You know that phrase your mother used to say: "If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all"? Well - that's why I haven't posted in quite awhile. Honestly - of all the things I thought would make this year difficult, the last thing I suspected was management & incompetence. But, as a friend reminded me while corresponding through email - I should've known better.
We Americans are so arrogant that we believe "we" are the best, and most qualfied when it comes to just about anything. Oh how untrue that is. I learned shortly after joining the U.S. Navy, back when I was 17 - that - at least from what I could see - the military was made up mostly of: criminals, gang members, social rejects & power trippers. Skill, patriotism, service towards country - those folks were in the minority.
Guess what? Not much has changed in the 20 years since I served. Well, not entirely true. I think we've got more patriotic active duty service members in our ranks since 9/11; guys & girls who have joined and are serving for the right purpose & right reasons. And, what I've really learned is that the highly paid contractors aren't getting those big bucks for their skill & expertise. They're getting it because apparently companies can't find enough qualified people to willingly come over here. Which, honestly, surprises me.
I've worked at a handful of medium to large sized companies. In every single company, I always managed to work with qualified peers. Those who couldn't pull their weight - left or where let go pretty quickly. Not here. Why? Especially at the amount of money some of these contractors are pulling in? I'll tell you why. Management. I have yet to run into proven, skilled and qualified managers at any level of my experience since signing up for this gig. All managers I have seen thus far were either told they were going to be placed in a lead or management role, or, the position was offered & given to junior personnel who are are not qualified. I'm all for hiring from within, but only when it warrants it - or, at the very least, there's some sort of mentoring or training program to teach them how to lead & manage.
None of that exists here. We have the blind leading the blind. From the very bottom levels of leadership all the way up to the top. Blame it on the bureacracy? Maybe. I blame it on corporate greed. The companies offering services here aren't interested in much more than the dollar. If their contract gets pulled or doesn't get renewed - no worries; they'll reform under a new name and continue to game the system.
I've never been a big complainer about "the man" - but here, well, I hate what I'm experiencing. I hate seeing the few qualified & competent people get the shaft, time and time again. I hate to see good people leave. And management - well, they don't appear to care a single bit. It's every man for himself I guess. Management feels that if their boss isn't on their back - then all is well. But when he is - then it's time to discipline the children (the workers) instead of identify problems and implement solutions.
I don't believe I've mentioned the company I work for in this blog. And from what I have seen and heard - all I've mentioned so far isn't isolated to just the company I work for. I know I did my research before coming out here - to try to get an idea of what I was in for. One website - glassdoor.com - had some scathing reviews from current employees about the company I'm currently under contract. I chose to ignore it - giving the benefit of the doubt - and wanting to believe it was just a few disgruntled employees who couldn't cut the mustard of an overseas deployment. Well, I was wrong. Those guys were likely "good guys" that the company treated like crap and let get away.
I should say too - that it's not even that I, or other people, are being "picked on" or anything like that. It's just the way things are run here. The mismangement, poor management and lack of management is just mind blowing. And there aren't any real mechanisms in place to fix things. Well - there are some - but it appears that some of the "old dogs" who've been here longer than others feel that their way is the right way and that's that. So they choose to just ignore things more often than not and hope problems just go away or get transferred away. Thank God most businesses in the states know better than to function this way. But what an utter waste of tax payer dollars.
People in the states watch the news & say Afghanistan is a mess. That's true. Except that I see how much a mess it is on so many, many levels now that I'm here and a part of it all. It's really pretty sad - and kind of depressing. I believe our purpose for being here is valid and I support it 100% - but, so much of it: what we do, how we do it, the finances of it all - just so much - is so wrong.
I'm doing my best to keep my head up - and look forward to my return to the states. As I type this - I've got 175 days left...or, with days off, 125 more actual shifts....or, 13 paychecks...yeah - 13 paychecks; that's a nice low number to hang on to and focus as my countdown timer ;)
Peace.
