20 weeks and counting

Danelle posted our new 1/2 way update that you can read! I will have to write more later when we port in Georgia (at the mother's urging to write more). READ OUR 1/2 WAY UPDATE HERE

I don't understand the Albany

Today I found out that I will not be augmented for the second half of deployment.  This means that I will not be here for the birth of my first child.  This is messed up in so many ways.  

First I wasn't even told, I had to go and ask.  My chief didn't even know, apparently it was a secret or something.  I'm still wondering when this was actually decided.  I'm sure that it wasn't today.   So of course I was a little stunned, because there really is no reason that I shouldn't be allowed to leave.  There will be more than enough Sonarmen on board and there will be people qualified to do my job.  

So after I found this out I decided to write a leave chit for next week since for the purpose of not only spending as much time as I can with Danelle, but to try and get things in order and everything set so that she doesn't have to deal with a lot of crap.  I routed it through the chain of command with nobody having any problems with it until I get to the Chief of the Boat, the senior enlisted person on board, he read the reason and gave me this crabby response.  He made it seem like I was being unreasonable for wanting to take leave.  My reason on the chit was this: R/R to take leave in order to take care of personal affairs due to the fact that I will not be here for the birth of my first child.

(Time for a little side rant.)  When he first looked at me with his snotty little face and gave me that look I was ready to punch him.  I am not a violent person, but my fist was closed and tightening.  This guy is such a power hungry, short person complex, asshole.  He is the standard out of date chief that thinks he can bully people around and get them to do what he wants.  Obviously has very little concern about the moral of the crew and more about his career.  This is most evident lately in his most recent idea to keep everybody on board for a clean up ship at 4:00 in the afternoon.  Not giving them the precious little time left before we ship out to be at home with loved ones.  

I'm not the type of person that thinks the Navy owes me and should let me get what I want.  I understand the job and what can happen.  What pisses me off about this whole thing is the way that it was handled.  I'm sure this decision was made a while ago, yet they didn't tell anybody.  At least not me or my chief.  And the general way that things are run on this boat everyday makes me wonder how things get done at all.  I am curious if they would ever have said anything to me if I didn't push the issue.  And it's things like that that make me pissed.