Assignment News

Since I was supposed to find out on Friday where we would be moving to I was excited to see an e-mail from MI Branch when I got to work on Friday. However, it was not an email giving assignment information... He wanted me to give him a call to discuss something. He said it was not a bad thing, but did not elaborate on what it could be about. I waited until it was a decent hour on the east coast and gave him a call. Turns out they had a fellowship available at Fort Belvoir, VA and had sent some files forward for selection to fill the slot. My file was selected and he wanted to know if I was interested in the opportunity. I told him I was, but needed to discuss it with Sabrina. I asked him about Gordon and Buckley. He said Gordon was off the table because of timing. Buckley was still open, but the unit was reviewing (Officer Record Brief) ORBs (mine was one of them) and were going to select who they want. I had bumped the DC area up to number 3 and 4 for the chance of possibly getting selected for a fellowship down the road in another year or so. The chance to slide into one right now is a great opportunity. Not too many officers get the chance, because it is a selection process and timing does not always work out. I called him back and told him I wanted to take the slot. He is supposed to send me more information early next week. It is either a counterterrorism or an inter agency (DIA, CIA, FBI, NGIC) fellowship that will most likely result in a masters degree in strategic intelligence and it will satisfy my ILE requirement and prevent us from having to PCS back to Fort Leavenworth, KS to attend the normal class there. Hope that is not too confusing. Cost of living in that area is crazy and we will not be buying a house there. There are some good rental places and our housing allowance there is $2,700, so we should be able to find a nice place with at least a little yard for the dogs. Another good thing is that it will be at least 2 maybe 3 years where I will not deploy! My report date will be in AUG/SEP so it will be a quick turn around to get out of Riley and report there upon my return.