The Good Chief

Now, I've talked about my chief numerous times in previous posts to this, but I don't think I ever headlined with him, nor mention him in my title. Both could be considered quite an honor in my little world. Either way, I'm going to owe someone a beer, and by the time I'm done with this story, you will know why.

So there I was, knocking out some prescriptions in Yokosuka still (remember how I'm here till June 30th). I probably had done close to a 1,000 by then, and the LPO (leading petty officer) came up with a printed email. It had something to do with 'c' schools. A 'c' school is like where I went to pharmacy tech school; it's an advanced training program. Other examples of 'c' schools in the corpsmen rate would be radiology tech, nuclear med tech, cardiology tech, aviation med tech, and dive med tech. It's the last one here that caught my attention as we should all know by now. On top of that, it's what was said about DMT school. It was a hot-fill billet. That means it's a critically manned position. If there was ever a break to be caught, this was my day.

About 5 minutes after reading that I was on the phone with Sasebo's career councelors telling them let's get something started on this. I received an email back saying I need to call the detailer and ask permission if they would release me from my current NEC as a pharm tech. Knowing this would be an uphill battle I emailed my chief and asked him what I should do. He replied back saying that we could conference call the detailer together that night. This got the juices flowing, and rightly so! That night I stayed up till 2200 (0800 in Millington, TN where the detailer was), and waited for a phone call. When nothing happened I decided to take manners into my own hands. I didn't know if Chief was held up, or what, but patience is something I was never really good at. I had to know!

I wish I didn't call. My phone call was maybe 3:30 minutes long. Essentially what I was told was even though it was a hot-fill and critically manned, I would not even be considered because I was only 1 full year into my obligserv as a pharm tech. On top of that I would need at least 2 full years to be looked at. Nothing else mattered. I thanked her for my time, and slept depressed. I woke up depressed, and went through my day depressed. My entire day I was making stupid mistakes that were more uncharacteristic than normal, and I was getting really angry, but no one was to blame or subject to get yelled at except myself. It was all very sad to see me unravel. I was thinking about next duty stations as a pharm tech, and after my experience here in Yoko I knew a big command was out of the question. Possbily a ship in Washington State or New England region. I wanted to go somewhere cold. I even flirted with the idea of a submarine possibly.

Then I was talking to my friend, Darryl. He said he talked to Chief, and was calling me a dumbass for calling the detailer by myself. Chief then told Darryl that tonight was going to be the night he'd call the detailer. Apparently I wasn't the only junior sailor he had to bat for. I was told to expect a phone call from him later on that night.

There I was, in a bar Friday night still depressed watching the world cup with my friends. It was the Serbia vs. Germany game which we dubbed The Battle of Revenge: Serb Jews vs. The Nazis. 2215 rolled by, and sure enough Chief Bennett calls me asking for my social security number. Remember that I was in a bar, and it was very crowded, as most Japanese bars are tiny. I had to quickly dash outside into the rain, stealing someone's umbrella as I went. That phone call lasted maybe 90 seconds, and he said he'd call me back. There I waited in the bar trying to not get my hopes up having just had the discussion with the detailer 24 hours ago.

A half hour later I get a phone call from Chief. It went like this:
Chief: When do you get back to Sasebo again, shipmate?
Me: June 30th, Chief.
Chief: Okay, on July 1st I want a 'c' school package on my desk in the morning.
Me: You're fucking with me, right?
Chief: No, have a good night and don't get in trouble.
Me: Go USA.

I don't know what he said, or what he did, but he did it. HMC Bennett will forever be called The Good Chief. I don't care what anyone said, he has given me a chance at real Happiness in this institution we call the Navy. I want to romanticize the conversation he had with the detailer by him really throwing those anchors around and telling them who is the boss and reminding them that's it's the chiefs who run the navy. Who cares, I owe him a beer, or something. In reality he hasn't drank since 1994 so I will have to dig deeper into my bag of originality. Shouldn't be too hard. If this all pans out (and it's projected to) I owe him a lot.

Besides that, there really isn't much else to share! I watch all the world cup that I can. The USA vs. Slovenia game was intense. Having just heard the news from Chief I was on cloud 9. It got a little hairy, but to come back from a 2-0 defecit was just as intoxicating to all the beers before that. When we scored we had to decide on a shot, how fitting it was to be in Japan and call Kamakazi's for the group.

Tell you what though, the world cup is something else. I don't typically watch soccer, but it's the world's sport, and it's that sport's biggest event. There is a lot of national pride at stake, and it's interesting being in a foreign country where winning and losing in this tournament means something. Too bad the Japanese team sucks. I blame it on them being so short and having to run twice as fast as everyone else, and how that can get tiring I can only imagine. So in other words, world cup is big news here in Japan, but American coverage is limited. Thank you ESPN.com

Haven't gone to Tokyo, yet. Next weekend is my last weekend here in Yoko, and that will have to be the encore. I'm getting very excited. Sorry no pictures posted just yet, and I'm not sure when news will be put up either. I'm a little concerned because my camera software is on my old laptop, and it shuts down after every 5 minutes or so. That is a little worrisome.

Alright, time to go for now. Things are good. Only 8 more working days up here with one more weekend. Sasebo, I'm coming home! Morale is high.