When I was in the Navy, there was a period before each deployment overseas where we train in the Caribbean, stopping occasionally in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico. It's very hot down there, but the sunrises are spectacular.
We were only there for a week when I received orders to fly from GTMO to Norfolk, VA, for a special training assignment. Everyone was pissed off that I got to fly out of there early. I felt some guilt.
Because I was the Deck Department Yeoman, my duties included maintaining 1st and 2nd Division's department safety training records, so now they designated me the Deck Department Safety Training Petty Officer. I was schooled in Navy Occupational Safety and Health (NAVOSH) with several other personnel from various departments.
We learned how to inspect spaces for safety violations, proper tag-out procedures for equipment, how to use Material Safety Data Sheets, and more I can't remember now because it was twenty eight years ago.
But, what really prepared me for the life after my military services was the EEOC training. We were instructed about discrimination in the workplace, including what constitutes a toxic work environment, sexual harassment, and racism.
You see, unlike a few people I know, I'm keenly aware of people's attempts to bait me into a situation where I might be accused of sexual harassment. All those lurid questions in an attempt to elicit a scandalous response, the loud, lurid conversations near me, in an attempt to draw me into frank, explicit discussions I might later regret, had I fell for it. Yeah, I know office politics.
This is where I was then designated the Deck Department Command Assessment Team member. You wouldn't know it from looking at my DD-214, but if they documented every little responsibility, every service member's record would be enormous.
I am an ally for the #MeToo movement, and and ally of the #LBGTQ. #BlackLivesMatter, Why? Because I'm a #Beta, #Incel.
Oh, did you just get a queasy feeling in your gut?
No comments:
Post a Comment