Well, my days serving as the Commander of the 305th Supply and Services Company in the 227th Maintenance Battalion At Yongsan, Seoul, Korea, had come and gone. And my fantastic vacation to the island of Guam with my family had also come and gone. It’s funny how time flies when you are having fun. And it is also funny how time seems to drag on and on when you are doing something boring and mundane. If you recall my final act as the 305th commander, you will remember that I invited three general officers to my change of command ceremony. In fact, five general officers actually did show up for my change of command, three US Army general officers and two Republic of Korea Army generals. One of the three generals, the General Officer in charge of the Eighth United States Army G4 showed up because I was going to be working for him immediately after I left command and returned from Guam. I was going to work for the General Officer in charge of the Eighth United States Army G4 because I had kind of worked for him while I was assigned to the Matériel Readiness Office under the Deputy Chief of Staff, Matériel, 19th Support Command, Camp Henry, Korea. In reality, I had worked for multiple people while I held the position as the chief of the aforementioned Matériel Readiness Branch. I had worked for the Deputy Chief of Staff, Matériel, 19th Support Command. But I had also worked for the Chief of Staff, 19th Support Command, the Commanding General, 19th Support Command, and General Officer in charge of the Eighth United States Army G4. One of my duties and responsibilities while I was assigned to the Matériel Readiness Office was to participate as a member of the Eighth United States Army Command Logistics Review Team. So of course after I reported for duty at Headquarters, Eighth United States Army G4, I was again assigned almost immediately to the Eighth United States Army Command Logistics Review Team. Of course, when I first reported to the Headquarters, Eighth United States Army G4, I had to in-process, which took about three days. Then I had to take a tour of the G4, which managed to take another whole day. These guys on the general staff sure knew how to kill time. Anyway, the fifth day after I had reported for duty, I reported to the maintenance division of the Headquarters, Eighth United States Army G4, as a maintenance staff officer. The following week, I went on my first inspection as a part of the Eighth United States Army Command Logistics Review Team after being assigned to the Eighth United States Army G4. We spent a week on the road inspecting units in the 2nd Infantry Division. After we returned from that first inspection trip, I started to spend my lunch periods running with some of the other members of the inspection team. We would spend about an hour and a half running and showering during our lunch periods every day that our schedules allowed. After one particular run, I returned to my office only to find a rather enigmatic note on my desk, the note said only, “Quit ghosting.” I had no idea what the note meant because I had reported to work every single day that I had been assigned to Eighth United States Army G4. Oh, don’t get me wrong. I knew exactly what the note was trying to infer. The note was trying to infer that I was like a ghost and that I was never in the office. But that was bullshit. Except for my trip as part of the Eighth United States Army Command Logistics Review Team to inspect units in the 2nd Infantry Division and my daily PT runs during lunch, I was always in the office. So, I asked everybody in the maintenance division if they knew who had left the note on my desk. Several, including my senior rater, thought the note was humorous but nobody knew who had left it. It was starting to look like a ghost had left a note to tell me to stop ghosting. How ironic. I worked in the maintenance division of the Eighth United States Army G4 for about a year, but I never did find out who left me that cryptic note. Other than causing me a little bit of consternation and anxiety, I didn’t experience any exercises in futility beginning my new assignment or as a result of that note.
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