Soldier issues

Sometimes the biggest threat from which I have to guard the nation is hurt feelings.

Friday started out with some KATUSA (Korean Augmentation to the U.S. Army) issues. One guy had to cover a staff duty shift because his platoon made a mistake. Because everyone else was busy -- and because his direct supervisor failed to fully explain the situation -- he felt he got unfairly stuck with it.

He complained to the Korean staff captain, who then took it to the battalion commander, who then called me in to explain the matter. Fortunately, I got some lead time to look into the matter, so I was able to provide an instant answer, but the resolution was still more stressful than it needed to be.

After lunch, I met with a soldier whose wife had called the first sergeant to complain about how things were at home. I gave him the weekend to consider carefully what direction he wanted to take things and get back to me on Monday. Based on his answer, he'll either get counseling or head for a divorce; it's not my business which was he goes, but one way or another I hope he chooses wisely.

After work, I had to deal with an "allegation of suicide ideation." If someone is considering suicide, that's called "ideation," and I have to get involved to make sure that person gets help. I also have to send a report up the chain of command called a "serious incident report."

But in this particular case, it was one person saying another person was thinking about it, which turned out not to be the case. After the first sergeant spoke with the person, I spoke with them, too. In the end, the allegation was based on a misunderstanding (something like "I can't go on living this way") or something, but nothing serious.

So call it an "unsubstantiated allegation of suicide ideation," rather than the real thing, but we still had to be on the safe side.

I'm just glad no one's feelings were hurt.