They Serve Who Sit And Wait On Top Of Tactical Vehicles
Over the last couple of weeks I have been observing a little military cultural tableaux play out. Parked out next to my tent was a string of fully loaded up tactical vehicles. They had been there for some time. As I passed by in my daily travels I have never failed to notice a bored looking soldier perched on top or inside of the last vehicle in the string. One day my curiosity got the better of me so I stopped and asked:
Me: Hey Soldier, why are you always sitting here on this vehicle
Soldier: Well sir, we were supposed to move out to a forward base but the scheduled got changed.
Me: Ok, so why are you sitting here
Soldier: Oh, because someone's gotta guard the gear
Me: Really, so you just sit here waiting for someone to tell you guys when you can leave.
Soldier: We take shifts, everyone gets a turn watching
Me: Ok, so when are you going to go.
Soldier: We don't even know if we are still going to go. We just don't want to unpack until we are sure
Me: I get it. You guys are going to stay loaded up parked here and guarding these vehicles pretty much indefinitely until someone makes a decision.
This phenomena is what we like to call "hurry up and wait" and it is pretty much a military tradition since the first soldier/sailor/marine was hatched. We have to get ready to do everything in a hurry and then wait forever to execute. We have to get ready quickly just so we can wait around for the plan (which should be completed prior to the rush to get ready) is finished. Somehow planning is exempt from "hurry up and wait". I think this might be due the fabric of the universe folding back upon itself to create a cosmic inversion specifically around planning cells. Actually, we pretty much have a pavlovian reaction to hurry up and wait. When we are told to be ready by say, oh 0900, we make sure that we are Johnny on the spot no later than 0845. We add our own hurry up and wait exponent upon the 0900 time even though we intellectually understand that the universal hurry up and wait factor will be applied to the original 0900 time in the first place. Self inflicted pain is the best kind to boost morale. I ramble, but the point of this whole diatribe is that as I was walking away from the young soldier doing his duty by sitting on a tactical vehicle in the hot African sun, I did not have the heart to tell him that:
INDECISION IS THE KEY TO FLEXIBILITY!
TO THE TYRANT NEVER YIELD
Me: Hey Soldier, why are you always sitting here on this vehicle
Soldier: Well sir, we were supposed to move out to a forward base but the scheduled got changed.
Me: Ok, so why are you sitting here
Soldier: Oh, because someone's gotta guard the gear
Me: Really, so you just sit here waiting for someone to tell you guys when you can leave.
Soldier: We take shifts, everyone gets a turn watching
Me: Ok, so when are you going to go.
Soldier: We don't even know if we are still going to go. We just don't want to unpack until we are sure
Me: I get it. You guys are going to stay loaded up parked here and guarding these vehicles pretty much indefinitely until someone makes a decision.
This phenomena is what we like to call "hurry up and wait" and it is pretty much a military tradition since the first soldier/sailor/marine was hatched. We have to get ready to do everything in a hurry and then wait forever to execute. We have to get ready quickly just so we can wait around for the plan (which should be completed prior to the rush to get ready) is finished. Somehow planning is exempt from "hurry up and wait". I think this might be due the fabric of the universe folding back upon itself to create a cosmic inversion specifically around planning cells. Actually, we pretty much have a pavlovian reaction to hurry up and wait. When we are told to be ready by say, oh 0900, we make sure that we are Johnny on the spot no later than 0845. We add our own hurry up and wait exponent upon the 0900 time even though we intellectually understand that the universal hurry up and wait factor will be applied to the original 0900 time in the first place. Self inflicted pain is the best kind to boost morale. I ramble, but the point of this whole diatribe is that as I was walking away from the young soldier doing his duty by sitting on a tactical vehicle in the hot African sun, I did not have the heart to tell him that:
INDECISION IS THE KEY TO FLEXIBILITY!
TO THE TYRANT NEVER YIELD
posted by Ed | 11/13/2003 12:43:00 AM
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