For those of you who still faithfully check to see if a new blog post is available, I thank you for your dedication and patience with my life. It has been weeks since I have posted and I only have myself to blame. I would love to catch you up on everything from these past two or three weeks but to be honest I can't remember a lot. Although work is different every day it still seems to have become monotonous as the little details of the days run together. Meetings take up a majority of my day and the rest is spent catching up on the work I haven't been able to do because I am stuck in meetings. Nonetheless I enjoy the fast pace and the constant business because it makes the days fly by as they have recently.
I am now a month and a half into this short tour in Korea and I find myself looking forward to the months rapidly passing by and getting back to Minnesota for a few weeks in May before finishing up my last months here. There are some distinct differences in this unit from the other two that I have been in that bring up many challenges but I find myself beginning to adapt and as many learn in the military it is easier to not question and just follow along with the craziness that comes out. This all may sound rather cryptic re-reading it but hopefully after hearing other stories from my siblings you all are halfway understanding what I am saying.
On a completely different note let me tell you all what I have been up to the last few days and what this upcoming week looks like for me. Even though I have been in the military for over 7 years now, I still find myself having firsts. I have recently begun to take part in my first set of command inspections. Now I know these must have happened in my last units but I can't remember them or wasn't part of them, who knows. But basically for those of you who are not military, command inspections happen at all levels of command to make sure everything is being run according to regulation and policy. Right now we are doing battery/company inspections at my unit so as a staff member I go down to those levels and inspect and grade on how they are operating their personnel management and records. Simultaneously, other staff sections are checking on safety, supply, maintenance, training, and security just to name a few. But let me give you a run down of what these days look like for myself.
Last Thursday was our first inspection. It was for our Headquarters and Headquarters Battery (HHB), on a side note I am in this battery so not only was I inspecting but I was inspected as a Soldier. The morning began with a 0515 accountability formation. This was interesting because over a third of the battery had left last week since their one year tour was competed but they were still on our rosters since they haven't checked into their next units yet for the most part. Once we figured out who was there and if anyone was really missing, we separated the group into those that had medical profiles (meaning they have some medical issue that excludes them from some physical activity) and those who would be taking part in the 4-mile run. At 0600 about half of our battery left on a 4-mile run that we needed to complete in 36 minutes or less as a group. For those of you not well versed in math that is a 9 minute mile. To me this didn't seem like it would be that great of a challenge but apparently not many people run distances during their PT time in the morning. We took off at a strong pace and it seemed after we were halfway done our group had split in half. Camp Carroll is a very hilly area but surprisingly the route we took only had two or three hills, so I thought it was relatively easy but it seemed to be a challenge for many others. At the end we arrived back to the battalion at 33:20 minutes, by 36 minutes 66 of the 83 we started out with had crossed the line however the goal of having 90% finish at 36 minutes was not achieved. But I was proud to say almost all of the Soldiers in my section finished on time!
After the run, I ran (yes I continued to run) back home to shower and change into my Class A uniform. This is my dress uniform. I was hoping to wear my blues but I had found out the day prior that we were all suppose to be in pants. I had yet to purchase the pants for my blues because I like the skirt better and I think the pants are extremely ugly and unflattering. To tell you the truth I was hoping to scape by the next two years without ever having to buy them. This posed a problem for Thursday morning, so I had to pull out my Class A greens and put on all my ribbons and such while also trying to iron them to get out al the wrinkles from the trip here. Had I known I needed pants I would have gotten them pressed but I had to make do with what I had, so I borrowed an iron and went to work. Putting on my greens I also had to sew on my new unit patch. Again normally I would have brought in my jacket to have the patch sewn on but I had to rely on my own homemaker skills to sew myself. With all this stress the night before inspection it was surprising I didn't have a breakdown, just kidding. So anyways I had a little less then an hour to shower, change and get back up to the battalion for an in-brief at 0800. Of course I rock at getting ready super fast so I even managed to stop for coffee on the way back up there.
At 0830 we had our in-ranks inspection. Ironic to the facts I just told you in the previous paragraph, many females did have skirts on, but at least I fit in with the guidance I was given. Oh well. The Battalion Commander, Command Sergeant Major and Sergeant Major went through the ranks inspecting all the Soldiers uniforms and making them random questions on basic Soldier knowledge. This meant I was standing in formation for almost an hour, luckily the heat has passed for the most part and no one passed out. The officers were the last inspected and despite throwing everything together last minute, the commander just told me I should probably go get my uniform pressed again, but other than that he said I looked good. He had a lot to say to some of the other officers, luckily I used a ruler for setting up my uniform so it looked better then those who eyeballed the measurements.
We were finally release around 1000 to go change and get on with our day. In the afternoon I went down to the HHB's orderly room to inspect their personnel files and records. My trusty NCO came with me and explained to me what to look for and how they have done them in the past. After about 30 minutes we were finished and gave the battery a satisfactory rating. They had what they needed for the most part but with all the Soldiers who have left recently, many rosters and such weren't completely up to date. But they did very well.
After getting back to my office I got to fill out their evaluation and make some powerpoint slides for the brief we would be having later to discuss all the inspections that occurred. So at 1800 we all gathered in the conference room to brief the battalion commander on how the different sections did. As the S1 section I always get to go first so I was up and back down in my seat within 3 minutes. I like to get right to the point and be sitting back down before I get asked anything I don't know. Its a good strategy I think, less is more! After an hour we were all finished and I arrived back home around 7:30 or so. What a long day!
Minus the run and in ranks inspection I got to do the same thing on Friday and will get to do the same thing Monday through Thursday of next week. Monday I get to go to Kunsan Air Base where one of our batteries is located. This means I get to leave here at 0500 and not get back until 9 or 10 tomorrow night! Oh I can't wait...haha.
So that is my life this week. Despite the long hours I am excited to go to another base tomorrow for a change of pace.
If you have read this, I am back in the blogging mindset so feel free to tune in on a regular basis.
More to follow later.....
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