Sometimes I hate the Army. Then I go to drill and love it again.
Sometimes I hate being a Chaplain's Assistant. Then I talk to the Chaplain and love it again.
And sometimes I get sick of being promotable but unpromotable.
I went to a training exercise this summer, and as a stay-at-home-dad I need to provide coverage for my absence. My wife hired a nanny last time, and before that I exploited my brother-in-ex (long story with the "ex" part). This time I offered the task to a young soldier in my unit, PFC (Private First Class, E3) A., and his fiance. I invited them up to dinner to meet my kids, and so my wife could meet them. I fed them, then took them on the "50 cent" tour of my town - the preschool, the elementary school, the gymnastics studio, the dance studio, the karate dojo and home again. I made maps with google. They would be using the minivan I paid 1/3 of with my re-enlistment bonus. Every thing was set, and the task was not difficult. A price was agreed upon, to be paid when my pay came through after wards.
So we go to drill. We shoot at the range, and and at the end of the weekend the Battalion separates: Most go home and the rest of us head northwest for a 2-day road trip for a training exercise. Things are going well, both at the exercise and at home. Then Friday came.
We were scheduled to depart the training at about 8am Friday and convoy back home. I woke up nice and early to the gentle beep of the alarm on my phone. As I turn it off, I see that there are missed calls logged. But no message. It's PFC A. He called several times in the middle of the night. And one call from my platoon sergeant, SFC B. But no messages. I start by calling SFC B, and he tells me A is having some kind of crisis. So I call A, and he babbles and blubbers at me that his fiance kicked him out of the house (they were living in her mom's basement) and he spent the night in his car. Whatever. They've been through a couple of laps of this drill already. I go off to breakfast, finish packing and head to the motorpool to get home.
Several hours later I'm on the road. I get a call from my wife. She's in class. The preschool has called wondering if anyone will be picking up my daughter. My wife will have to leave class early in order to drive back to pick my daughter 45 minutes late. Grr. I immediately start trying to get in touch with PFC A and find out what the deal is.
Long story short, he claims to have been too distraught to go pick her up. Gives me great sobs about sleeping in the car, not eating dinner, he's dehydrated, et cetera. I'm pretty pissed off, and I don't converse very calmly about this. I'm pretty mad that he didn't think to call my wife and let her know, either.
And he wants to know when he can get paid.
Eventually I get paid for drill and the extra trip. I have him come over to get some money. I give him the money for both he and his fiance. He's supposed to split it with her. He says he will.
That evening the calls and texts start in from her, freaked out that she's not getting the money, and mad that we gave it all to him. His version of the story is very confused and confusing. I tell him he needs to give her the money, I tell her that she needs to deal with him, and I hang up. Okay, I was pretty unprofessional about it. I told him I would "kick his ass" if he didn't pay her.
So the next drill rolls around. Before I leave the house I text the fiance, asking if she ever received money. She says no, and texts that he said she would get money only if she signed custody papers. Did I mention she's pregnant? Yeah. She would rather be a single mom than put up with this guy.
During drill I have him sign a receipt for the cash. I send her a copy along with a check for half of her half, and a note that I'll send her the rest as soon as I get paid again. I also send a letter to A telling him that he needs to repay me since I am paying her the half he didn't give her.
Oh yeah, he wrecked his car in the meantime. So he needed money really badly. It wasn't his fault, of course. Nothing ever is. Ever. And he always has an excuse for things. He shows up late to drill and it's not his fault, its all the fault of some dump truck parked in his driveway or some crap like that. But this means he doesn't have the money.
By this time I'm pretty burned out. I end drill that month depressed, feeling exploited. And I'm out another half of the money I already paid for the childcare that wasn't even completed. I talk to my boss, Chaplain Candidate (1LT) B about this. PFC A works just down the hall from him at State Headquarters - they both have day jobs with the Guard now. He tells me to write up a report of what happened and send it to him.
Next drill, I find out PFC A has been counselled by our company commander, and told he needs to repay me. At drill he doesn't go out of his way to come talk to me, but that's not his fault, he was Busy Doing Things. Yeah. I spent all day Saturday in the Chapel tent working on PowerPoint slides for a domestic violence brief CC B wants to give. I'm not hard to find, and it would only take a few minutes to talk it out.
The Captain wants to get this resolved, NOW and I'm asked several times if A has talked to me. Nope. Finally, CPT E orders the two of us to sit down and hash it out, and write up a repayment plan. Twenty bucks a month, until repayed. We all 3 sign, and fall in late for final formation.
Next drill comes. No payment. PFC A isn't around. I ask. He's transferring to another unit - one headed to Iraq in a couple months. And by the way, he's been fired from the temporary technician job at HQ. Okay, so much for that couple of hundred bucks. Sunday he shows up in civvies. I shake his hand, tell him I'm glad he finally got the deployment he's been asking for. He gives me $20.
I doubt I'll see another penny from him. Whatever. At least the fiance has her money.
I'm in an E1 - to - E4 slot at my unit. I can't be promoted to sergeant, E5, in this slot. On the current promotion list I have over 500 points. The next guy down has a bit over 300. I have more points than numbers 3 and 4 on the list combined.
The next move up is an E6 slot at Brigade.
One of my buddies in the unit had the same problem, so he has switched to the feeding section - he's going to go be a cook. I'm thinking about it. Right now I'm just tired of the job.
