N.A.S.A.
I think I've developed N.A.S.A - New Age Soldier Allergy.
As I've mentioned, I was on duty on Saturday. My shift was from 8am on Saturday till 8am today, Sunday.
This morning, one of my tasks was to dispatch 02 soldiers to another camp located elsewhere on the island at 0700hrs. One driver was detailed to drive them to their reporting location.
The standard arrangement was for these 3 guys to report to me at 0645hrs before I send them off at 0700hrs.
Well, the 2 soldiers reported to me at 0640hrs, all well and good, ready to depart. However, by 0650hrs, the driver was nowhere in sight. A call was made to the driver's company line office but his colleague said he was already on the way to report to me. So I waited.
At 0710hrs, I received a call. From the driver. Here was how the conversation went.
Driver: "Hello ? Ops Room ? I am the duty driver. The dispatch detail will be late 'cos it is raining heavily."
I was already irritated by the driver who did not report to me on time. I nearly exploded when I heard his "opening speech".
Me: "What ? Are you giving me an order ? Or are you instructing me what to do ?"
Driver: "No, no. Our superior say we can delay the detail if the weather condition is very bad."
Me: "Which superior ? What's his rank and name ?"
Driver: "Our Specialist"
Me: "Get him on the line"
Driver: "He's sleeping"
Me: "Do you have any printed instruction on what he said ?"
To which, the driver said: "Hello, I talked to you nicely. Could you talk nicely back to me ?"
That was the last straw for me. What right did he have to demand that I talk nicely to him ? Just because he talked nicely to me ? WTF ?
Me: "I want you to report to me right now. In the Ops Room. This is an order."
Driver: "Ok." Hey, whatever happened to "Yes, Sir!" ?
10 minutes later, in the Ops Room, the driver stood in front of me as if his backbone wasn't there. Alright, I could overlook this point. He walked in the rain to reach the Ops Room. However, he actually had the cheek to ask me again: "Staff, I talked to you nicely on the phone, can you talk to me nicely or not ?"
Me: "Why must I ? Do I owe you this courtesy ? "
Driver: "Yes! Because I talked to you nicely what, Staff."
I was really boiling over. I stared right into his eyes hard for a full minute and I said icily to him.
Me: "You were supposed to report to me at 0645hrs. Now the time is already 0720hrs. 2 soldiers are waiting for their dispatch and 2 other soldiers at another location are waiting for your vehicle to fetch them back so that they can book out and rest."
Driver retorted: "But I was already in camp at 0645hrs what. I was at my company line office."
Me: "You were already in camp by 0645hrs and why didn't you report to me then, instead at 0710hrs ?"
Driver: "Oh 'cos its raining what."
I almost bit his head off. Grrr...
Me: "You could have called me at 0645hrs and told me that its raining heavily and you wished to delay the dispatch. But you didn't. And you are asking me to talk to you nicely ?"
Realisation hit him and he looked down "Sorry staff. It was my fault."
Me: "Apologising to me is useless. You should apologise to the 4 soldiers who are all waiting for your vehicle. Go."
With that, he left.
What was that all about ? Soldiers nowadays are so pampered. Superiors can no longer scold or tell them off unnecessarily. Gone are the days when every order is responded with "Yes, Sir!" Now when an order is given, soldiers ask "Why ? " Back in the good ol' days, we would have been punished with at least 20 push-ups. Scold our young soldiers now, no matter inclusive of vulgarities or not, they'd run straight to their MPs and those who are directly involved in the scolding, would be investigated.
Perhaps I should have let it go. Or was the control freak in me trying to take over, just like what Alison commented ? I'm not sure myself. I mean, this is the military, for crying out loud. Its not like a walk in the park where people smile at one another and exchange polite greetings.
Anyway, I'm left with 20 more months of my contract, and I'm leaving. I've had enough of these "thinking soldiers".
As I've mentioned, I was on duty on Saturday. My shift was from 8am on Saturday till 8am today, Sunday.
This morning, one of my tasks was to dispatch 02 soldiers to another camp located elsewhere on the island at 0700hrs. One driver was detailed to drive them to their reporting location.
The standard arrangement was for these 3 guys to report to me at 0645hrs before I send them off at 0700hrs.
Well, the 2 soldiers reported to me at 0640hrs, all well and good, ready to depart. However, by 0650hrs, the driver was nowhere in sight. A call was made to the driver's company line office but his colleague said he was already on the way to report to me. So I waited.
At 0710hrs, I received a call. From the driver. Here was how the conversation went.
Driver: "Hello ? Ops Room ? I am the duty driver. The dispatch detail will be late 'cos it is raining heavily."
I was already irritated by the driver who did not report to me on time. I nearly exploded when I heard his "opening speech".
Me: "What ? Are you giving me an order ? Or are you instructing me what to do ?"
Driver: "No, no. Our superior say we can delay the detail if the weather condition is very bad."
Me: "Which superior ? What's his rank and name ?"
Driver: "Our Specialist"
Me: "Get him on the line"
Driver: "He's sleeping"
Me: "Do you have any printed instruction on what he said ?"
To which, the driver said: "Hello, I talked to you nicely. Could you talk nicely back to me ?"
That was the last straw for me. What right did he have to demand that I talk nicely to him ? Just because he talked nicely to me ? WTF ?
Me: "I want you to report to me right now. In the Ops Room. This is an order."
Driver: "Ok." Hey, whatever happened to "Yes, Sir!" ?
10 minutes later, in the Ops Room, the driver stood in front of me as if his backbone wasn't there. Alright, I could overlook this point. He walked in the rain to reach the Ops Room. However, he actually had the cheek to ask me again: "Staff, I talked to you nicely on the phone, can you talk to me nicely or not ?"
Me: "Why must I ? Do I owe you this courtesy ? "
Driver: "Yes! Because I talked to you nicely what, Staff."
I was really boiling over. I stared right into his eyes hard for a full minute and I said icily to him.
Me: "You were supposed to report to me at 0645hrs. Now the time is already 0720hrs. 2 soldiers are waiting for their dispatch and 2 other soldiers at another location are waiting for your vehicle to fetch them back so that they can book out and rest."
Driver retorted: "But I was already in camp at 0645hrs what. I was at my company line office."
Me: "You were already in camp by 0645hrs and why didn't you report to me then, instead at 0710hrs ?"
Driver: "Oh 'cos its raining what."
I almost bit his head off. Grrr...
Me: "You could have called me at 0645hrs and told me that its raining heavily and you wished to delay the dispatch. But you didn't. And you are asking me to talk to you nicely ?"
Realisation hit him and he looked down "Sorry staff. It was my fault."
Me: "Apologising to me is useless. You should apologise to the 4 soldiers who are all waiting for your vehicle. Go."
With that, he left.
What was that all about ? Soldiers nowadays are so pampered. Superiors can no longer scold or tell them off unnecessarily. Gone are the days when every order is responded with "Yes, Sir!" Now when an order is given, soldiers ask "Why ? " Back in the good ol' days, we would have been punished with at least 20 push-ups. Scold our young soldiers now, no matter inclusive of vulgarities or not, they'd run straight to their MPs and those who are directly involved in the scolding, would be investigated.
Perhaps I should have let it go. Or was the control freak in me trying to take over, just like what Alison commented ? I'm not sure myself. I mean, this is the military, for crying out loud. Its not like a walk in the park where people smile at one another and exchange polite greetings.
Anyway, I'm left with 20 more months of my contract, and I'm leaving. I've had enough of these "thinking soldiers".
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