back home to California about the same time as my last update. I was left in a very angry and bitter state for a while, but thankfully going home was the perfect medicine. There was no wi-fi at my house and since I only have my Japanese cell phone, it made things very difficult to be socially active online. But it was a gift to be disconnected from the world, even though it left me alone with my worst enemy: myself. Spending time with family and friends, doing a lot of traveling, and even jumping off a plane was the best way to relax.
Now, my mind is almost back together from the fallout but it's good enough for a new post! Since then a few things have happened with how the military lifestyle has changed here on Okinawa. Some of it good, a lot of it bad. Let's jump into it.
^Some of you will get this
Since returning home, the plan was to lay low, keep my mouth shut (and that's a VERY hard thing to do) and make it to January 2014 when I PCS. There's also those moments that come and hits me with the fact that I will miss the island and people of Okinawa, as well as mainland Japan. There's also the regret of not seeing more of Asia like I had wanted to, and there is sometimes the crazy idea of extending another year here to do more traveling and save money before getting out of the Navy. However, there have been times that makes me hope TMO can come into my room today and pack my belongings.
Since being in my new workstation known as HQ, the one thing that causes my brain cells to die faster than a marine going hard on alcohol over a 96 is how we are held to a higher standard, worked harder, and expecting to be successful at work and in life when there are absolutely no tools given to succeed. The ones that were given have been taken away and yet the standard remains high. It's no secret that not everyone here can drive a vehicle for personal use, but that is no excuse to be late for PT or to morning muster. Getting to work on foot from the old barracks took about maybe 10 minutes, but when we were moved to our current location on the complete opposite side from where I work, the time to get to work did not change (which the time alone is a strange one during PT days: 0740). It's a mile away from work and it feels longer with the heat and humidity or the heat and rain. Don't bother going to the chow hall on your way, because if you are 1 second late to muster, you are deemed an unreliable sailor or marine who needs to be addressed on why he/she is unreliable. Even if the reason for being late is completely valid, you're still a piece of trash and wrong because you were late. God help you because you are hungry and disobeyed the rules and went to the chow hall to eat and couldn't make it on time without having to pay out of your wallet for a ¥500 honcho ride. So what can be done to fix this situation? The most obvious is to change the time for muster to accommodate the time to eat, but it's not going to happen. HQ has to start at 0700/0740 on the dot or else everything will fall apart and the war on terror will be lost. Mind you, I work in a dental command. We don't fight terrorist, we fight plaque.
^Every Thursday
Recently we had a command lockdown, I mean a "period of reflection" for about 2 weeks. A new liberty policy that allows us to have 2 beers at a restaurant was to be given some time ago, but a chief TAD from somewhere in the States decided that he was better than the liberty policy here and got drunk, went into Naha looking for hookers, and woke up in the living room of a lovely Okinawan family. So the new liberty policy had to be put on hold for a bit longer, about 2 or 3 weeks, and if I knew what his name was, it would be blasted on this post. Anyways, so the new policy was then passed down and it happened that some of the guys are HQ went a little too hard on the drinking that same weekend. The command was put on a lockdown which lasted about 2 weeks, and I wasn't upset over it. It was a matter of when a lockdown would happen, not if. During the lockdown I got to drive to the other clinics and see the disappointment in people's faces over it. "It could have been worse, they could make us be in uniform during liberty hours or even restricted on base drinking." is how I would try to help alleviate the frustration.
For starters, if this situation was to occur in the States, it would have been a regular Sunday afternoon for everyone except for the minor for obvious reasons. Not here. Instead of keeping the incident as low profile as possible like the TAD chief, every clinic and HQ was lectured to about the consequences of drinking. Names were dropped and the real story was muddled by the leadership because they sure added their twist to the story. In actuality, the guys had more responsibility drinking than the TAD chief who thought himself above the policies. He himself ended up in a worse situation, but his fate most likely ended him with a slap on the wrist and got right back to work. Our boys? DRB, XOI, and then Captain's Mast. The DRB really wasn't necessary but you know that the chief's wanted to put in their two cents and call them all dirt bags and horrible members of the military. I bet my entire paycheck that they got caught with worse when they were that rank and in Okinawa. I'll double with the other paycheck that it's because of people like them is why the rules were changed to be as strict as they are now. Every morning at muster we would be reminded of the 4 individuals that were involved in the incident, and even though they were all present in the muster, they didn't drop the name as if we don't know who did it. This is still going on to this day and they've all received their punishment from the CO last week, being reminded about the 4 and drinking. Why can't the leadership let it go already? The 4 have accepted the mistake and are paying for it, but are carrying on. I guarantee the CO has also put it behind him and hasn't bothered anyone about it. This command is good at forgiving, but not forgetting. We all want to move on, but it's impossible when reminded of the past, which included incidents from over a year ago.
