Like, seriously aloft.
There are a few reasons why I chose Officer Candidate School over enlisting in the Navy (hello, stateroom!) – but I would say that the underlying reason is that I am no techno-wizard. I’ve always been more of a proficient observer, and I hope that I have parlayed this strength into a respectable career as a supervisor. I’ll let my subordinates of commands past tell me if I am failing in this regard.
So out here in Cape Verde, part of my time has been devoted to observing the final stage of communications project. It’s a sizeable undertaking that is now transitioning to an operational phase- and this is where the need for a technically-incompetent broad-thinking officer comes in. Or so they tell me.
I have joined up with the two project experts (one of which was an enlisted sailor) who are on their swan song of a technical install that has them doing cool things in this random archipelago. Since I’m the new kid showing up, and a clueless officer to boot, I feel a bit like a little kid who is being continually stuffed into the rental car to ride along as they cruise up mountain peaks and battle a punishing timeline.
No really, I am jammed in the back of a truck as we race up mountains. Check it out:
Flashbacks of my parents yelling, “Megan, get in the car!” as I climb into the back seat and jockey for space among the tech gear.
All of that said, I am totally happy to work as a clueless officer. I myself don’t have the smarts to get myself involved in such diverse projects that are built from the ground up. To wit, I am writing this entry as I sit in a mountaintop control room and watch these guys step into harness gear so they can climb up perilously high towers that I swear are moving in the wind. This is not a task for the unskilled khaki generalist.
See this? It’s windy as hell up here. I don’t want this job. Ever. But I am definitely happy to tag along for the fringe benefits.
Fringe benefit. Getting to hang out above the clouds without messing with cabin pressure or dealing with obnoxious seat companions. I’ll operationalize this project anyday.
So I’m sitting on my little chair, trying to stay out of the way when I am called outside and into the wind chill. “Hey Megan, you should climb up that tower and check out the view.”
Climb a tower. Really? You want me to go up there?
Yes. Go up there so you can see this.
I would hate myself forever if I didn’t give in to some white knuckled adventure. Besides, the law of averages says that the officer probably won’t get herself killed today. At least not in climbing a sturdy cell phone tower that isn’t radiating anything Aegis-y.
Isn’t this what religious greeting cards look like? I’m fairly certain that god (or insert your favorite creator here) lives up here.
So no, the dumb officer did not ruin a good deal and kill herself climbing back down after the sun went away. God forbid I ruin an opportunity like this for the next lucky bastard officer who gets to hang on for the ride.
I know that this is getting gratuitous, and I am veering off subject…
I took about a zillion photos of sunset.
Wrapping up my hard day’s work. Looking to see if the elusive green flash applies to cloud cover.
As I’ve been bouncing around with this duo and repeatedly asking the same basic questions (“Wait, what’s the tube thing for again?”), I am impressed at their level of skill and patience with respect to their work. I asked IT guy how he’s learned to do all of this stuff, seeing as how I have no aptitude or interest in his work. He said he’s always enjoyed figuring out how stuff works, and he chose this job because he knew he was good at it.
Right. He doesn’t get a stateroom, but he’s got lots of natural talent that he is leveraging as he climbs up into 25 knots of wind to put in a day’s work. I lead such a cushy life in comparison, but I guess I should point out that he is happy doing this kind of stuff.
I’ll do this once for fun. And that’s it.
So I joined the Navy because I wanted my own berthing where I could maintain an unmade bed with PowerPuff Girl sheets. But I also knew that it was best not to join up and subject myself to the mental and physical acrobatics that I have witnessed over the past few days. Not that my respect meter was low before, but I have renewed admiration for the hard work of blue shirts that often passes under the radar. As the first observer for what has been going on over the life of this comms project, I don’t think anyone has any idea of what these guys have accomplished by themselves.
I think it’s either in the Army or the Marines where officers don’t eat until their troops do so first (or maybe I read that in a book). At any rate- there’s merit in line of thinking. Don’t tell anyone, but I might go so far as to say that they are the ones who should be enjoying the staterooms- because their work is hard.
You don’t want me climbing around for any other reason than to be enjoying the view. I fear the day you would ever hear “There are officers working aloft” being passed over the 1MC. We’d all be screwed.