Who are you going to call?

I’m taking over as LPO on Monday, picking up the new responsibilities and I need to pass out my collection of old ones. The torch is moving on to a new crew with a new social dynamics. We just got some new bodies and we’re loosing the usual crowd. Starting with a fresh slate has always been tough, it’s strange to think that I’ll be the guy at the helm this time around. Hopefully I don’t disappoint, give me time.

I’m already the guy to call if anything goes wrong. Need a ride at 2 in the morning? Who’s always going to answer? Me. Aircraft Mishap? Yup, I know what to do. Locked out of your car? Same guy, I can get into most vehicles in under a minute (when I was a mechanic, sometimes customers would only give us the key to the ignition and we wouldn’t find out till the morning, we finally drew straws to see who would invest on the vehicle entry set and I drew the short one but still have the tools). I get called for everything and anything, with my back ground of remodeling homes and being a mechanic, I’m the first person all of my guys call for anything because I can usually fix it and if not, I can tell them to stop wasting their time and get a new one.

I’ve also became the one to come to for advice, since I got out once, I know the ins and outs of the post military system, especially the GI Bill and how long you can expect to wait for your first check after applying. Relationship troubles? As the watcher of literally thousands of Marines and their relationship highs and lows, you get a pretty good feeling at what’s going on and there isn’t much I haven’t seen, I rarely take sides but I offer honest advice for making it to the next day and the day after without getting the entire chain involved.

We send a lot of Marines and Sailors to see the Chaplin, but sometimes the story they need to tell is something they don’t want to tell to a man of god, so they come to someone who won’t judge or talk about it to anybody else. Even though I tell stories in my blog, I don’t tell their story unless they want me to share it or I’m seeing the same exact story played out though a lot of people.

If someone is a danger to themselves or others, I know what to do and how to get help for them without having to call a dozen people because I’ve been there. Having one Marine die when you could have done something is one too many. I’ve already had that one and believe me, I’ll live with that knowledge for the rest of my life. I don’t want to do it again.

Finally getting to that point in my life where I can have a go at fixing anything living, mechanical or spiritual. But it still sucks being the go to guy at 2 in the morning.