HELP, run in with my Chief; my job on the line!!!

[SaiyanCivic]

i am the lowest guy in the entire command, the next lowest is a 3rd class petty officer. i have the obligation of scrapping up the storeroom deck with a 1 inch putty knife. people started making fun of me for following direct orders to use a putty knife for the project. i have inquired about a needle gun snd a deck crawler to get this paint up, but when i talk to my superiors about it, they just say "use the knife, youl be fine". then, i was not using the proper technique and my first class was really upset with me when he saw me. then i guess my chief overheard this and laid into me really hard and i got really upset. i have big plans for school and he made comments that he will work me until i have no time for school and made comments about him "counseling chit" me out the navy. this was totally out of left field, i am not sure if it maybe stress cause of the end of the FY. i have tried so hard to bust my ass, but now that i am judged, i dont know what to do. i am just so nervous right now and need some advice on some wisdom.

 

[Fatboy]

Probablly not a great idea to post this on the www. If you can edit it I would do so now and ask the webmaster to delete this post. But you wanted advice or help. Throw me an email gymrat666@yahoo.com. No matter what has transpired I assure you that you'll recover. Been there done worse

 

[EODDave]

Is your chief an EOD guy or a support bean. Sounds like a support guy to me. If you need any help, let me know. I know a bunch of guys out on the left coast. Email me at planeporters@msn.com I also agree about editing your post. Drop the mobile unit and your rank. Your making yourself a very easy target.

Dave

 

[JKD]

Wow does that bring back memories. TAD on the boat... I was a Airman Apprentice and had a pain in the butt LPO in charge of the mess decks.

18 year first class, never made chief, didn't like air wing types...

The short of it was, I TRIED to be as big of a pain in his butt as he was in ours. Not a good idea as an E2... I thought being right mattered when dealing with an E6.

I had one set of evals downgraded by him. I needed the evals to apply for an NROTC Scholarship (which I didn't get). It retrospect, I most likely wouldn't have gotten in even with 4.0 evals. I didn't have enough experience and history in the Navy to make a judgment.

Anyway, I agree with the others, edit your rank and unit out of the message.
Take a deep breath, and do what your chain of command assigns. If you don't know how, ask. If you get chewed on (by someone in the chain of command) ask how you should correct what your doing.

I'm sure there are specifics to the encounter (and it's been a while since I've been on active duty), so take Fatboy and/or EODDave up on the email offer.

Good luck, and many of us have been there before (and lived).

 

[trvsmrtn]

Either your Chief doesn't like you, or he's just busting your balls cuz you're a boot. Either way, just keep your nose clean. An ass chewing is nothing but an ass chewing, and there's no such thing as being counseled out of the Navy. In fact, the only people that will ever see a counseling chit is your Chief and your first class, unless you go to NJP. A counseling chit is just a tool for evaluating you. If you do something good or bad (counseling chits can be good), it's documented and it gives your immediate chain of command a reference point to evaluate you against an earlier point in your career. Most people have the wrong idea about them. So don't sweat counseling chits.

As far as your Chief and first class, just do your job and keep your mouth shut. Ninety percent of the priors reading this have been in your shoes and they'll probably agree that these guys are busting your balls because you're a boot. If you were on a ship it would be a whole lot worse. One day, you won't be the low man on the totem pole and you'll be standing back watching some new SR on his hands and knees scraping the deck with a putty knife.

And making you scrape the deck with a putty knife is just a training method that some people use. They want you to learn how to do a job the long tough way before they allow you to use tools that will make the job easier. I've never been too sure of the lesson that is supposed to be learned, but I believe that it's meant to give you an appreciation for those tools once you get to use them.

 

[Undertow]

hey there, being the lowest man in the command does not have to be hell if you're doing exactly what you were told and you used your chain of command effectively. The proper response to someone asking you why you're doing something that you were told to do you politely address the individual asking by their rank and tell them exactly who told you to do it, when they did it and that way there's accountability for the screw up. Get a note book and write EVERYTHING down it will save your ass more often than not.

 

[SaiyanCivic]

well, everything turned out good in the end. thanks for the advice. people where really talking in the command about this and someone put in a greivance chit to the CO. i took no part in it at all. i had no idea what/who did this. i really dont mind working a half days [12 hours] as long as i can get my education/food/bed. my chief was trying to break me in cause i am going to TAD soon. i have not said one word in the command since i have been there doing my project. its was just the fact i was using th wrong technique and my chief laying into me for that reason really shook me up. no disrespect to my chief or anyone else, i guess it often happens that superiors kick around thier seaman cause they are stressed out and need the let thier frustration out. to get to the point, i have big plans for my career/future, and i dont want my supervisor taking this away from me. its that fact that i can have this privledge taken away, not the fact i was yelled at.

SaiyanCivic

BTW: thank you everyone for your support. i have been busting my buttt at this command and have done alot of volunteer work there as well. people see that and compliment me. thanks for all your help and wish me luck in my future.