Things never change.

Good morning Airman Fischer. How are you today? Good, you say? well.. we will have to see what we can do about that. How is you in-processing going? Well good, I am glad you helped out your fellow Airman. So you are both done then? Oh you can only speak for yourself. Actually you aren't done. You know all that training your last base had you do before you were allowed to leave? Yes all of that, we need you to do it again. Oh no its not the same stuff... I don't care if you have proof you just did it all two months ago. This version is Kunsan specific. To find it, all you have to do is go to the websites where you did all of your other training and click re-accomplish. Once you have done that print the certificate and give me a copy. No its different.. I don't care how similar it looks.

-TWO HOURS LATER-

Hey Airman Fischer! what makes you think I want some thing? I need to talk to you about our additional duty roster. We are losing most of the people in the shop over the next two months so, we all need to pick up six additional duties. Yes, I know its six times as many as anywhere else but.. that's Kunsan for you. Since you mentioned earlier that you had done this one before we are going to put you on that one. Don't worry there are two others on the program. You are just going to be an alternate. Actually Airman So-and-so is working on that now, let him show you how its done here.

-TWENTY MINUTES LATER-

Hey Fischer, hows it goin? yeah I know how you feel. Oh.. Me.. I am just taking care of inventory of this week. What do you mean I am doing it wrong? What do you mean our labels are wrong? Whats that? Oh.. so the monthly report needs to be printed monthly not yearly. Really! the semi-annual needs printed every.. oh. whats that? So what you are saying is the program is one huge write up waiting to happen. Hmm.. well that's how I was taught to do it. We haven't been written up yet. Besides how wrong could it be? I mean we just pencil whip the paper work for that stuff there.. And, that stuff we just hide if quality assurance comes in to poke around. What? why are you shaking your head at me?

-A LONG TEN MINUTES LATER-

Well you are going to be assisting on the program now. So, you can help fix it.

-TWO MINUTES LATER-

Hey I just re-did the appointment letter for this program and I figured since you know more about it than anyone.. And, despite the fact you are the lowest ranking on the program by a few stripes. You are the primary! CONGRATS!

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I like my job I really do. Its not difficult and, there are parts that I actually find fun. However, things like "that's just the way we have always done it" upset me. The humorous part of the whole exchange is that the "program" in question has been inspected more here at Kunsan than it ever was at Shaw. Shaw I was one for two on failures. Here, these people obviously have no idea what they are doing, or what they are looking for to write it up. Part of me, on the surface, says forget it. If it has passed before why rock the boat? However, every fiber of my being below the surface is screaming to fix it. To park my but in front of a computer for the next two months, at work and fix the problems... Yeah... -hangs head in mock-shame- that's what I am going to do.