Turmoils

24 July 2009

The intrigue has passed and the weeks of hell are finished in Iraq, but the bitter taste remains, the bitter flavor of stupidity and waste. A good man’s name was darkened by a few fellow workers who all had the evil motive of revenge in their hearts, and the bitterness was made more acrid by the fact that it was motivated by the kind of revenge that comes after being caught in their own laziness and stupidity.

This is a long story that concludes my time in Iraq, but I have lots of time on my hands right now as I’m searching for new employment.

Evidently, this whole miserable affair began nearly a year ago in about October. Grumpy, the night shift foreman, had modified his jacket by cutting the pockets out so that he could fill the entire lining with drinks that he was stealing from the dining facility. He relished the notion that he could stuff his jacket full of fruit juices and “Rip it’s,” ‘energy’ drinks that are popular with the soldiers in Iraq. Each morning when I arrived at the office Grumpy would laugh about how many drinks he’d been able to sneak out of the chow hall during the night.

One morning Grumpy wasn’t in a good mood because he’d been followed around the dining facility by the night shift supervisor who’d been alerted that he was up to mischief during the midnight meal. That evening, after considering his new situation he had decided that it must have been Maxx who had given the hint to the chow hall staff. Maxx hadn’t said anything to the dining facility staff, but Grumpy had already decided that it was certainly Maxx who must have tipped them off. As his night shift was just beginning, Grumpy stormed into Maxx’s office and shouted, “I ain’t afraid of you! You don’t scare me!” Maxx returned with a quiet voice, “Would you like to take this outside?” That struck Grumpy as a threat, but Maxx insisted that he was merely asking if he would like to step outside the office for some privacy in their conversation. They moved outside and around the corner of the building where they would be able to have a more private confrontation, but Dawg, who remained inside the building, could hear Grumpy screaming at Maxx. After Grumpy had blown off all of the steam that he’d built up during the day they returned to the bustling office and continued with the shift change.

Grumpy returned after the shift change was over and apologized to Maxx for his blow-up. “I’ve just had a bad day. I didn’t mean to blow up at you,” he confessed. Maxx admitted that he’d had a long day, too, and that sometimes being cooped up on the base can get to a person. The confrontation was dropped and forgotten. Well, at least that’s what Maxx assumed.

Two days later he was surprised by a note from the Human Resources Department. “We request that you respond to the following statement that was submitted concerning your conduct.” The statement alleged that Maxx had threatened Grumpy and that Grumpy was fearful for his safety. Maxx responded to the allegation and a meeting was called by the Human Resources Department to go over the event. The site manager sat in on it and the meeting ended with the apologies being extended once more. “Why did you take this to H.R?” Maxx asked. “I thought you were going to talk to H.R. and I wanted to beat you to the punch,” was all that Grumpy could come up with. Maxx shook his head in disbelief.

Because of the nature of the allegations, the Deputy Director of Logistics and the Director of Transportation had also been notified so they flew in from Headquarters on the very first available flight. A second meeting was held that included the site manager and the Human Resources supervisor. The meeting ended once more with apologies from Grumpy and the incident was closed. At least that’s what everyone assumed—again.

Grumpy’s famous jacket became a joke, not only in Transportation, but across the entire base. Grumpy had been caught by the staff at the dining facility and had been reprimanded by the supervisor there. He was humiliated and angry because he couldn’t continue to steal his drinks from the chow hall. Every time he walked into the building the staff was alerted to his presence and an ‘observer’ was assigned to him for the entire time span of his meal. Grumpy’s infamous jacket had become a joke, too, until Maxx finally decided to put it out of its misery. A solemn ceremony was held in the Transportation yard with all of the American staff present. The jacket was hung on the concrete blast wall and a match was put to it. The jacket, 100% synthetic, burned nearly instantly. “I paid $20 for that jacket in Russia about ten years ago. It paid for itself many times over in juice and Rip its” Grumpy was proud of his chow hall escapade and he wanted us to know that he’d really put one over on the dining facility staff. It wasn’t about the drinks. It was a glimpse at Grumpy’s brooding dark side.

