Trina Letter - Random Crap

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Hey, Navy:

The challenge with writing a letter every day (or trying to) is I’m quickly running out of things to write about. I’m betting your first letter to us will give us some ideas of what you want to hear, but if it doesn’t, please drop us some hints.

For lack of anything better to write, here come this week’s lecture on Military Survival Techniques:

YM said you got a leadership position at MEPS and while there’s no guarantee this will happen in Boot, it will most certainly happen again by the time you leave the Navy, so here’s a clue what’s expected of you:

The Mission Comes First.

Despite the Navy’s best efforts, you’re going to encounter an amazing variety of slackers (they must all be recruited from the same small town in a faraway state) and these folks will be inwardly focused away from The Mission. It is your job and responsibility to get in their grills, put your bitch on, and correct their little asses. Your bosses will expect it of you and you’ll come to it expect it of yourself.

You will hear the argument that they have other problems or that what’s expected of them is someone else’s job. So what? The fact that they raised their right hand and signed on the dotted line means they promised Uncle Sam, the Navy, and their future shipmates that The Mission comes first. They may not have known it at the time, but that’s why the Navy has Boot Camp.

And what if you’re not leading, but part of the pack? Makes no difference. The slackers are dragging everyone down and it’s still your job to wake them up to reality. If they don’t get the clue, don’t let them pull you down. You give your best GD level best and they’ll get their dose of reality from either you or the chain of command. If their feelings get bruised, too damn bad. You are all volunteers, but y’all volunteered just once. Get over it and get on with The Mission.

The Bottom Line is someone can very easily get hurt if you and your shipmates aren’t totally pulling for each other. The way to avoid that is succeeding at The Mission.

So why am I saying all this, especially the obvious parts you already known? Because I don’t want you to get hurt by these guys, so your best defense is a bitchy offense.

Disengaging lecture mode now.

YM is okay and is missing you much. Lara and Danielle are themselves, and I bet they miss you.

How about some news?

- Hurricane Wilma is going to kick some serious butt in Florida.
- Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros will meet in the World Series. I hate both teams, but am rooting for Chicago because I hope their example will give a certain team an idea.
- Congressman DeLay had to go to Texas to be booked, fingerprinted and photographed. That made me smile.
- Harriet Meirs to the Supreme Court is getting rockier as time passes. In a questionnaire for the Senate committee that will vote on her nomination, she gave one- and two-word answers to essay questions. It totally pissed them off. I’m expecting an announcement any minute now from her saying she is withdrawing “because of her health.”
- A shark attacked at 20-year-old surfer off the coast of California. She fought it off and got away with only two serious puncture wounds, and kept all of her fingers and toes.
- Sylvester Stallone is filming “Rocky 6” (no joke). Rumor has it Rocky has sunk so low, he’s fighting women boxers and Hillary Swank totally hangs him out to dry (heard that on the radio).
- The Colbert Report is funny, but I get the sense he’s trying way too hard.
- Noah Wylie and his wife had a little girl to go along with their three-year-old son.
- The mayor of Henderson announced he’s running for governor. That makes five (2 Dems, 3 Reps).
- I’m running out of things to put in here.

Take care of you.

All my love,
Air Force