Bad to Worse

If there was a way to insert maniacal laughter right here at the start, I would.

I did end up going out to the lake with my neighbor's yesterday, which despite having to wrangle my damn dogs much of the time, was nice. It was out in the middle of no where and really pretty. Plus, my neighbor fed me booze and grilled some delicious chicken and veggies. That didn't hurt either. By the end of the night, both my dogs and the neighbor's kids were on the floor all playing and (kids) beating each other. It was a sight.

And then Joe called. Our conversation lasted 2 minutes and 28 seconds in which he told me he would not be allowed any passes or any more phone calls until after the Best Ranger competition in MID-MAY. WTH. He told me he'd been offered an admin drop to leave the course (no penalty), but declined. Only after he declined was he told of the details of his continued stay. He cannot quit just on his own, or it's considered a "lack of motivation" drop, for which he can be RFS'd (released from service) - kicked out of his unit = we move. He then told me to contact his chain of command for a recommendation. He said there was a whole group of guys getting screwed (and the group as a whole only had ten minutes to use the phone). He said they were going to try to talk to the Sgt Maj again on Monday and see if they could get the admin drop after all. In the past guys that have been recycled have always gotten passes. This is ludicrous, and they are being fucked with. There is already an investigation going on some of the Ranger Instructors for corruption and overall bad behavior, per the Army times; one RI was even allegedly taking guys off post to work on his OWN HOME. It really makes you think twice about the integrity of the entity handing out Ranger Tabs. What does the tab really mean? Maybe it just means you helped build a house. I dunno.

So last night after talking to Joe, I got in touch with both his squad and platoon leaders. They think this is crap too and that Joe should not be treated this way, as this is not the usual SOP for the Training Brigade (again, his unit is NOT a part of the RTB). His PL said he'd be taking this to the 1Sgt Monday and that 1Sgt would then take it up with the RTB. In other words, this ain't right. It was good to hear Joe's PL tell me that Joe is one of their best guys and that they will go to bat for him. He also acknowledged how the ball was dropped with me in the last few weeks, and he apologized for that. Because of that, I feel like now we might actually get a little help. It just sucks that I have no way to tell Joe about this recent development. I can imagine that he is sitting over there in a panic. I at least hope he's able to get some rest in an actual bed and eat a decent meal. At the very least, it was indicated that if nothing else works, they would work to try to pull Joe out (without penalty) due to extenuating family circumstances: this holdover + my grandfather's death + Joe's own grandfather now being hospitalized after having pneumonia and suffered another stroke on top of Alzheimers. It's just a whole damn lot. I really hope we get some help this time. I trust the two guys I spoke to, as I know them and have hung out with them before. It's just the higher ranked folks above them that worry me. Either way it's in their hands now, and unfortunately there's nothing more I can do. However, I did vow to stalk both the SL and the PL if I'm not kept in the loop. And I told them both this.

With that I'm exhausted. I don't know when I'll see Joe again, but I believe his new graduation date is sometime in July. Hopefully I'll see him before that. We shall see.