Complaint

After posting the dog handlers and posting my squad leader, the Flight Chief pulled me aside to talk to me before sending me to post. He started by telling me that one of the 35 dog handlers had complained that I did not like him and that I was assigning him to all the bad posts. As Assistant Flight Chief, my duties included assigning each dog man team to their post every night. It was not an easy task, but one I took quite seriously. It was important not to keep a dog in the same area night after night so that they would not become too familiar with the area. If the dog became too comfortable with the surroundings, he might become less alert. It was also important that the same dog teams not be posted together night after night for the same reason. So I continually shuffled them around the perimeter mixing up the handlers and areas. I treated everyone the same.

What do you do when the person complaining really thinks that every post is a bad one? What do you do when the Flight Chief does not realize that is the real problem? Well, I did the only thing that I could, I pulled out his dog's record and showed the Flight Chief that he was moved continually around the perimeter just like everyone else. He was never in the same area or on the same post two nights in a row. There it was in black and white. When we wrapped up our meeting, the Flight Chief told me not to let it happen again. How do you think I felt as I walked my dog out to our post?