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 commanding the 305th, you will remember that I invited three general officers to my change of command. In fact, five general officers actually showed 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. Well, going by my more recent adventures, you should know that I had subsequently started working at the Eighth United States Army G4 and that the general that I went there to work for subsequently departed for a new assignment in the United States. Then the newly assigned general in charge of the Eighth United States Army G4 tried to whip all of us into shape with his new get-tough, physical training program and promptly died of a heart attack while demonstrating to us how out of shape we were. Things had then settled back down to a dull roar here at the Eighth United States Army G4. We were gearing up to take part in the Combined Forces Command (United States Forces Command, Republic of Korea Forces Command) exercise Ulchi-Focus Lens. The exercise was originally created by the Combined Forces Command in order to enhance ROK-US interoperability by training commanders and staffs from both nations in wartime planning, command-and-control operations, intelligence, logistics and personnel procedures necessary for the successful defense of the Republic of Korea. I know. I know. All of that sounds like a bunch of mumbo-jumbo. And it is. Basically, it’s an excuse for a bunch of military people to go on temporary duty to Korea for two weeks on a boondoggle. Basically I gave you all of the important highlights of the exercise while speaking of my 12 hour night shifts previously. While I was on the staff of the Eighth United States Army G4, I also had time to relax and spend more personal time working out and relaxing with my family. In the evenings, when I was working out in the gym with my buddies, my wife would have me sort of babysit the kids while she took time to unwind with her friends. That was cool because my kids and my weightlifting buddies’ kids would generally play together right outside the gym. As a result, we could keep a collective eye on them. Over time, as I worked out with my weightlifting buddies, conversation gradually migrated toward conversation of running in the ‘Hash’. A Hash Run is a noncompetitive run, organized by an international social group or club known as the Hash House Harriers. I had heard about the Hash House Harriers several times previously, both here in Korea and At military bases in the United States. The Hash was always described to me as a running club with a drinking problem or a drinking club with a running problem. I heard all of the stories about running and drinking and drinking and running and basically getting drunk. And I essentially formed some negative opinions about what the Hash was. Basically, all of my opinions were formed on the basis of an outsider looking in using second hand knowledge and hearsay. So, when I was in command of the 305th Supply and Services Company and one of my lieutenants approached me about running in the Hash, I dismissed the idea out of hand without giving it a second thought. I couldn’t be bothered wasting time getting drunk with a bunch of other drunks when I had important work to do. However, some of my weightlifting buddies were senior officers who were also running in the Hash. They argued quite convincingly why I should at least give the Hash a try. Finally, one of my weightlifting buddies talked me into it. He convinced me to try to run in a Hash Run. My inaugural run with the Hash House Harriers was with the Yongsan Kimchi Hash House Harriers. I ultimately ended up joining the Hash House Harriers and became a lifelong member. I even got my kids to start participating in Hash Runs, but that is another story. I would find that all of the negative stereotypes that I had of the Hash House Harriers were simply unfounded. If you read the wiki page about the Hash House Harriers, you will find the original objectives that the club was organized for and which they documented in their constitution. Consider this: an international running club that has more than 1500 chapters worldwide must be doing something right. I have certainly had no exercises in futility since joining the Hash House Harriers.
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