15 Days...

That's what I have. 15 days to make either a written or oral rebuttal to the recommendation.

What recommendation?

The one that states "that (my) removal is necessary to promote the efficiency of the service."

In other words, I'm being fired. It was easier when my boss just said, "You're fired! Pick up your check!" No, the government, which does everything exceeding slow save for knee-jerk reactions to criticism, takes its own sweet time. I've been on flight suspension for 10 weeks. Now I have 15 days to rebut and will be terminated, barring a successful rebuttal, on Oct. 2, 2005. I can quit before hand and all of this goes away. Any future employer asking the USFS about me will get the standard reply. He worked here from Oct 2000 to Oct 2005. He left of his own free will.

I think this is probably the biggest screw up of my entire life. This takes the cake. The brass ring of screw ups. No, no one died or was injured (just my ego and self esteem). But I put my foot in it big time. I've let down my co-workers, my boss and the agency. I've wasted taxpayers money (sorry...please don't ask for a refund) on my training which I only got to use for 1 1/2 years. I caused 100,000 dollars worth of damage to an airplane because I got scared and panicked.

So....I feel sick. I have a meeting with the Union Rep on Thursday. At that time we'll discuss my options and develop a strategy. My first instinct was to just bail. Quit. Why would I want to stay with this hanging over my head? Management and Safety will never trust me again. My name and reputation are sullied. The FS never forgets a sin. If anyone has a good reason why I should stay (short of supporting my family), I'd really like to know. Seriously. I can get another job but I'll never have another job with the pay and retirement security I have with this one.

Somebody shoot me...

Eric