The Broken Soldier

Got an email today informing me I’m to report next Monday.  That’s good because it’d be impossible for me to get there earlier.  The email included the traffic between the sender and others involved in working my orders.  In reviewing the traffic, I learned many are involved.  Possibly too many given the nature of the work being done.

In a cursory viewing, there were several people working this matter, at least six, in some way or form.  Those working the matter knew as early as the 9th of September that my orders required me to be at Fort Knox by the 17th.  Orders were in the system as early as the 5th of September.  It took until late afternoon on the 16th for the message to find its way to me.  Why?

Nature of bureaucracy?  I don’t believe so.  Inefficiency isn’t implied in bureaucracy, though many joke and possibly truly believe it is.  More hands typically lightens the load, that is, when those hands work in unison.  But it seems to me lightening the load isn’t the purpose of this bureaucracy.  What its purpose is, I can only guess.  But because this matter wasn’t handled efficiently, I draw pay and entitlements for an extra week while not being treated.  Creating further cost to the government (to all tax payers) in the immediate future and, because outcomes worsen as time goes on, probably in the distant future too.

Addendum: Looking over the forwarded email again, there were actually 14 people working on getting my orders to me.  It took 14 people to get my orders from Fort Knox to me.  14.  And when the orders arrived, they were of such poor quality that they couldn’t be read.  Making them practically useless to me.