Published on November 21, 2005 By greywar In Politics

    It was my first day in Voice Operations Branch (VOB) and I was slowly adjusting to the realization that I would be spending this whole year in the company of drunks, whoremongers, and other assorted losers.

    My first day was spent proving that I could turn this :

into something machine readable like this:

CTM KDN MEF FEF GE VEM LAE KUF GE VDV FE FHV LSK KH ME KDM GAL KD VA LA ME KHM KDV FD LLUV BBEU LE KUGG BE.

 

(I assure you that the two lines are basically the same thing...)

 

While I was engaged in the transcription of several pages of training material like the lines above a man came to sit beside me. It was around 21:00 (9 pm. for the civvies) and he was in jeans, a white t-shirt (stained and torn), with long hair and about 3 days of beard growth. He plopped down in the position next to me, seized a receiver for the Tracechain system and started scrolling through the frequency range (no, I won't be telling you what that range is... my hypocrisy has it limits!)

 

     "Busy night?" he asked...

 

     "No Sir, (I assumed he was a civilian contractor) I have just been transcribing these BOT (Basic Operator Training) paragraphs intyo SKATS (Standard Korean Alphabetic Tranliteraltion System)..."

 

     "Really? Let me see that... hmmmm.. You look like you have this down... go to xx.xx Mhx... (There was a real freq number there)" and tell me what is going on right now..."

 

(I tune to the frequency and listen for a minute or two...)

 

     "Sounds like Radio Operator Proficiency Training for XXXXX. to me..." - Greywar

 

   "You sure it isn't a live xxxx?" - Unknown

 

   "Naw, it is way too fast and they aren't excited..." - Greywar

 

   "Fuckin A... SSG Henpecked, Grey is done with BOT, put him on rack now!" - The guy....

 

   "Roger that Mr. Junkman! Grey, start with freq xx.xx and roll up to xx.xx! Now!" - SSG Henpecked (My trick chief (a "trick" is something like a squad in units that used to be associated with the ASA (Army Security Agency))

   

   It turns out that that the unkempt man next to me on my fist day was the Warrant Officer in charge of VOB and he was impressed! Sadly, my streak of impressiveness largely stopped there.... VOB was a meritocracy for the most part and while I was pretty good for a 1s year 98G I was among many other talented youths (much like my school career really...) I was not able to really stand out amongst the likes of Scott Sturycz, Jeff Sontag, Robert Pigeon, Geoff Bratton, Alvey Pratt, Kevin Stanley, and Steven Coughlin.

  

   I "grew up" in the SIGINT community thinking that their level of performance was the norm expected of intelligence collectors and analysts and never thought I was was any better than that norm... until I PCS'd (Permanent Change of Station) to Ft. Meade, Maryland to work for the NSA (National Security Agency (or No Such Agency))...

 

   My eyes were opened for the first time and what they saw shocked me to the core...

 

(To be continued) 

 

 

 

 

Site Meter "

*Updated to correct a few spelling errors.. thats what I get for typing it into JU's editor instead of Word....


Comments (Page 3)
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on Nov 25, 2005
Or clean bathrooms or sing in the Army Chorus


I *never* tried out for the Army Chorus, thank you very much!

My own bathroom is bad enough, I don't need to clean out any more public urinals. Did my time.
on Nov 25, 2005

must be all the extra practice.

 

Naw... we just tend to be better at everything...

on Nov 25, 2005
How long are you going to keep us in suspense for Part II? Eventually some of us might get bored and go find other things to do...
on Nov 26, 2005

Eventually some of us might get bored and go find other things to do...

As though you have a life or something...

on Nov 29, 2005
Remember, Golfs may be great but Charlie's are cute.


Just remember, though. Any Golf can be a Charlie. We just have to fail a test. HAHA!

During the 2000 World Language Olympics (now Competition becuase the folks in Athens got upset at us stealing their name), the team of Flick and Roberson were beaten in one of the Jeapordy semi final rounds (by my partner and myself - we drank free that night). To show their great sportsmanship, they stood outside the doors with salt water taffy and handed it to all the competitors as they walked in. The entire time they said, "KSG BD GTU KN" (¿³ µå¼¼¿ä). They thought they were so clever.
on Nov 29, 2005
You said: "I was slowly adjusting to the realization that I would be spending this whole year in the company of drunks, whoremongers, and other assorted losers."

I am so glad I didn't know that then and I am not so sure I want to know it now! I am "head in the sand" kind of mom.
on Feb 28, 2006
Was I just called a whoremonger?
on Feb 28, 2006
Actually, I might as well own it. I, sir, was a whoremonger and a drunk. Oh, and a pot smoker.

geoffreyb008@hotmail.com
on Nov 03, 2008

Greywar, When were you @ Humphreys? I was there from 98-2000. I got wise pretty early and didn't re-enlist. Enjoying life now as a civilian copper.

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