17 December 2007
I'm finally within 30 days of flying back home after my year here in Korea. It's been quite the ride to say the least. Now that I'm getting close to leaving along with people I met when I first got here during our in-processing, it's starting to make me think about everything I've done, all the people I've met. It's amazing to me to look back at who made big impacts in not only my personal life but my professional life. Some people I only knew for a mater of weeks, others I've known since I landed at Incheon Airport.
Like any job, any place you live there are things I'm excited to leave behind me. I've been 'hand picked' to do a couple jobs which if they had been explained to me correctly, or at least treated as important rather than an annoyance that had to be completed, I would have put forth a little more effort and maybe enjoyed them. But since here in a 1 year tour people loose touch with the 'why is this important/relevant' in things and simply replace it with the 'because I said so' tactic. If nothing else, these jobs have taught me the type of leader I want to become, the things I want to change if I am ever in a position where I can more easily change things.
One aspect of my job that I have become maybe a little over zealous about is my branch. As a Medical Service female officer, I am occasionally told that because of my rank and inability to serve in Combat Arms (infantry and tankers) that I do not have all the answers and 'I don't know' doesn't cut it. Because of that, I have taken it personally to learn about the Medical Service Corps and understand it better than the Lieutenant Colonels in this unit. It frustrates me to see people not care about medical when I joined the Medical Corps to be part of healing the Soldiers.
Our Unit just spent a week in the field doing joint training focusing on Medical Evacuation and Treatment at different levels. A lot of things were done inefficiently and in my opinion at a very low level of success. But for whatever reason the Medical Officers in our unit were the only ones who were not asked to be part of the planning or part of the evaluation. It's made me excited for my next job where I'll hopefully have the leniency from my Chain of Command to make positive changes, especially since I will be going to a deployable unit and not a stagnant unit like the one here.
Apart from the disappointing training value of the field, and the fact that I was once again sick in the field, it's nice to get away from the monotony of garrison life and work. The day temperatures averaged about 40 and the nights 20 if we were lucky, but we had heaters and a pretty good sleeping bag so it was kind of fun. We had more than enough food after a minor mix up in who was going to be providing us with food and water, and the Soldiers have become close and enthusiastic. It's rare to see them in a bad mood, even when they're told to do something that is so far from their job that it's embarrassing. The Soldiers make it worth it for me to stick out the part of the Army and my job I detest. I feel that with my rank and hard headedness I owe it to them to fight for them. I've been yelled at my share of times, but every time I just look at the officer who out ranks me and wonder if they really care, or if they just don't want to deal with it. Hopefully more people who care start staying in the Army and get rewarded with jobs where they make a positive difference. And until then, I'm on half day schedules for the Holidays and then on my way home!
Like any job, any place you live there are things I'm excited to leave behind me. I've been 'hand picked' to do a couple jobs which if they had been explained to me correctly, or at least treated as important rather than an annoyance that had to be completed, I would have put forth a little more effort and maybe enjoyed them. But since here in a 1 year tour people loose touch with the 'why is this important/relevant' in things and simply replace it with the 'because I said so' tactic. If nothing else, these jobs have taught me the type of leader I want to become, the things I want to change if I am ever in a position where I can more easily change things.
One aspect of my job that I have become maybe a little over zealous about is my branch. As a Medical Service female officer, I am occasionally told that because of my rank and inability to serve in Combat Arms (infantry and tankers) that I do not have all the answers and 'I don't know' doesn't cut it. Because of that, I have taken it personally to learn about the Medical Service Corps and understand it better than the Lieutenant Colonels in this unit. It frustrates me to see people not care about medical when I joined the Medical Corps to be part of healing the Soldiers.
Our Unit just spent a week in the field doing joint training focusing on Medical Evacuation and Treatment at different levels. A lot of things were done inefficiently and in my opinion at a very low level of success. But for whatever reason the Medical Officers in our unit were the only ones who were not asked to be part of the planning or part of the evaluation. It's made me excited for my next job where I'll hopefully have the leniency from my Chain of Command to make positive changes, especially since I will be going to a deployable unit and not a stagnant unit like the one here.
Apart from the disappointing training value of the field, and the fact that I was once again sick in the field, it's nice to get away from the monotony of garrison life and work. The day temperatures averaged about 40 and the nights 20 if we were lucky, but we had heaters and a pretty good sleeping bag so it was kind of fun. We had more than enough food after a minor mix up in who was going to be providing us with food and water, and the Soldiers have become close and enthusiastic. It's rare to see them in a bad mood, even when they're told to do something that is so far from their job that it's embarrassing. The Soldiers make it worth it for me to stick out the part of the Army and my job I detest. I feel that with my rank and hard headedness I owe it to them to fight for them. I've been yelled at my share of times, but every time I just look at the officer who out ranks me and wonder if they really care, or if they just don't want to deal with it. Hopefully more people who care start staying in the Army and get rewarded with jobs where they make a positive difference. And until then, I'm on half day schedules for the Holidays and then on my way home!
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