When I served as the Chief of the Armament Maintenance Branch for the Deputy Chief of Staff, Matériel, 19th Support Command, Camp Henry, South Korea, my first major project was the fielding of the M1 tank for United States Forces Korea (USFK), Eighth United States Army (EUSA), and the 2nd infantry division. I previously had many site visits that I conducted in conjunction with that fielding project. One of my fielding sites was the 227th Maintenance Battalion at Yongsan Garrison in Seoul. I had previously been to the 227th Maintenance Battalion fielding site twice and their requirements were well documented. They had almost new maintenance facilities that met all of the requisite standards to accommodate the M1 tank. Where they would need augmentation and support prior to fielding the M1 tank were in the areas of personnel augmentation, specialized tools augmentation, and personnel training support. So, imagine my surprise when the commanding general of the 19th Support Command walked into the Directorate of Matériel with my boss and approached me like I was one of the boys. Well, I was one of the boys but not one of those boys. I didn’t exactly run in the general’s circle if you catch my drift. Not that he had a circle to run in. Cuz I’m not even sure that he even ran for exercise or any other reason for that matter. He just didn’t strike me as the running type of guy. If you know what I mean. Anyway, as I was saying, the general and my boss approached me like I was one of the boys. Whenever they do that they put you in a situation where you’re always second-guessing yourself. You know. You’re asking the next question, “What in the hell is this all about? What did I do?” Like of course, you obviously did something (something not good), otherwise why would they be coming to visit you in person. Normally, they would just have somebody ask you to come to visit them. Not the other way around. But when you have really screwed up, they just can’t wait for you to show up at their office so that they can put a boot straight up your ass. Oh, hell no. That just would not do at all. So, they have to come out to visit you right quick and in a hurry while they’re all worked up and in a rage. That way, they’ll be good and pissed off when they put that boot straight up your ass. So, you are just sitting there waiting for the hammer to fall. And the sweat is just rolling off of you. A cold, bone chilling sweat. And this ain’t no ordinary hammer. This is a certified sledgehammer guaranteed to put a world of hurt on anybody. That’s a fact. They walk up to your desk all matter-of-factly and clear their throats, as if you didn’t know that they were there. Yeah right. I think everybody in the whole goddamn building knew that they were there. The only people missing were the goddamn reporters for the local newspaper. Hell, while we’re at it why don’t we just televise the event? Then, the general spoke, “Wright, I need you to go up to Seoul to visit the commander of the 227th Maintenance Battalion ASAP.” I damn near fell out of my chair. I thought for sure that I was in trouble. But no. The general was asking me to go on a boondoggle of sorts to Seoul to visit some Colonel about some bullshit meeting. I had to know more. I asked, “Excuse me Sir, do you know what this meeting is about?” “I do not. Lieutenant Colonel Kirk did not tell me what the meeting was about. But I assume that it is about the M1 fielding project.” I looked at him and then my boss and said, “That doesn’t make any sense, Sir. I’ve already had two meetings with all the key stakeholders in the Battalion and we have identified all of their requirements.” “Maybe Lieutenant Colonel Kirk isn’t happy with the requirements list.” “That’s impossible, Sir. He is the one who signed off on it. I don’t think he would’ve signed off on something if he wasn’t happy with it. But if you say I need to go up there, I’ll go over and book a trip right now.” “Wright, I’m telling you to go book that trip.” “Yes sir.” So, I went over to the travel office and booked a one-day trip up to Seoul. If I left at 8:00 AM in the morning on the blue train, I would get to Seoul station by 11:00 AM. And I could be in Lieutenant Colonel Kirk’s office by 11:30 AM. I called his office to schedule an appointment. Once I had my name inked into his calendar for 11:30 AM, I solidified my plans. Everything was set up. I booked the return trip to leave Seoul station at 2:00 PM. That would put me back in Taegu by 5:00 PM and at home no later than 6:00 PM. When I got to Lieutenant Colonel Kirk’s office, I announced that I was there to see Lieutenant Colonel Kirk for an M1 fielding project meeting. However, I was intercepted by the Battalion executive officer. The executive officer introduced himself and told me that I wasn’t there about the M1 fielding project. Okay. That immediately raised some red flags. I asked, “Excuse me Sir, if I’m not here about the M1 fielding project, then exactly why in the hell am I here?” The XO replied, “Captain Masters, we’ve heard some very good things about you.” “Gee, that’s nice. So, am I here for a reason, or am I just wasting my time? Cuz this site visit sure smells like a waste of time.” “What does a waste of time smell like Captain Masters?” “Like this is beginning to smell.” “And how is that?” “Have you ever been on a farm, Sir?” “Not since I was a kid?” “Well, just drive by a rice paddy in the spring some time or a honey wagon in the summertime. You’ll get the idea.” “Are you saying it smells like shit” “I didn’t say that Sir. You did. But if the shoe fits?!?” Then his phone buzzed, and he picked it up. When he hung up, he said, “The Battalion commander will see you now.” So, I walked in and reported to the Battalion commander. Basically, my meeting with the Battalion commander lasted all of five minutes. He asked me only one question. That question was, “Captain Masters, if you had all of your druthers and got to choose the company of your choice to command, which company out of all of the companies in the Army would you choose?” I thought about his question for a minute and said, “Well, Sir, it’s like this. I know that there’s a pecking order for commands to be doled out to people waiting in line for a command. I also know that I’ve already had one command. And I know that Department of the Army knows that I can retire at 20 years of service without ever doing another command or anything else for that matter. But having said that, if I could have another command, I would love to command the 595th Maintenance Company. Cuz that is a company that I think that I could do some things with and take some places. Oh well. Wishful thinking.” “Okay. Well then, that’ll be all. Have a good day Captain Masters.” And that was the end of the meeting. What a bullshit meeting. If it was supposed to be a site meeting, it was a waste of time. And as a waste of time I felt that I had gone on a day-long exercise in futility.
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