Intersection of diligence and pointlessness

In December I went to Kumamoto to take part in an exercise. It was frustrating.

The core of the problem was that the training unit didn't have realistic logistics data. So when they exhausted all of the ammunition that a unit that size would normally have, they simply reloaded from the ridiculous amount of ammunition they (on paper) had readily available.

With no logistical limitations, exercises are silly. Troops can move at the speed of light. Fuel stores that are destroyed can be instantly replenished. And trucks that break down can be instantly replaced with no lost capability.

At some point, I stopped getting phone calls from my boss altogether. I came to find out that -- out of disgust -- my boss had refused to engage anymore in an exercise that offered no training value.

Nevertheless, I diligently did what I was sent to Kumamoto to do -- I showed up, sat on a metal folding chair for 10 hours a day (even on weekends), and made myself available. While there, I researched my family tree, planned retirement, read a book about Herbert Hoover, practiced kanji, came up with a "yojijukugo," re-read the ST:TNG book Masks, and read the Fort Hood report about Vanessa Guillen's rder.

Somehow, I did little to nothing work related, yet still got 48 hours of overtime, plus ~$100 a day for meals and incidentals. So while people at my home station are restricted from eating out because of COVID, I am quite literally forced to eat out every day.

And let me tell you, the food was great.