^I guess should start drinking in order to be trusted in the military...makes sense
I'm going to have to stop writing, there's A LOT more to write about. This is a good pause for now, and I will do better to make sure that there are more updates. I sincerely apologize to my 2 readers for keeping you waiting, but here's hoping for more.
Since being in my new workstation known as HQ, the one thing that causes my brain cells to die faster than a marine going hard on alcohol over a 96 is how we are held to a higher standard, worked harder, and expecting to be successful at work and in life when there are absolutely no tools given to succeed. The ones that were given have been taken away and yet the standard remains high. It's no secret that not everyone here can drive a vehicle for personal use, but that is no excuse to be late for PT or to morning muster. Getting to work on foot from the old barracks took about maybe 10 minutes, but when we were moved to our current location on the complete opposite side from where I work, the time to get to work did not change (which the time alone is a strange one during PT days: 0740). It's a mile away from work and it feels longer with the heat and humidity or the heat and rain. Don't bother going to the chow hall on your way, because if you are 1 second late to muster, you are deemed an unreliable sailor or marine who needs to be addressed on why he/she is unreliable. Even if the reason for being late is completely valid, you're still a piece of trash and wrong because you were late. God help you because you are hungry and disobeyed the rules and went to the chow hall to eat and couldn't make it on time without having to pay out of your wallet for a ¥500 honcho ride. So what can be done to fix this situation? The most obvious is to change the time for muster to accommodate the time to eat, but it's not going to happen. HQ has to start at 0700/0740 on the dot or else everything will fall apart and the war on terror will be lost. Mind you, I work in a dental command. We don't fight terrorist, we fight plaque.
^Every Thursday
Recently we had a command lockdown, I mean a "period of reflection" for about 2 weeks. A new liberty policy that allows us to have 2 beers at a restaurant was to be given some time ago, but a chief TAD from somewhere in the States decided that he was better than the liberty policy here and got drunk, went into Naha looking for hookers, and woke up in the living room of a lovely Okinawan family. So the new liberty policy had to be put on hold for a bit longer, about 2 or 3 weeks, and if I knew what his name was, it would be blasted on this post. Anyways, so the new policy was then passed down and it happened that some of the guys are HQ went a little too hard on the drinking that same weekend. The command was put on a lockdown which lasted about 2 weeks, and I wasn't upset over it. It was a matter of when a lockdown would happen, not if. During the lockdown I got to drive to the other clinics and see the disappointment in people's faces over it. "It could have been worse, they could make us be in uniform during liberty hours or even restricted on base drinking." is how I would try to help alleviate the frustration.
For starters, if this situation was to occur in the States, it would have been a regular Sunday afternoon for everyone except for the minor for obvious reasons. Not here. Instead of keeping the incident as low profile as possible like the TAD chief, every clinic and HQ was lectured to about the consequences of drinking. Names were dropped and the real story was muddled by the leadership because they sure added their twist to the story. In actuality, the guys had more responsibility drinking than the TAD chief who thought himself above the policies. He himself ended up in a worse situation, but his fate most likely ended him with a slap on the wrist and got right back to work. Our boys? DRB, XOI, and then Captain's Mast. The DRB really wasn't necessary but you know that the chief's wanted to put in their two cents and call them all dirt bags and horrible members of the military. I bet my entire paycheck that they got caught with worse when they were that rank and in Okinawa. I'll double with the other paycheck that it's because of people like them is why the rules were changed to be as strict as they are now. Every morning at muster we would be reminded of the 4 individuals that were involved in the incident, and even though they were all present in the muster, they didn't drop the name as if we don't know who did it. This is still going on to this day and they've all received their punishment from the CO last week, being reminded about the 4 and drinking. Why can't the leadership let it go already? The 4 have accepted the mistake and are paying for it, but are carrying on. I guarantee the CO has also put it behind him and hasn't bothered anyone about it. This command is good at forgiving, but not forgetting. We all want to move on, but it's impossible when reminded of the past, which included incidents from over a year ago.
I'm going to have to stop writing, there's A LOT more to write about. This is a good pause for now, and I will do better to make sure that there are more updates. I sincerely apologize to my 2 readers for keeping you waiting, but here's hoping for more.
