Possibly going away...

Guy, I might be leaving here soon to go to a not so nice place. I got a call today about something I thought was done and over with 2 years ago and I was done going to those types of places. Turns out things have happened and I am unfortunatly a one man show for the things I do. Those of you who know me know the work I do and unfortunatly I am the only one with the knowhow, knowledge, and skillset to do this work. It would take a year of training at least to get someone else up to speed.

I am not to happy about this. I have been home for 1 Christmas in 14 years and I was looking forward to being home for this one. It sucks because even though I techncially have to agree to go if I say "NO" then it is pretty much the end of my career and now is not the time to be losing my job.

Seriously... FUCK... I am venting right now so just bear with me... I thought I was done with this shit... FUCK FUCK FUCK...

 

Doesn't sound like it's back to the good old PNW...

 

Well it might be the NW of somewhere, but it sure as fuck isnt of the Pacific.

 

I am going to assume for a moment your a contractor. If so, why in the hell would ANY company have one dude that holds all the marbles? Does not make any sense at all.

If you are military, then there has to be someone who has the same skill set.

 

I am a contractor now. I work on a one off piece of experimental equipment that NO ONE else in the world has. its a pretty cool high tech piece of kit. I deployed it a few years back, everyone loved it and wanted it. It did a lot of good but the brass said no so we brought it home and it was shelved. Now apparently the right person wants it and wants it yesterday. That being said, I am the ONLY field engineer for it.

I also have the unique ability to fix almost anything always as being prior military with combat background so its easy for me to just be dropped in the middle of a unit and hit the ground running and fit right in.

Technically I have to say yes for them to send me. The shit thing is I have a special skill set that would take up to a year to train the next person on and that assumes they would come in with the same background as I have (which is unlikely). If I say no they would have to keep me around long enough to at least get someone else proficient in what I do but would ultimately be the demise of my career right when I was supposed to be transfering business units so I wouldnt have to do this anymore.

I have missed 14 out of the last 15 christmases at home. I was excited about this one. I just started seeing a new girl, shit was looking up with a somewhat stable life coming along and now this shit.

Part of me says yes go because there is no one else to do my job and no one else I know of can do it better. The other part says NO because I have paid my dues and so far to date come back with all of my fingers and toes and I cant keep pushing my luck. I am not allowed to be armed but at the same time I do leave the gate but must rely on the military/private security for my safety which I HATE.

FUCK.... Which way do I go???

 

WHere do you have to go and why is it for so long?

 

Interesting....

What is your combat background?

 

Crazy shit man. Sorry. You have a tough decision to make. If you say no to this, you won't be able to get on with another contracting company elsewhere?

 

Afghanistan was convoys, escort, and detainee ops, Iraq was convoy and then counter IDF. As a civilian I have done counter IDF and some specialized tech stuff. I was one of the first waves of USN to start filling in to take the support roles from the army the first time around. The I got pulled to do the counter IDF stuff the second time because it use my system in the Navy. My background in the USN is the Phalanx, FP, SAMI, Armorer, stuff like that. Pretty much weapons and FP my whole time and now I do a lot like that.


Scott... A not so nice place and it would most likely be 6-12 months at least.

Contracting is not what I want to do. I enjoy the speciality of what I do on the equipment I currently work on. While I am sure I couldnt find another job with other companies doing contracting work, thats the issue. I thought I was done doing stuff over there.

 

Don't you just hate being dependable??? I think I missed about 7 / 12 Christmas's. I say give them a stipulation that you go but it's time to find someone to train on said device. I went through that crap too when I was in, it sucks.

 

I feel for you tremendously, I couldn't imagine having to do this. A good friend of mine has been in the Military for 22 years now and is in and out of his family’s life an awful lot. The last time he was gone it was for 7 months, he just recently came back. He’ll be leaving again here shortly for another 3. I see how this wears on him and the damage to his kids and wife is evident. He doesn’t like hearing me say this, but the life he lives is the result of a choice. He made the decision to join and continues to make the decision to stay in. I hope his family stays strong because it would be devastating for him to loose his family over being gone all the time.

In your case you don’t have the wife and kids, but I’m sure the feeling of having no life is the same; you eat, breath, and are devoted to the line of work you do and feel trapped.

Good luck with whatever decision you make, your need to vent is truly understandable.

 

You have a choice. You don't have to go. End of your career? If you truly are the only person who knows this then you hold all the cards, not them. Stop letting people use you. Tell them to send someone else to learn OJT and that you will offer to train a few people on it over the next year. Stateside. Time to put your foot down.

 

Its not like I would lose my job immediatly, but in the business unit I am in its definatly looked negatively on and the start of your downward slide if you turn down deployments. I took this job knowing that I would be deploying but I am in the middle of a transfer to a differant business unit where I wouldnt be deploying, mainly engineering work.

We all thought this project was shelved, dead and gone until we got a phone call today from the military program office about it. That is the reason there is no one else because no one thought it would go anwhere after the last deployment. Even the military thought it was over. The other issue is they NEED this over there fast so that really only leaves me until they can get someone over to do some OJT.

Trust me, I am the most out spoken person at my work. Thats half the fun of doing what I do is telling people to shove it. Ask the guys that know me on here, I enjoy being king asshole on my block most days. It was just the suddenness and unexpectedness that this all came about, literally no warning what so ever.

 

Damn...

 

http://youtu.be/k55NuWQCh78

 

Either way you decide to go, I thank you deeply for your service to the country.

 

Thanks man. I am in a better spot today. I still dont know much more than yesterday but hopefully I find more today. It was just a shock to me, I really was just absolutely taken by suprise...

It seriously was like getting a phone call out of the blue from a girl you fucked once 2 years ago and her saying "HI, remember me? Yea, I had a kid and its yours. I will talk with you about it more later, BYE!" and then hang up on you. Just complete shock and dismay. I am still not happy about it but now I have to wade through the pile of shit to find the corn kernal of truth. LoL Nice analogy huh!!!

FLETCH, nice video. LOL


Its not so much a matter of IF I go for me. But I will definatly put conditions on it and make the ultimatum that this is the last time and I want to be transfered to the new business unit before I go. That way when i come back I am set to roll into the position I was supposed to.

 

Thanks, that was great.
Fantastic series.
"Your mission Jim, should you decide to accept it ........"

 

That sucks bro. I know exactly what your feeling too. Shit sucks but you have to do what you have to do. I turned down a very high paying job because I have already spent so much time away from my family that I needed some time to be around them. I would rather die happy, loved, and cared for than rich. But I understand also the bills and everything that have to be paid. I hope everything works out no matter what it is you choose. You seem like a great guy and I know you have done more than necessary to deserve some time at home. Good luck and thanks for everything amigo.