Sometimes You Can Have Your Cake and Eat it Too

Not being a “yes sir, yes sir, three bags full” kind of guy, I often ruffled the feathers of both fellow workers and managers.  Following regulations was a lesson learned early on.  Knowing them and following them saved my bacon many times.  And sometimes, doing so just turned out to be the icing on the cake.

Some of the managers and supervisors at Anderson Air Base (AB) had no use for me.  They would ride me, and I would stir the pot.  Being lower on the “totem pole”, I found myself on the receiving end of considerable harassment.  After figuring out that changing my shift and changing my work location didn’t faze me at all, they opted to interfere with my rest and recuperation (R&R) opportunities.  In short, I was denied R&R even after all other members of the shop had been on at least one, many of them on two.  These short breathers were to other parts of the orient; Japan, Saipan, Thailand, and the Philippines.  I brought out my big spoon and commenced to stir.

Being a survival instructor, and being authorized to attend the different survival schools offered by the Air Force; Basic, Cold Weather, Jungle, Water, and Desert, I pulled a few strings and got myself orders to go to the Jungle Survival School at Clark AB, Philippines.  The shop chief and many of the supervisors were not happy about it, but my ace-in-the-hole carried more weight than all of them put together. There was nothing they could do to cancel the orders.

The shop chief gave me a briefing prior to my departure.  His displeasure at my finagling this class was clearly evident; he had authorized no R&R time in conjunction with the school, and was talking to me as if I was a child, covering every possible contingency, finishing with the “ I would be in deep crap if I screwed anything up on the trip”.  My having asked earlier if I could fly in civilian clothes drew the expected reaction… I would have to fly in “fatigues”, the work uniform, on both the departure and return flights even though it was a civilian aircraft.  He had made sure those instructions were on my orders.  I had him!  His arrogance and dislike for me overruled his professional judgment.  What I knew, that he obviously did not, was that you are not allowed to fly out of Clark AB in fatigues, you must wear the khaki (a tan color) uniform.  You can probably see the hand-writing on the wall.

I left Anderson AB in my fatigues, arrived at Clark AB in the afternoon and signed in to the school; classes starting the next day.  We had a day of classroom, followed by a few days in the field.  Field time consisting of instruction and demonstration of survival techniques, hands on experience in edible plants and water sources, building shelters, fire craft and cooking with bamboo, and several other survival techniques.  My return flight was to be the next day.  With bags packed, I showed up at the base terminal in fatigues, and was promptly informed I would be refused boarding per a regulation forbidding departure from Clark AB on a civilian aircraft while wearing fatigues.  Showing my orders with the instructions to fly in fatigues made no difference… something I already knew.  I called back to my shop on Anderson AB to explain to the shop chief that I was going to be delayed four or five days as I did not have the proper uniform to fly out of Clark AB, I was going to have to buy a uniform, take it to a seamstress to have it altered, then laundered and pressed before I could leave.  He was furious, showering me with threats to my career; Article 15 action (reduction in rank and pay, poor performance reports) if I was not back that afternoon, as well as other actions he would take in the shop… idle threats.  I did my paperwork, retrieving a copy of the regulation refusing the wearing of the fatigue uniform.

Upon returning to Anderson AB, I went to see the shop chief.  After listening to him blow hot air for several minutes, I handed him a copy of my orders requiring me to wear fatigues, and a copy of the regulation denying boarding on civilian aircraft when wearing fatigues.  The best he could do at that point was to put me back on the midnight to 8:00 a.m. shift.

When my six month tour of duty was up, after being relieved of duty, I went to the shop chief thanking him for putting me on my favorite shift, leading me to think there were no hard feelings about the trip to Clark AB and the mix-up on the uniform.  That “dig” was not sufficient… I had to go for the gold!  I told him that after boarding the aircraft to leave Anderson AB for the Jungle Survival School I had recalled the uniform restriction, but had no time to get back to the barracks to repack.

That was a mighty fine piece of cake!