Civilians at Pax

[Christy]

Originally posted by yakky doodle
would a costco run for a work-related party be considered part of that group?

NO! We have a few folks that do the snack bar runs for our office. I see those as critical functions! Everyone starts getting edgy when the candy bar stash starts getting low!

 

[migtig]

Geesh - you mean I can get a job at Pax and not have to work - and not have a commute - hmmmm - where do I sign up!?!

 

[RangerJohn]

Why on earth would somebody want to get an "official government" passport, when the normal kind that is procured via the post office or if in a hurry, by making a quick trek up to DC? I avoided getting the "government" passport my whole active-duty career, and use the "just regular folks" passport that was issued to me by the Embassy in Singapore. Took about 90 minutes from start to finish...all I needed was a notarized copy of my birth certificate and my military ID, although my drivers license would have worked just as well.
And might you ask, why did I spent the money out of my own pocket for my passport, when I could have gotten a "free" government one? My answer is a because I had a large reminder across the pier from me...the USS Stetham, a ship named for a Navy Enlisted Diver who had the bad luck to be traveling with a government passport when hijackers took over his plane. Those used to be red, but I think the color has been changed to blue since Robbie Stetham was murdered. But the tango's gathered the passports of all the passengers on his airplane, noticed that his identified him as an active-duty military, and executed him as an example. Since that day, when I've had to go overseas (and I've been too many places, I got the T-shirts to prove it!) *I've used my regular passport.
So word of advice....dump the government passport and spend $60 bucks on a regular one. One of the best insurance policies I ever took out....if you get my meaning.

As far as the other observations, well you can go to just about anywhere in the US and find shoddy service or attitudes if you are looking for it. My experience thus far has been very positive. The folks at PSD, the Pass Office, medical, and the community, both military and civilian, have been extremely friendly and helpfull. Occassionally I do run across someone having a bad day, but I've found that a quick joke or a kind word, usually elicits an apology and the assistance I require.

 

[JabbaJawz]

Originally posted by RangerJohn
So word of advice....dump the government passport and spend $60 bucks on a regular one. One of the best insurance policies I ever took out....if you get my meaning.

It's up to $85.00 now , I just applied.

 

[Doc]

Originally posted by RangerJohn
Why on earth would somebody want to get an "official government" passport, when the normal kind that is procured via the post office or if in a hurry, by making a quick trek up to DC?

Because here on base, PSD will not issue overseas orders for civilians without an official passport, and for the military some countries require the official passport for official travel. I went through hell with PSD ("Prevention of Support Detachment") getting mine too. Of course, I use the good old blue tourist one when I travel, but PSD requires me to have an official one before I can get orders.

By the way, they haven't changed color. They're still reddish brown.

 

[Lilly]

In the few years that I have been here on PAX I have never had a problem with the pass office but have encountered a lot of civilian vs. contractor tension. I worked in one program office where the civilians tried (unsuccessfully) to get the contractors to pay double for things like christmas lunches and summer picnics. Basically every time there was a group function they either tried to bar us or make it not worth our while!!

But my experience was that this attitude existed only in the lower level jobs - admin, etc. Most of the higher level people could care less what you were as long as you performed. It was mostly the secretaries and low-level financial personnel that got catty - I think it was overall a jealousy issue because in those categories contractors seem to work harder but also get paid better than thier government counterparts!

I can also sympathize with the only way to get rid of them is to promote them rhetoric! And we wonder how incompetant people get superisory positions!!!

 

[RangerJohn]

Originally posted by Doc
Because here on base, PSD will not issue overseas orders for civilians without an official passport, and for the military some countries require the official passport for official travel. I went through hell with PSD ("Prevention of Support Detachment") getting mine too. Of course, I use the good old blue tourist one when I travel, but PSD requires me to have an official one before I can get orders.

By the way, they haven't changed color. They're still reddish brown.

egads.....with the "just shoot me" color. Your revelation makes absolutely no sense to me. I travelled on government orders for years and used my blue passport without a bit of trouble. In fact it expedited things for all concerned.....of course we were talking about PSD's in San Diego, who STRONGLY URGED the use of the personal passport, due to the reasons I enumerated earlier. What did you do to upset the person who is requiring you to have this "blood chit"?

 

[pilot]

Originally posted by RangerJohn
I travelled on government orders for years and used my blue passport without a bit of trouble.

RangerJohn:

I, too, traveled on government orders using a blue passport back in 1998. I heard shortly thereafter that the rules were changing and that the new requirements were to use a govt. issued passport. That surprised me. Seems to me that would make the traveler into a potential target for harassment.

 

[RangerJohn]

perhaps folks just have more common sense out in San Diego?

