Thursday, January 10, 2013
Tribute to Rob Lefferts
It was, probably, January of 1994. (This happened shortly after Mr. Shoaf took command. It was Chief's first winter at Fort Bliss.)
The band hall, at Fort Bliss, sucked, and EVERY winter I was there the heat went out.
We attempted to have concert band rehearsal, but the room was too cold. Intonation on ALL of the instruments was in the toilet, and, literally, you could see your breath as you tried to talk.
Finally, after a while, Chief (yes, you, Bob Shoaf) went on a rant, understandably, about the temperature in the room.
Chief demanded to know who was in charge of "R and U" (repair and upkeep) of the building.
It was Rob.
Chief went on a "rant", and it was a good one, as rants go.
It ended with Chief in Rob's face, yelling that Rob would receive a "Relieved For Cause" NCOER, if Rob didn't get the heat fixed in the next 36 hours. (End of Rob's military career.)
(Stick with me, folks, I promise this is a funny story.)
At the end of the rant, Chief ended the rehearsal, and sent everyone home.
I was stuck on "Charge of Quarters" duty.
I had to stay at the building, insure it's security, and answer the phones. My place of duty was in our orderly room ... not far from Rob's desk.
So, everyone left, except for Rob and I.
He called the "Department of Public Works" (DPW), on base.
The following is what I remember Rob saying to them. ... I didn't have to hear the stuff on the other end. (Everything in parenthesis is translation for those of you that don't speak "Army".)
---
Here is what I heard:
"Hello, Ma'am, this is Sergeant Lefferts. I am the R&U (Repair and Upkeep) NCO (Sergeant) for the 62nd Army Band."
...
"Yes, Ma'am. I am calling because our heat is STILL out."
...
"Yes, Ma'am, I have submitted THREE work orders for it to be fixed,"
...
"Yes, Ma'am, I have read the Fort Bliss SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for filling out a work order, and I am sure I filled out the forms correctly."
....
"Ma'am, when is the soonest you can have someone here to fix our heat?"
....
"MARCH!?!?!?!"
"Mister Shoaf is going to give me a "Relieved for Cause" NCOER, if I don't get someone here in the next ..."
...
"No, ma'am."
....
"No, ma'am, Mr. Paarmann went to Korea about 6 months ago. Mr. Shoaf is the commander of the 62nd Army Band, now. ... THANK YOU, ma'am."
...
At that point, Rob, hung up the phone, looked at me, with a grin, and told me that the heat should be fixed before 9 AM the next morning.
And it was.
The band hall, at Fort Bliss, sucked, and EVERY winter I was there the heat went out.
We attempted to have concert band rehearsal, but the room was too cold. Intonation on ALL of the instruments was in the toilet, and, literally, you could see your breath as you tried to talk.
Finally, after a while, Chief (yes, you, Bob Shoaf) went on a rant, understandably, about the temperature in the room.
Chief demanded to know who was in charge of "R and U" (repair and upkeep) of the building.
It was Rob.
Chief went on a "rant", and it was a good one, as rants go.
It ended with Chief in Rob's face, yelling that Rob would receive a "Relieved For Cause" NCOER, if Rob didn't get the heat fixed in the next 36 hours. (End of Rob's military career.)
(Stick with me, folks, I promise this is a funny story.)
At the end of the rant, Chief ended the rehearsal, and sent everyone home.
I was stuck on "Charge of Quarters" duty.
I had to stay at the building, insure it's security, and answer the phones. My place of duty was in our orderly room ... not far from Rob's desk.
So, everyone left, except for Rob and I.
He called the "Department of Public Works" (DPW), on base.
The following is what I remember Rob saying to them. ... I didn't have to hear the stuff on the other end. (Everything in parenthesis is translation for those of you that don't speak "Army".)
---
Here is what I heard:
"Hello, Ma'am, this is Sergeant Lefferts. I am the R&U (Repair and Upkeep) NCO (Sergeant) for the 62nd Army Band."
...
"Yes, Ma'am. I am calling because our heat is STILL out."
...
"Yes, Ma'am, I have submitted THREE work orders for it to be fixed,"
...
"Yes, Ma'am, I have read the Fort Bliss SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for filling out a work order, and I am sure I filled out the forms correctly."
....
"Ma'am, when is the soonest you can have someone here to fix our heat?"
....
"MARCH!?!?!?!"
"Mister Shoaf is going to give me a "Relieved for Cause" NCOER, if I don't get someone here in the next ..."
...
"No, ma'am."
....
"No, ma'am, Mr. Paarmann went to Korea about 6 months ago. Mr. Shoaf is the commander of the 62nd Army Band, now. ... THANK YOU, ma'am."
...
At that point, Rob, hung up the phone, looked at me, with a grin, and told me that the heat should be fixed before 9 AM the next morning.
And it was.
