Latest BYU MBA Newsletter Submission

News from Fort Riley.

Cold, very cold. When you stand around doing nothing, it seems colder still. I knew we were in trouble when during our welcome brief, the presenter said, “We don’t know why you’re here so early.” Oh, dear. So here we are at the beginning of our third week of inprocessing. Something that takes one week typically. I’ve been having flashbacks to operations class as I go from one 300 person line to another. If we had two stations, we could roughly double our throughput. And if we had the foresight to cross-train the folks doing the processing, we could shift resources to clear bottlenecks. Alas, all for naught. I have been reduced to silence, as all protestations and recommendations for improvement are interpreted as impudence and insubordination.

On the other hand, I am honored to be among a group of 300 individuals- Reservists, all- who have left many things precious and dear to serve their country. Truth be told, most of us aren’t losing out financially, but we don’t do this for the money. The contractors out in Iraq are more often in it for the money. We are all here for reasons that I find fairly noble, at times even inspiring. I have been greatly blessed by having Elder Robert Oaks make sure I got a copy of “Let not your hearts be troubled,” a DVD produced for current LDS service members. It contains some great counsel from four church leaders, three of them distinguished veterans. They point out some of the challenges we face in the service as we confront the horrors of war, and they help us see how ancient men of honor addressed matters of state and war in our scriptures. President Hinckley’s comments weren’t bad either. ;-)

Training starts in earnest next week. The waiting has been strangely exhausting.