THE BEGINNING OF SUMMER

It's Friday night and normally at this time I'm either at relaxing at home with the family, going to synagogue, or given it's Memorial Day weekend, hanging out at the outdoor pool that just opened. So Happy Memorial Day weekend. Have a nice weekend but take a moment to remember what it's really about.

It is now getting into the hot weather season and it can get warm here. I'm in my air conditioned office much of the time but I do get out to see what's going on in the compound. It's hot just for those few minutes. A few days ago it was over 107 degrees. I have this image of the movie, "The Chronicles of Riddick" with Van Diesel. One part of the movie takes place on a 'prison' planet (think Australia many years ago) where the prisoners are kept many miles below the surface. When the sun rises, anything on the surface is immediately burned to a crisp, including humans. Iraq's not that hot, thankfully. We haven't seen the worst of the heat yet so I'm getting psyched for the full effect. I guess I need to experience 'really hot' so when someone says it's hot in Atlanta, I can tell them they have no idea.

I rode my bike to the pool and swam again. While I don't sweat much even in the middle of the day, my mouth gets really dry. Again, the lack of humidity plays out differently than back home. Tomorrow I run in the monthly 5K run. Many of my Supply folks participate so I must keep face and do the same. Last week I watched a bunch of guys compete in the strong man competition. Wow!! There were some incredible lifting challenges and I could only watch in awe. It turns out that endurance is as important as strength. I think some of those guys learned that lesson the hard way.

I had an interesting experience at work recently. One of my enlisted personnel felt there was some disrespect going on in the chain of command. It turns out some time ago that a few of my Leading Petty Officers (LPO) and Chief have said a few things out loud about me that this enlisted sailor heard and recorded on paper (he tends to keep notes). So I'm reading his notes and wondering how I should feel about this. Actually I wasn't mad at all. I almost find it humerous upon reflection. I told myself a few years ago that I would not concern myself about people's opinion of me as long as I was fair, honest, and respectful of them. After that, it's all about getting the mission done. I'd like to earn their respect for being fair and honest, but I never expected to feel the 'love'. So I was hardly offended at the comments. Frankly the issue was not what they said about me but the danger of showing disrespect publicly. It's detrimental to good leadership, plain and simple.

Part of the challenge is that I was 'parachuted' in at the last minute to the unit, I am quite a few ranks more senior than they are used to, and I am not as pliable as a junior officer would be. They (the enlisted Supply leadership) have been in the Battalion for many years and have probably, for the most part, given direction to the Supply Officer. So I understand where they are coming from. Anyways, I met with my Chief to discuss the issue and approached it in a very positive manner. I explained how much I appreciate his expertise and that the Department would not be the success it is without his knowledge and leadership. I repeated my modus operandi of asking for their input on key decisions. However, that does not mean I will automatically do what they recommend. I do consider their advice and then make the best decision I can, based on all the facts I have at hand. Once I make that decision, I expect it to be carried out as one team with no dissent. I explained that it's important that the junior enlisted only know the final decision, not what went on behind closed doors. He understood. I told him to work with the LPOs and make it a general leadership training topic as opposed to pointing fingers. If things weren't challenging out here, something would probably be wrong. Other departments have had discipline issues resulting in Captain's mast (where punishment is meted out). We've been fortunate to avoid that.

We get another day off this weekend in honor of Memorial Day. That means a cook out of burgers (yeh burgers) at noon, followed by Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning off. That, is a good weekend for us. All that's missing is the beer or in my case, the cider.

My hockey team lost in the playoffs but certainly gave a great accounting of themselves. I'm still trying to catch the playoffs on TV. I just don't want to get up at 3:00 in the morning to see it. Hopefully this weekend I'll catch some games.

Loretta's sister, Carol, is in from Calgary and the family is delighted to have her with them. Erica graduates Saturday and so Carol will be there to see this exciting event. She will be with the girls for 10 days so it should be a nice visit. Congratulations Erica! Hannah has finished Grade 7 and has one more year of Middle school, then off to High school. She had a good year. Great work Hannah!

I've got to get my beauty sleep for tomorrow's 5K run. It's not too far but I don't run well in the AM. I need more time to lubricate my joints but at least it won't be too hot at that time of day.

Again, have an enjoyable Memorial Day Weekend.