The XMEN Clan Forums

I should first note that I met a coworker at a church I visited on Sunday. He is now my Mentor at work because of that. Also he was already in the process of getting permission to take me to a job site this Thursday for an inspection. I just need to be cleared to get funding for work boots before I'm allowed to go.

Today started in HR with a lot of paper work, a good portion of which they failed to mail to me which is the most important of all of it. I just finished that excluded part to the best of my ability a few minutes ago. I'm now in the federal system with full finger prints scanned in. I've taken the oath to execute the office in which I was hired to the best of my ability. Got to meet many people and given a bare cubicle with only the computer system stuff in it. The only problem is I don't have system access and it takes longer to get a temporary access to the system then it is to get the normal one.

Spent the day taking supplies and stoking my desk, and then learning that things I didn't think I need I will be needing in large amounts, as well as that things I need are currently not in stock. The rest of the time was spent double checking the math used for calculations. I will continue to double check things tomorrow because I can't do the tutorials until I get system access and the double checking of others work has been piling up for a while so they have plenty of that to keep me busy all week. I'm not complaining as its allowing me to learn about the standards and expectations that they operate with as well as some of the over lapping between the departments that I will have to be use to. My boss is going to look into if the Corps is going to rotate me through the departments before leaving me where I'm at or if I just get to stay where I'm at. They want all the engineers to understand what the others are doing to help better the designs.

I find it interesting that there is a note on all phones reminding people not to discuss classified material and that the line is most likely monitored. I know of no classified work being done by this district, its all public work projects. Well, time to start getting ready for bed and for day two of work.

Welcome to the Bureaucratic States of America.

On the rotation thing, IMHO it'd be great to have a position for six months or so (so you can get familiar with your duties and the company as a whole) and then rotate through various depts. so you can see how they relate and be more aware of the differences. Just a thought, and free, so it's worth what you paid for it.

Welcome to the club bud.

Congrats on getting a good job. I wish you the very very best in your career. Now enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Take your time and have a good time.

I say it's time for a party. Head to the liquor store, get a case, and chill in front of the TV like the bachelor you are.

Ummm, I don't have cable. I guess I would just have to sit in front of the comp.... oh wait I already do that on a daily bases both at work and home.

Going to a job site tomorrow, Bluestone Dam. The Corps page for it is http://www.lrh.usace.army.mil/about/history/bluestone/.

Went through tutorials about many acronyms and security. It now has me questioning what I can and can't say about what I do even though none of it's classified but if someone was to have enough pieces it could be used to destroyed what we design.

Can always stick it in the private forum if you feel more comfortable there and need to share.

Seems like any entity large enough has a good bit of alphabet soup to learn. Too many TLA's where I work, I know.

(Three-Letter Acronyms)

Congrats on your first week.

The general rule of thumb is that if you have critical pieces, don't share. To anyone.

It's better to err on the side of caution. Especially since you are still new.


If you have a CIL or other document that covers critical info, get to studying it.

Though you should remember your privacy act rules, and remember that non-classified "shop talk" are two things that you should never talk about outside of work. There is info that I am privy to that is not classified, but we treat it like it is because it is still critical operational info (security practices for example).

Talking with a coworker who's been there for decades, any piece of information when combined with others can provide potential enemies weak points to any structures we build. I might talk about things in general terms as such things are published by the Corps, but things such as details will never be discussed outside of the office.

I spent today on site of a Dam upgrade and expansion that was more than I had known but none of it is classified. They are actually extending the dam vertically 8 feet to increase its capacity as well as finishing off work, which I was part of verifying today, from its original design that failed to be built 60 years ago. I got a tour of the inside of the Dam as well as a chance to walk along the top.

As for information rules that I have been made aware of so far, if its anything made or handled by the DoD, it is either to be encrypted or classified depending on what it is. Even survey information that's decades old is classified and when they are disposed of they are completely destroyed. All I will say is we verified that the construction in on track as well as all the participating parties are on the same page. Work appears to be on schedule and all new installations since last inspection have been verified against specs. Now back to the office for the last working day of the week.

Yeah, those dam upgrades can be a lot of work. I can see how extra dam capacity affects the whole dam building process.

It sounds like you had a cursing problem. Now if you can pull the same thing off for a pumping station or lock.... might not want to try lock, it could be twisted into a four letter f word.