Sacked!

Hello Everyone,

It has been a pretty interesting week which was officially only one day long.  We worked this past Sunday, had Mon/Tues/Wed off for 4th of Jul, and back on Thurs which is the last day of our work week.

We came in Thurs morning to find out that the Commanding General canned my boss, the director of plans and operations as well as the senior enlisted Marine (Operations Chief).

I had come to the conclusion after my first week in Bahrain that these two were trouble.   My boss was a mean spirited vindictive bully and his Ops Chief, cloaked in our bosses authority, thought he could get away with anything and was untouchable.

The Ops Chief was on a plane back to Tampa within 24 hours pending an investigation surrounding the circumstances which got him in trouble.  He got reported for doing something he has probably been getting away with for years and the institution has no tolerance for.  I believe that my boss was relieved for creating the caustic work environment which continued to enable the Ops Chief to do this.  That is all I will say about that.

Needless to say, the office went from a "keep your head down and don't make eye contact" to one of smiles and relief.  I hope they both get what they deserve.

Additionally, we recently had our Deputy Commander report aboard, have a new Commanding General as of yesterday (the previous Commanding General has been here for 2 years and it was his normal time to rotate out), my shop will be getting a new boss soon, and we have a great Chief of Staff.  Things are looking up.

I managed to get my trip to Oman rescheduled and don't expect any changes in my trip to Tampa which is scheduled for 15-20 Jul.  I will see relatives while I am there and might even get to see my daughter, assuming I will have a layover in Dulles.  Sarah is starting a 2 week adventure to the east coast and will be with her Aunt who lives 15 minutes from the airport.  During her second week of travel, she will be headed south to spend some time with Jodi and Chase.

This past 4th of Jul was the second one that I have spent on foreign soil in the trailing 4 years.  I can tell you that I certainly appreciate what the 4th of Jul means living in the Middle East.  Many ideas outlined in the Declaration of Independence don't apply here.

Until next time,
Michael