Capt Obvious

So...my boss, in all his infinite wisdom, decided to put lil' ol' me in charge of the entire Inspector General's inspection for the entire base here. This is a HUGE responsibility that usually falls to a field grade officer, but I guess I'm just that lucky...

...so last night I was out at the local watering hole when the deputy commander of the base began asking how my inspection preparation was coming along. "It's going really well, Sir!" I replied, and began to tell him about coordinating with this Capt up at SOUTHCOM to get up-to-date checklists and points of contact for all of the areas to be inspected, etc. As I was telling him all this, he started scrunching his eyebrows together in a look of surprise and disbelief. I went on to tell him about calling the Capt directly 4 times the day before to make sure I had the right information...when the deputy commander interrupted saying, "You know he's a Navy Capt, right?" ....at this point I felt my heart drop and my jaw fell open in disbelief. For those who don't understand the implication of what he said, a Capt in the Army or Air Force is an O-3...I am an O-2 so we are only separated by one degree of rank and are both considered Company Grade Officers. This relationship lends itself to certain privileges of informality. A NAVY CAPT on the other hand...is an O-6...the equivalent of a Colonel in the Army or Air Force.

...so wouldn't you know I've been chatting all buddy-buddy with a guy that outranks 95% of the entire Navy like he's my golfing buddy...huh...boy do I feel sheepish...and like a very silly Lt.

I wondered why a secretary asked my name and business and had me on hold for 5 minutes every time I called. No lightbulb came on when that happened 4 times in a row...haha..oh..

So the deputy commander got a good laugh at my expense. Can't wait to send that apology email Monday...

...Capt Jane Obvious...or Oblivious...out...