Navy-First permanent duty station

I had a strange first permanent duty station.  Strange for anyone, but really strange for an E1.  A seaman recruit.  I had just completed my "A" school.  To be a disbursing clerk.  Which mainly handled pay records based in a mainframe computer.  But also handled issuing U S Treasury checks, and the associated paperwork.  And also settled both PCS  (permanent change of station) and TAD (temporary additional duty) travel claims.

So my first permanent duty station was The Navy Finance Center.  Which was located in the Anthony J Celebreze Federal Building near the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio.

I had no idea what I was getting into, and played it by ear.  Which was okay when checking into a standard military duty station.  I had no idea there was no uniform shop or barracks.

Luckily the Navy leased out a block of apartments for pay grades E1 to E3 in the suburb of Parma.  So I was not, luckily, forced to rent my own place on E1 quarters allowance.

However, I was thrown into a 2 bedroom setup with Ricardo Alvarado.  Who didn't pay his bills.  Which I didn't find out til later.  He talked me into hooking up a telephone in my name.  Then ran up over $300 in long distance before he transferred out.

I reported to work at the Federal Building every day.  And was assigned to work for Chief Brillian.  The coolest Chief Petty Officer I ever worked for.  In the customer service department.  Taking phone calls from all over the world.

But mostly the phone calls were from dependent wives bitchin about not receiving their allotment checks.  Several times I was able to see Chief Brillian put these cunts in their place.  They would expect the Navy to wire them money, when not enough time had even elapsed since the mailing of their allotment check to even handle it by mail.  Under the assumption their check had been lost in the mail.  So they would fly into a psycho bitch meltdown, saying something about having checks "out there".  Meaning hot checks.  Chief Brillian would say writing hot checks is a crime.  Norfolk is in such and such a county.  I'm gonna call the sheriff there and report you.

Which would throw these psycho bitches farther into a rage.  And Chief Brillian would be called up to the Commanding Officer's office.  And nothing would happen beyond the co saying "you gotta cut that out".  Then he did it again later.

There were only like 70 military people there.  And over 800 civilians.

There was a civilian named Martin Virsis there in customer service.  And Chief Brillian hated his guts.  And every one in management wanted to fire him badly.  So one of my duties was to listen to the code a phone.  Which was an answering machine.  And one day Martin Virsis left a message on it that he had been caught with another man's wife.  And had been beaten with a baseball bat.  So he would not be at work that day.

So I tell Chief Brillian.  Who laughs while listening to the message.  A GS-12 taped the message saying he thought that would be enough to fire Virsis.  And Virsis was still there when I transferred months later.  The way it was explained to me was all a civilian in the Federal government had to do was file an appeal thru the union.  And it all went away.

So this was a strange first duty station for a seaman recruit

Corporate culture

I used the term corporate culture in the previous post from university management classes.  This term popped up in every one to describe a unique culture to most businesses.    

Navy corporate culture

If a married couple in the Navy stayed in base housing, that fell under the chain of commands jurisdiction.  And if a Navy guy shoved his wife around, a criminal act, the that was charged under the Uniformed Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).  And he would face his CO in captains mast, of a court martial.  So the military is totally used to being involved in peoples marriage problems.

Separate point.  As a general rule, junior enlisted personal are under the age of 25.  And it takes time to work one's self into many senior ranks.  So over time a mentality has evolved in military senior ranks that they should supervise the less mature junior people in an informal way.  And from a certain perspective this makes sense.  I personally know of many immature acts committed by immature junior enlisted personnel.  Such as being under the influence of alcohol in the enlisted club.  And punching a cinder block wall due to anger over a conflict over a female.  More instances could be cited.  But I think the one example conveys the idea.

So I think one can use these factors in the military corporate culture to allow for the massive ration of shit I took over Lisa Morris.  Partially.   I will explain the other factors as needed.  

RTC Orlando

So in 1982 I enlisted in the U S Navy.  Entered boot camp at RTC Orlando.  In the early days there was hours of paperwork.  Including the new recruits reporting "page 2" data for the enlisted service record.  Which was next of kin, and other relatives.

One of the things you were required to report was all marriages, previous marriages, and children.  This was tied into pay you could draw at the "with dependent" rate.  And possibly other reasons I am unaware of.

So while you are filling out forms for this, you are sternly told more than once you are legally obligated to report this information.  I assume in the past people had used the military to try and escape bad marriages and wiggle out of paying child support.  So all recruits are told if they fail to report ex spouses and children, they are guranteed, not promised, they will be brought up on charges.  This is emphasized several times.

A recruit who was appointed over me, we called him a section leader told the company commander (what the navy called a drill instructor) he suspected I was married.  They were specifically instructed to snitch us out on this topic.  This is how serious the Navy was on having all this data correctly reported.  So I was taken to the company commander and dropped into push up position and repeated several times I had no spouse, ex spouse, or child.  And was dismissed.  The section leader acted embarrassed, saying something about thinking us people from farm country married young.

I blog this as an example of the military having jurisdiction over peoples romantic life, and possibly a basis for the mentality of people above me in the chain of command fuckin with me like they did over Lisa Morris.  Of course other factors had to be in play.

