Mother Beautiful.... John.
You're bringing back so many fond memories, especially when they mentioned the "high frequency net" and those high-powered briefings.
It seldom worked. We even had some program called Pak-rat for sending text via radio. Too slow.
John, you can believe what you want, but I used to work at Arlington Hall.
The funny thing is that people get panicked if the NG makes contingency plans (which they make for EVERYTHING, even things you can't dream of). But no one seems to care if your local police or your State Emergency Management Office is making similar plans.
And these plans get carried out when there is a disaster or civil disruption.
Hell, they have to have plans. Otherwise when the defecation hits the rotary oscillator, people get fired for not having the necessary plans. I know.... I saw good people lose their jobs when their poor planning caused a political embarassment to someone up above.
One thing to keep in mind. Every person who works at Arlington Hall, NGB, is a temporary employee. They each are on limited orders that have to be extended upon the conclusion of their tours. There is heavy turnover of personnel in many offices as people rotate back to their states.
And the Chief, NGB is a political appointee, confirmed into his office by the Congress. Do you know how much politicking you have to do to keep 50 states and the additional territories all happy?? The CNGB is constantly dancing to political tunes as he lobbies for more Federal money to be allocated to each state's guard units. This is money that the Regular federal services resent being diverted, especially when their units are suffering from maintenance problems and a lack of spare parts.
Sorry... I may never be able to convince any of you, but I have worked there and I frankly find most of these reports rather hilarious.
But hey, arrange a visit to the Readiness Center yourselves... they have tours available if I recall correctly. And it is very nice building.
Regards,
Ron |
