Winding down the days in this iteration of my career in government service. I’ve given almost 38 years of my life to Uncle Sam and I’m trying mightily to stay engaged and productive until the end. Truth is though that all that is really left to do is tie up some loose ends and clear the decks for my successor.

I’m on a committee with the American Embassy that reviews Special Immigration Visa applications from foreign nationals with long term and/or extraordinary service to the U.S. government. I met with them (well, I dialed in from Humphreys) for the final time this past week. It’s a responsibility I take to heart and I want to be sure that deserving individuals are given full and fair consideration for their requests to become permanent residents of the nation they have faithfully served. We voted to approve ten of the eleven applications. I had to advocate strongly for one person who had one blemish on an otherwise stellar career with USFK. In the end the panel voted 3-2 to accept his application and I felt really good about that. A small thing for me that potentially has a big impact on someone’s future.

This coming Friday I will meet with the Korean Employees Union leadership for the final time. I’ve enjoyed this aspect of my job very much and I take a great deal of pride in the outstanding labor-management climate we have maintained within USFK. We rely on our Korean workforce to ensure readiness for our “fight tonight” mission, so keeping our civilians focused and motivated is critical. I doubt we will have much of substance to discuss this go round but I’m going to treat the KEU President and Secretary General to some American-style barbeque, probably at Manimals in Itaewon. Looking forward to that.

Speaking of my successor, we have had eleven candidates referred for consideration. I’m sure I’ll be asked to weigh-in on the relative merits of each and I will of course be happy to do so. I’ve loved my work here and I want to make sure my DHRM family is well taken care of after I’m gone.

As I’ve been cleaning out my files in preparation for my departure I came across an historic email from just over two years ago. Regular readers may recall that some cowardly person chose to complain about my blog to command leadership rather than engage me directly through the comments. I really despise chickenshit assholes who cannot abide anyone with a contrary opinion. Here is what the melting snowflake had to say in his/her complaint:

“I am an applicant and was looking for information about USFK. During my search, I found this website: www.mccrarey.com. It is VERY concerning! The posts are written by someone clearly from high in the command who is absolutely not inclusive. A few of the specific posts that are concerning are: 2/13/16—comparing Bernie Sanders to Hitler. Yes, I know there is free speech, but he identifies as a federal employee. 1/9/16—clearly identifies who he works for. 12/15/15—mocking Muslims, refers to Mohamed as pedophile. 10/23/15—Korean Employees Appeal Board and how it is messed up. 10/14/15—celebrating completing combatting trafficking on hooker hill…which is a real place. I truly hope this is not the image you want to be associated with your command.”

So, the complaint was referred to the Staff Judge Advocate (the lawyers) for review. This email was sent to my big boss in response:

“I reviewed the blog and could not find any violation of law or regulation. He writes about his personal political opinions, often in a churlish manner, but this is not prohibited. He is also not prohibited from identifying his employer or his position as long as he makes clear this his opinions are not those of the US government. I recommend that you notify the employee that there was a complaint about his blog and simply remind him of the applicable rules.”

My boss responded to me as follows:

“John, FYI…it’s good to know that writing about political opinions in a churlish manner is not prohibited. Maybe you should add a customer service link to your blog site so they can directly address concerns to the source. Still trying to figure out what “customer service” was officially provided by USFK through a personal blog that warrants an ICE complaint?”

Heh. Well the upshot of all this was I had to visit with the EEO office where I was encouraged to be more “sensitive”. My supervisor asked me to try and refrain from blogging about work. And a few months later I got promoted to the job I currently hold. I sincerely hope the punk ass loser who complained about me reads this so I can offer a hearty and sincere “fuck you!”

Oh, and any opinions expressed here at LTG are my own, dispensed on my own time, and do not represent the views of the United States government. At least for the next 17 days.