Out of all the side jobs in all the non-operational offices in a decidedly non-operational unit…somehow I landed the most operationally-flavored assignment possible. I'll be in charge of security and force protection here at the base. Liberally garnished, of course, with other tasty collaterals (such as Morale Officer).
It’s not a bad gig, although it’s accompanied by the concomitant
complement of headaches: contract security, parking decals, security packages. Just yesterday we had a Suspicious Package, which was sequestered forlornly on a patch of grass in a parking circle for several hours while we interviewed mail clerks and waved away curious bystanders. Eventually, the local EOD’s curious droid rolled up on a long, skinny electrical-cord leash to peer carefully at the gleaming white box and fire a few charges at it while the rest of us crouched behind vehicles and inside buildings, outside of the potential "blast zone". And thus was demolished a long-forgotten PO2’s retirement certificate.
Benefits of the job include frequent range trips (and unlimited access to a virtual range); a large private office in a building where I’m the senior person; two fantastic chiefs running the division; and the incomparable and highly coveted Key to the Island. Less pleasant, perhaps, are the requisite pile of manuals and instructions to rewrite; the cat-herding inherent in supervising a security force comprised of collateral-duty members; and the inevitable random tasks expected of the most junior officer in a short-handed wardroom.
Can’t wait for the new JG to get here this summer.
It’s not a bad gig, although it’s accompanied by the concomitant
complement of headaches: contract security, parking decals, security packages. Just yesterday we had a Suspicious Package, which was sequestered forlornly on a patch of grass in a parking circle for several hours while we interviewed mail clerks and waved away curious bystanders. Eventually, the local EOD’s curious droid rolled up on a long, skinny electrical-cord leash to peer carefully at the gleaming white box and fire a few charges at it while the rest of us crouched behind vehicles and inside buildings, outside of the potential "blast zone". And thus was demolished a long-forgotten PO2’s retirement certificate.Benefits of the job include frequent range trips (and unlimited access to a virtual range); a large private office in a building where I’m the senior person; two fantastic chiefs running the division; and the incomparable and highly coveted Key to the Island. Less pleasant, perhaps, are the requisite pile of manuals and instructions to rewrite; the cat-herding inherent in supervising a security force comprised of collateral-duty members; and the inevitable random tasks expected of the most junior officer in a short-handed wardroom.
Can’t wait for the new JG to get here this summer.
2 comments:
Hey V,
Hope it all went well today. Make sure to rest, now.
Think happy thoughts - like that part of it is over!
Rest?? I'm headed up to Oregon this weekend!
Everything went ok, for the most part. I'll post more later.
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