called out by Joe Coastie!!!

I was skimming through an Unofficial Coast Guard Blog and saw this alarming post. Have no fear, Joe. Rumors of my death were greatly exaggerated.

I know the time between my posts has been increasing lately. I've been using my time for these things rather than blogging:

Upon my departure from PATFOR SWA (more on that later), I signed a non-disclosure agreement which was worded in the most incomprehensible lawyer-speak this guy has seen since NAVRULES. Anyways, after signing the agreement, the Chief who gave us the forms asked if we all understood the ramifications of the agreement. A few of us were a little slow to shake our heads so he explained it in these terms:

"Basically guys, don't talk about Fight Club."

Now, this earned the Chief a few chuckles from my shipmates but in my case it meant revisiting my previous posts and making absolutely sure that I've been on the right side of OPSEC throughout my short blogging existence. I found nothing in my posts that couldn't be found elsewhere in the web, or if it is unique to my blog then it's harmless information concerning my personal experiences as opposed to statements about the unit, mission, etc.

Just the same, if anyone finds otherwise then feel free to contact me. The last thing I want to do is publish anything that could be the least bit harmful to my fellow service members.

I mentioned before that I've left PATFOR SWA. I'm now enjoying some extended leave before heading to my next unit. Let me just say, absence certainly makes the heart grow fonder and that rings true in the case of my fiance, my country, the list goes on but I'm definitely loving life at the moment.

I guess I'll try and stick with the theme and talk about what occurs during a Permanent Change of Station (PCS).

Leading up to a PCS, a Coastie submits what we call a "dream sheet". Its more professional title is "e-resume" and it allows a member to see all the billet openings in the entire CG for their specific rank and rate. For example, if I'm a BM2 transferring in the summer, then the winter beforehand of time I can see what jobs will be open in the summer and decide which ones I like the most. Based on your job, the list of choices can be very long or very short. The member then makes a list of all the jobs he or she wants and orders them from most desired to least desired.

There's a lot of anxiety when waiting for orders to your next unit. The detailers (people who sort out who is going where during transfer season) have to process a lot of information and try to please as many people as they can so it can be a bit of a wait.

Once you get your orders, things start taking off. You do a lot of paperwork concerning things like when you depart from your current unit, when you report to you next unit, how much leave, you'll take, how you'll move your belongings, whether or not you need travel advances to do so, and so on.

Actually, this is pretty boring stuff. If anyone actually cares to hear more about "PCSing" then leave a comment.