The Dis-appointing Ritual

As Schoolies we move jobs every two and a half years or so.  We move sooner if you have been on an operational deployment such as a carrier or an attachment to a Commando unit.  There is also the occasional opportunity to deploy for short operational tours in Iraq or Afghanistan, but it is fair to say these are few and far between and are much sought after appointments.   

In charge of all these moves is a chap called ’the appointer’.  He’s called  a lot of other things as well but i’m not here to add to that chorus of disapproval.  I make no mention of the man here as it is the role of the appointer to disappoint.  Each has their own style but in essence they all have the same problem with varying degrees of severity.  The problem is one of expectation v’s service need.   

A young schoolie has a the world at the feet, years to serve and no clue of what the service needs or what they can offer.

A Mid senority schoolie of the Lt varity has a better understanding that to get the world he will have to get on his knees and take what he is given.  

The senior Lt schoolie thinks the world owes him something and therefore promotion to Lt Cdr should be beckoning. but the world is a harsh place and reality sucks. 

The newly promoted Lt Cdr Schoolie thinks that it wasn’t such a great idea being promoted as the additional stress, longer hours, and lack of appointing input for the first job may not be worth the additional £1.50 a day.   

At the Cdr Level things are much better I’m sure.  If anyone wants to put me straight on that then I’m all ears.