Commander

So things have not been all peachy with Billy and this whole Army thing. I'm not going to say he hates it. But it's beyond frustrating some of the things that go on. Like the whole sick call thing. Sick call is what you and I would call "going to the doctor." But the way his Sgts make it out is like, "if you go to sick call, you're a weak fool and you shouldn't be in the dang military!" But then the next words out of their mouths are, "if you are sick, you better go to sick call because I'm not going to hold your hand and make sure you're feeling ok." It's like Really? What the crap is that all about? And then the whole, "some of you get in trouble for messing up PT and some of you don't." You already know how I feel about that. The only PT they do is running and it is for miles and at a pace that hardly anyone can keep up with. So, rather than build strength, they are bringing everyone down to exhaustion and frustration. And then there is the "We're going to do this tomorrow" and they show up only to be told they aren't doing that anymore. If you know my husband, he is one that likes things orderly and structured. Which is why he thought he would really like the military. There is less organization in his unit than anywhere he's ever worked in his life. Not to mention that everyone there is so negative. All the soliders talk about how much they hate it and how much they want out. Billys like "how am I going to feel good about going in every day when all I ever hear is how much everyone hates it all day long." But here's the thing... they do not do anything! Nothing! They literally stand around for hours on end until the sgts get tired of looking at them and send them home. But maybe... just maybe there is some light...

The company got a new commander this month. She's on top of things. They had a meeting yesterday and she explained how things were going to change. First off, the PT. She says it does no good to run like that everyday. YAY! So, they are going to do what they call ability PT. I don't know, but the way Billy explained it, it is going to group people together according to their PT levels. So, Billy will be with other folks on his level. YAY! Apparently the reason for those people who failed are getting barred is because some people are trying to fail and get out on purpose. This doesn't help Billy in any way. But at least we know that all the folks (including young dude) that failed are now as of yesterday all barred just like Billy. New commander = fair. Then she said this whole business about not getting to go to sick call has to stop. A lot of people who are trying to get out of doing anything will go to sick call and get on "profile" which is like the note you would give your gym teacher excusing you from doing P.E. This all comes at a good time because Billy's been having some serious migraines lately. We've got to get him to the doctor. They're coming on more and more often and this last one was really bad. (the one day they actually got to do something and go to the range to shoot some big guns, he got a migraine and it was so bad they had a medic come and sit with him while he puked his guts out all over the dang place.) After that one, I've decided he's got to go see a doctor. So, when he starts his half days for the holidays, we're going to make him an appointment. So... we'll see. Anyway... back to the commander. She also asked the group how many of them had licenses to use the machines, and only a handful raised their hands. Out of a hundred and something there were only like 5. So, she said that this was ridiculous and that there will some serious training going on. Commander = get r dun! I hope this means that Billy can get certified on some equipment which is what he really wants. We've just got to get him to pass his PT test. Maybe Commander = Hope.