The Major

On Tuesday I went to Eau Claire to see a friend at the hospital after her knee replacement surgery.  Carol was at Luther Hospital and doing well.  I was impressed by the hospital facility and confused about the Luther Hospital where I worked while in college at Eau Claire.  I drove past the old building, but it has changed so much, I could not really see where I used to enter the building for work.  But that was a few years ago I guess.

I also had lunch with my nephew Andy.  He works at the Armory in Eau Claire and was available to meet me at the VFW close to his work place.  It was a fun visit and I learned a little about what goes on at the armory.  26 full time employees are working there to coordinate and arrange the training for about 700 members of the battalion.  Andy is the Battalion Administration Officer which puts him in charge of those 26 folks doing that work.   It is a civilian job but he wears full camo uniform each day.  The new camo design, no longer digital, required purchase of new uniforms by these soldiers to the tune of about $100 per uniform.  

Can you imagine needing a uniform to do your job that has that price tag?  I am probably clueless about this, maybe this is not unusual, I guess I've never thought about what it might cost police officers to be in uniform.

I was lucky at Coors, my coveralls were provided, and for many years, they were even laundered by the company.  Prior to that, my hospital uniforms were my responsibility, but no where that expensive.

Andy has 'guards' one weekend a month, about 500 soldiers attend at Ft. McCoy.

It was interesting to learn about his role as Major & as part of the Headquarters group that plans and executes that training.

I think he really hates the selfie thing, but I make him do it anyway.

He might be the Major to many folks, but he's 'nephew' to me.

And I am plenty proud of him.