Beale AFB – Settling In
Day
shift had too many high ranking sergeants all needing to look
important and there was lots of emphasis on shinny shoes and neatly
pressed fatigues. The sergeants' favorite activity seemed to be
finding faults in the lower ranking guys and thanks to my AWOL
adventure, I was the lowest. I had other fine traits to help me
stand out as well. I was a bit, what they liked to call “grotty”.
My shoes usually marginally shined, my uniform clean but not that
well pressed. I did not send my fatigue uniforms out to the laundry
and have them heavily starched, the preferred method. They was
fatigues for goodness sake and frankly, I did not have the money. I
washed and pressed them myself and I did not heavily starch them like
the laundry. They would come back from the laundry like cardboard.
You had to pull them apart just to get into them, not overly
comfortable. I've always been a big fan of comfort. Give me comfort
over style any day. I wasn't the only one to do this, most of the
married airmen did the same for the same reason (financial). Another
quality I possessed was my ability to look casual, a little too
casual according to some, the some being those pesky sergeants. I
also still had a tendency to put my hands in my pocket (a no-no) or
at least on my hips when just standing around. Oh, lastly, I was
good at making under appreciated remarks. This would make people
laugh, just not the right people. Well all this made me an ideal
target for public fault finding by higher-up sergeants. I was the
blood in the water and they were the sharks.
I was
usually first in line for tasks like clean the shop, make their
coffee and mop the floor. Well I did work in the shop and walk on
the floor so I was fine with that, but I never drank any of the
coffee. Being the spoiled entitled type person I was I sort of
resented being assigned to make the coffee for the rest of them. I
remarked that I didn't think I was good looking enough to be the
secretary. That didn't go over well, another one of those under
appreciated remarks. I had not yet learned that being in service to
others was beneficial and fulfilling in and of it self. I did manage
to solve the problem by making the coffee extra, extra strong and
after a rather loud discussion with the top sergeant about it, I over
compensated by making the next batch super weak. Another discussion
ensued after which the top sergeant let it be known that I was under
no circumstances allowed anywhere near the coffee pot. In spite of
this, I still managed to become a valued member of the cleanup crew
when preparing for visits from dignitaries, usually securing one of
the prime cleanup jobs. However, once done, I would often be sent
off on some out of the way task when the dignitaries actually
appeared. Evidently I was considered good at cleaning up everything
but myself...
I soon
figured out that day shift was not the best spot for me. Swing and
night shifts did most of the work and the emphasis on appearances was
greatly diminished. Swing shift (16:30 to 24:00) was a popular
shift. You were out of the spot light, there was usually something
to do, and you could live a fairly normal schedule. The shift went
to 12 but you usually were let go around 10 or so. I managed to get
on the evening (swing) shift briefly but it was a popular shift and
there were plenty of airmen wanting the shift. Being the lowest
ranking guy in the shop I generally got last choice so I was bumped
after a couple of weeks. There was an opening on night shift (23:30
to 8:30), so I decided to give that a try. The sergeant in charge of
the night shift, Sgt Jones, was a nice guy. As long as you did your
job he left you alone. He loved to play cards, for money. Many
nights there was not enough work to keep everyone busy for the whole
shift so we all had an option: We could play cards with him or work
on the plane. I had too little money to even think about gambling
any of it away so I always chose the work option. Sgt. Jones was
always fair with me and he treated me well. I had no problem with
his arrangement plus he was always quick to help you out when you
needed it. Best of all night shift never had important visitors and
hence no inspections which suited me fine. Plus, there was generally
plenty of real work, real work being actually working on the
airplane. A drawback was night shift wasn't ideal for the home life.
All things considered it seemed to be the best fit for me, at least
for now.
We had
been there about a month and the trunk that we had shipped from
Mississippi was yet to show up. We called about it and it seemed it
was lost somewhere and they had not as yet found it. We were told it
would be something like 90 to 120 days before they considered it
lost. If still not found by then we could submit a claim and they
would reimburse us for our loss. It was not too bad as most the
clothes in it were fall and winter and it was summer but it also
contained some kitchen stuff that we really kind of needed. It was
around that time that I received a a call from a Captain in the
financial area. He informed me that I did not have authorization to
sign for Donna's release from the hospital back in Kentucky when
Donna had her accident (see my MWOP post from 9/12). Since I had,
the Air Force was no longer obligated to pay the hospital costs and
hence we owed them the amount they had paid the hospital. I don't
remember the exact amount but it was something over $200 and they
were going to take it from my pay check. I explained that the bill
was larger than my monthly pay and after a little negotiating the
captain agreed to work out a payment plan. The plan was to take
thirty something dollars a month out of my check until it was paid
which would be in about 7 or 8 months. That was like getting a 15%
pay cut and we were already struggling to make ends meet. Something
was gonna have to give...
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