Finally made it out to DLI after three long, agonizing weeks in that gods-forsaken hell-pit we know as Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. May it burn to the ground.
So I get here the week before I'm supposed to start class, and barely have time to finish inprocessing (cuz I got here in time for a 4 day weekend) before class starts. Cool, short wait. So I got to class (even though I feel like shit that day) and guess what? "You're not in this class, you're on a wait list. You'll probably start in March or April."
...
Then why the fuck was my ship date in DECEMBER? Stupid fucking broken TRADOC. I'm quite obviously bitter. And I'm not a lone case. Some people have been here since November or longer waiting for a class. So if anyone asks why, in 2006, there still aren't enough Arab linguists in the Army, you can tell them that there are lots of us... we're just all mowing lawns and pushing papers because TRADOC, in it's infinite wisdom, obviously greatly expanded the slots for Arabists but didn't bother arranging for new classrooms and/or new instructors to handle them all. My company has actually had to start vacating it's day room and CQ area to turn it into a classroom.
A classroom... in barracks. You know someone has fucked up when you have to convert the troops' living area into a classroom.
Oh, and there are soo many Arabists now (har har) that 1/3 now have to be shipped over to the company that handles European languages. Whose policies are geared towards students who are here for 6 months, not 16. Where language support materials like software, audio tapes, books, and cadre who can speak the language in question, are not available.
Every time I'm in TRADOC (that's Training and Doctrine, the purgatorial fairy land you exist within while you're in training and that doesn't actually teach you your job... rather, they teach you their own mythical version of your job which you are expected to forget and begin re-learning when you get to your actual duty station afterwards) I am further appalled at the disjointed operations and... retardation that seems to rule. Eventually, I should stop being surprised, but it just seems to keep getting worse...
Oh, and I'm sick too. Viral bronchitis. Hurray.