I knew several guys personally who got pulled in commanding officer's offices over romantic relations with spouses when things went bad.  As a civilian, I would have never believed this.  

Jimmy Morris

So Jimmy Morris actually admitted one time to me that their family had been in contact with a shrink about Lisa Morris claiming me as her soul mate without actually knowing me almost at all.  Pretty much just by sight.

Jimmy told me the shrink told them this was the #1 problem they dealt with.  Females imaging romances that didn't exist.

Yet at the same time he is dogging me out to go be with Lisa.  While I continue to give my standard reply I won't do anything unreasonable for him.

Another time Jimmy Morris tells me that some woman I never met had Lisa ask her why her marriage was successful. And this woman told Lisa she would "know in her heart" when she met her man to be married to.  Then Jimmy told me his mom was bitchin at this woman for turning her daughter into a stalker.

Kansas City AFEES

Went up to the Kansas City AFEES (armed forces entrance and examination station) to take my physical and enlist.  So the day I enlisted, February 26th, 1982, there was a situation that unfolded.
As I have previously posted here, I had very poor personal hygiene.  Didn't shower or brush my teeth regular.  So obviously the recruiters there in Kansas City were bad mouthing me behind my back.  When I signed my contract, a first class petty officer (E6) walks up to me, and starts hollarin at me about bein a "shit bird".  Which I found out later was navy slang for a dirtbag, or loser.  Of course I just sit there and take it off him.  But obviously someone there got pissed, and obviously he got wrote up, or put on report.  Now usually things didn't happen this fast.  But the guy comes up to me within an hour or 2 wearing a 2nd class petty officer crow (E5).  His commanding officer was right behind him.  An army Lieutenant colonel.  And the guy apologized to me.  I said something like no big deal.  And I was serious as I expected to get my ass chewed in the navy.      

Jimmy Morris & Diane Welsh

This happened around 1980 or 1981.  I was working at the Vickers gas station at South Campbell and Walnut Lawn.  Where the Village Mart store is now.  Wal Mart wasn't there.  The light wasn't there.  Walnut Lawn didn't come all the way thru from the east.  I closed 5 nights a week.

Jimmy Morris was an assistant manager at the Captain D's at Battlefield/National.  He closed 5 nights a week.  So we would sometimes party together after work.  We were also in the midst of this crap with his sister Lisa pullin that "soul mate" crap on me.

So the situation I am describing must have been tied into this situation somehow.  I have a wild guess, but will never know for sure.

Anyhow, Jimmy set it up for us to meet after work on a particular winter night.  It was cold as hell out, at least 20s out.  If not colder.  we were to meet in a parking lot on south National.  Near the Git n Go.  So I got there first.  People were there.  Some chick starts givin me shit that this was "their lot".  As in I needed to git the hell out.  Jimmy Morris pulls up and tells her to chill out.  Then tells me we are headed to Diane welsh's place.  As described in a previous post, Diane Welsh tried to get my ass kicked by a group of dudes in high school over Kathy Brott.  And almost succeeded.  So Diane Welsh was on my shit list.  And I explain this to Jimmy Morris.  And so he shifts into his whiney bitch mode.  "Please".  "For Me"  etc....   I finally give in  and go over to Diane Welsh's place on Atlantic on the north side of Springfield.  In one of those older houses that have been divided up into cheap apartments.  So we go and hang out.  Drink some beer.  Smoke some weed.  I was expecting Diane to be mildly hostile due to our history.  I hadn't seen her in a few months at least.  Since high school.  But I was surprised when she was nice.  She said I was her friend.  And something was mentioned about me stopping by sometime.  Of course in my mind I was strictly doing this as a favor for Jimmy Morris.  As I considered Diane Welsh on my shit list.  So the little party breaks up.  And I forget about it.

From time to time Jimmy asks me if I ever stopped in on Diane.  And I always say "no".  I had no intention of ever doing so.  And finally explain this to Jimmy.  Reminding him she is on my shit list.  Or was.  So he does a little more whiney bitch begging again.  Which is an obvious tip off something weird if up.  And Jimmy is trying some kind of screwy shit on me.  So I tell him I'll stop in on Diane when he sucks Rodney Masts's dick on the hill.  A few weeks later, it is spring by then, Jimmy calls me at home and asks me to meet him on the hill.  He asks me if I ever stopped in on Diane.  Of course I say well when you suck Rodney's dick on the hill.  You already knew that didn't you.  He said he remembered me saying that.  So I ask him "why am I standing here listening to this then?"  He said maybe you will get some pussy.  I say something about I am gonna take pictures of him suckin dick on the hill.  So he leaves.  

I always suspected this was hooked in with his sister.  I never had a girlfriend.  And I think this was Jimmy's way of breaking the ice with pussy for me.  By paying Diane to fuck me.  Then he could step in with  something about me getting married to his sister.  

I know that sounds bizarre.  But how else do you explain how big a deal it was to Jimmy for me to stop in on Diane.  Who I told him several times was on my shit list.

I had heard stories about Diane going to a hotel room with Jimmy Morris and Mike Huff for a 3 way.  So if this is true, Diane was givin her pussy up easy.