 

[alex]

I am not condoning the attitude but with the Gov't outsourcing more and more jobs did anyone think that maybe some of the civilians feel threatened? However, Ken is right. The supervisors are not doing their job. All they have to do is document the attitude, productivity levels, etc to get rid of an employee. Yes is may take a while but it can be done IF the supervisor wants to. Promoting this type of employee only continues to drag down the morale of everyone else. However, this is definitely not limited to gov't workers. You see similar attitudes in the private sector and just as much resistance to getting rid of them.

 

[Makavide]

Originally posted by TheOtherGuy
Nearly all civilians in admin positions there seem to be either incompetent or maliciously unhelpful. I'm talking about the Pass Office folks, the PSD staff, IMD, and now the transient NMCI folks.

Maybe they are getting upset over all the interuptions that are keeping them from staying up to date on all the postings here and not being able start more bashing.

 

[Heretic]

Some things you actually need a govt issued passport. I did some work for the brazilian government a couple years ago and their "union" or what ever it was wouldnt let in contractors or even government employees to do the job unless you had the government passport. The union felt threated taht we were going to take away their jobs otherwise (that they obviously couldnt do themselves).

 

[Lilly]

Re: Re: Civilians at Pax

Originally posted by Makavide
Maybe they are getting upset over all the interuptions that are keeping them from staying up to date on all the postings here and not being able start more bashing.

Truth be told . . . . .

 

[Kizzy]

The problem with incompetent, lazy workers doesn’t just exist at PAX. It is everywhere anymore. What ever happened to a work ethic? I watch and listen to employees spending more time trying to get out of doing their job than just doing it in the first place. I have two co-workers in my office that are at fairly equal rank, one shuts her door all day doing who knows what and when you walk into her office you feel as if you have just disturb her day dreaming. The other is on the phone practically all day. There are days I want to get up and slam my door as hard as possible to give her the hint that it is annoying, but I try to keep my door open incase somebody needs something. My biggest complaint at my job is that management does absolutely nothing to rectify the problem. So, everyday I go to work and I pray that when I get home there will be an interview notice for another job in my mailbox.

 

[Ken King]

Originally posted by IM4Change
The problem with incompetent, lazy workers doesn’t just exist at PAX. It is everywhere anymore. What ever happened to a work ethic? I watch and listen to employees spending more time trying to get out of doing their job than just doing it in the first place.

I am in total agreement with you. There are lazy people everywhere and I sure as heck don’t know why. It seems to me that many people feel that they are owed their paycheck for just showing up instead of actually earning it by doing their jobs. Many will milk the system for all it’s worth if allowed. But again it is those responsible for these people that are letting the ball drop. If they keep giving them an acceptable performance rating when they aren’t performing they are just re-enforcing that behavior. It is also a massive morale killer when some work and others don’t, but everyone is advanced, recognized, and paid equally.

Many of today’s management types don’t have a clue as to what they are doing when it comes to motivating slackers and rewarding the productive workers. I feel I am extremely lucky to love my job and to belong to a team where everyone has a strong work ethic. It’s easy to lead when everyone pulls their weight, understand what it is that we do, and are looking for more challenges within the team.

 

[StillCrazy]

This is new???

This entire thread reads like this condition just happened yesterday ( or within the year at least). Not so!! In 1979, I was in the Army, stationed at Fort Sheridan, Il. My office was a mix of military, civil servants, and contractors - much like Pax.

The contractors were always busy - I didn't realy know what they were doing - but they were busy. Most of the civil servants I knew just hung around one guy's desk and shot the breze all day. It was the military doing most of the work.

I recall one episode in particular, when an older civilian was given a new task. He didn't like the assignment and asked permission to go to PSD to file his retirement papers. Our supervisor gave the task to someone else. Me!

 

[SEABREEZE 1957]

I spent 20 yrs. in the USN and since working as a contractor at PAX for the last 3 yrs. I am starting to realize why things took so long to happen in the fleet. I've never seen so much "milking" of jobs in order to maintain "job security" as I have at PAX. The funny thing is, if any of these civilians had to actually use the crap they have approved for fleet use, they would be crying all over their expensive laptops...Not all of the GS'ers are like this, but enough to make one notice. The military folks at PAX seem just as frustrated as I am to get a job done, although it's pretty cushy duty and I doubt anyone would complain too loudly.

 

[Cheetah]

Need a "non-slacker" or work-aholic?

Slackers exist in non-govt jobs too. Just had this discussion yesterday with my husband b/c he handles recruiting for his office. If you guys know any contractors that need a more financial/analytical/research non-slacker down at the base, let me know. I'll soon be available. Used to working 12-hr days and a hellish commute. Also would welcome any contact names - just send to my email.