Maxx had arranged for the ceremony for the demise of the old, brown jacket but he didn’t want Grumpy to feel like he was just the brunt of a cruel joke. Maxx had gone to the P.X. that afternoon and had bought Grumpy a brand new jacket. He’d paid considerably more than $20 for it, too. It was presented to an ungrateful Grumpy at the end of the ceremony.

The winter progressed and Grumpy wore his new, warm jacket during the cold December nights as he drove the FOB to check on the drivers. Something happened that made us all wonder about Grumpy that month, though. The Rip its and the juices began to show up again. Maxx asked him one morning about all of the drinks. “I found out that if you take out a ‘to-go’ plate at the DFAC you can take two drinks with it. I just take out six to-go plates and that gives me twelve drinks.” The answer to the next question was absolutely predictable. “What do you do with all of those meals?” “I just throw them in the dumpster.” Grumpy was reprimanded again, but this time it was Maxx who did the reprimand. “There’s such a thing as fraud, waste and abuse on this base. Don’t you ever let me find out that you’re dropping perfectly good food into the dumpster just so you can get a lifetime supply of juice boxes!” Word was sent to the dining facility and the chow hall observer resumed his midnight vigilance. As he spoke with the DFAC manager, Maxx learned that Grumpy had told the staff that he was taking plates to Maxx at each meal. Maxx was furious that his name had been used to cover Grumpy’s lie.

In January Grumpy struggled into the office one evening. He didn’t look well, his face was pale and the tone was gone from his skin. “What’s wrong, Grumpy?” Maxx was clearly concerned. “It’s kind of embarrasin’,” Grumpy mumbled. After some coaxing, Maxx was able to draw it out. Grumpy’s colon was suddenly extended outside of his rectum. “This is serious,” the medic told him. “This is extremely serious,” the military doctor told him. When asked about his diet he explained that he’d been losing massive amounts of weight by drinking Rip its as his only source of nourishment. “They’re full of vitamins,” he boasted. “Your diet could kill you,” the doctor admonished. ”We can’t do anything for you here. You’re going to have to go home for medical care until you’re well enough to work again.” Grumpy was suddenly thrust into a situation where he found his life swirling out of control. An email notice arrived from Baghdad. “Any employee who leaves for medical treatment is not guaranteed employment at the conclusion of the treatment.” Grumpy reeled in anguish. He had no money. He sent his entire paycheck home to his wife who had managed to spend every nickel every month for nearly five years. “I can’t go home if I’m going to lose my job. I’ve got to stay here.” “You can’t stay here with your medical condition. You have no choice.” KBR had no compassion. They were seeing red ink every day because of an overburden of employees. They were looking for ways to be rid of people.

Maxx came to Grumpy’s aid. He started a campaign to hold Grumpy’s job for him, at least for 30 days, to allow him enough time to have surgery and to get back to Tal Afar. Maxx talked to H.R. and to the base manager. He called the Deputy Director of Logistics on the phone. He wrote to the Project Manager in Baghdad. He made a case for Grumpy, who had been loyal to the company for five years. Maxx was heard at the highest levels and Grumpy was given 30 days to return to duty.

Nobody expected Grumpy to come back, but we all prayed for him. Candace’s daughter who is a nurse told us just how serious this could be for Grumpy. “He could spend the rest of his life with a bag strapped on his leg. He could die.”

Grumpy arrived in Florida within three days of leaving Tal Afar. He went straight to his doctor who examined him and was amazed that his condition had corrected itself. “You can return to work as soon as your company clears you.” Grumpy fought the system for nearly a month until he was successful in his struggle and was told that he could return to work. He arrived in Tal Afar on the thirtieth day after his departure. His job had been saved.