Pre-separation

As most of you know, I am transferring to the Army on May 22nd. I am so thankful that it worked out and I was approved every step of the way. Having to depend on several different people to push my paperwork when they most likely have many other people to deal with is frustrating at times, but they helped me out and it worked at out at the end of the day so I am happy. I will later write why I did this, but first let me tell how I did.


OCT/NOV 07: I had been weighing my options of what to do next in the AF, whether to go to AFIT (graduate school for the AF), cross-train for one tour in maintenance or something like that, voluntarily separate under the force shaping program, or do a simple four years here at Eglin and then separate, move to Panama City where Christina works and go to grad. school there, maybe studying math or engineering again. There also was this force shaping program that allowed people in the AF to interservice transfer to the Army (Blue to Green). It sounded interesting, but I never really had given it serious thought. So in the fall I started doing a lot of research on what types of career fields it had, where training was, what was entailed in that training, promotion opportunities, etc. Many various things attracted me about it, mainly the fact that the training sought to prepare you to be a platoon leader (normally the first job you get as a 2LT), and being a soldier in general, teaching you technical (land navigation, weapons qualification, communication, etc) and tactical (how to lead a squad, platoon on various types of missions - patrols, raids, ambushes, stability operations, etc.). This is in stark contrast to my AF initial training, which I will briefly explain. After I commissioned in Dec 2006, I went straight to Maxwell AFB, AL for Air and Space Basic Course. This course is 6 weeks of PowerPoint and leadership briefings from Colonels and Generals. Some of the presentations were very interesting, coming from certain perspectives, but after a few weeks became very repetitive. We (my flight of about 14 i think) were forced to play these simulated war games where us new college grads had no idea what to do, so we naturally resorted to throwing paper balls with golf balls inside at each other, bad idea. To sum it up, everything I learned at ASBC was for the two tests we took, which tried to trick us at every turn, so they could limit the amount of people who got 100s, sly huh. What I didn't learn was how to learn my eventual job better or how to contribute more effectively to whatever mission we had. The whole thing is just another check box to fill, some hoping to get top flight in the squadron (which we surprisingly did) to make General some day!! Then after a few months at Eglin in the Mission Planning Systems Test Flight, attempting to learn the basics of my new assignment, I went to Wright-Patterson AFB, OH, the HQ of AF engineering. The class I took was the fundamentals of acquisition management, for any LT who was in the acquisition career field, which was quite a few. We went through each step in the acquisition process, plus some other stuff, in 3 weeks. Then we got our wings, I mean, our badge for our BDUs, but didn't get our certificates until we sent our travel voucher back to WPAFB, which was a few months for me, ha. Anyway, the whole point of this was to show that the two training classes I went to did not help me with my job one bit. They were just check boxes to fill. Plus, some of the people at the class in Ohio were, sorry to say, nerds. They would sit on the computer, talk about computer games, try to get distinguished graduate in a 3 week class, and almost everybody talked about how cool their job was and how important it was. I was about ready to call in sick I couldn't stand it anymore. So, to compare this training to that which I will receive in the Army, there is no comparison. My job in the Army, I was approved for Infantry, will be to lead a platoon of about 35 soldiers and eventually be Company Executive Officer, and in a few years as Captain, Company Commander. That is a lot of responsibility for an LT or even a CPT (captain). By the way, Christina is making pancakes right now, I hope she didn't burn them :). To sum up this drawn out section, AF training and education does not help me with my job or with most jobs I may have, but Army training does. That is a big reason why i transferred, but not the main one.



DEC 07: I assembled the paperwork for my separation; it took several weeks trying to get the format of the staff package correct. Man how the AF likes to have pretty paperwork. So I finally got it signed by my SQ/CC around new years. It, of course, had to go through the mail routing system, until the Wing/CC signed it a few weeks later, I was glad it worked out and they were cool with it.



JAN 08: I took separation approval to the base personnel people on Jan 16, and they sent it to AF Personnel Center in San Antonio, TX. It took them 3 weeks to determine that my career field was overmanned (the whole point of force shaping - a fancy term for RIF or reduction in force, cutting people , whatever you want to call it), and then they sent it to the Secretary of the Air Force personnel council, where it took about 2.5 weeks to approve, and the AF approval letter came to me about Feb 22.



FEB 08: After some arguing on the phone with an NCO about getting the formal approval letter with a signature on it (what the Army wanted) instead of an email, she finally sent it and forwarded it to the Army personnel people I had been working with. It took about 2-3 weeks to get approval from the Army assistant secretary for personnel, but it worked out!



MAR 08: After I found out the Army approved, they scheduled me for my two basic training classes, Basic Officer Leader Course 2 and Infantry BOLC. The first one starts on June 8 and the next one on Aug 3. I will be done with both of those on Nov 4. I will be writing posts most days when I am not in the field about what fun things I have been doing each day. After I got my training scheduled, I talked to my assignment manager and I told her that Hawaii was our first pick for an assignment after training was over, then Germany, Korea, Benning (where i will be training) and Carson in Colorado Springs. We were so happy to find out she got Hawaii for me! We didn't really expect to get that of course, but hey we got lucky again. So after these classes (I will also have to go to airborne, another specialized class particular to my unit - mortar leader course, recon and surveillance course, and after that i will go to Ranger School, which is by far the most difficult) I will report to Hawaii to eventually take over a platoon. We will not go to Hawaii until about April of 2009 because I have a lot of training ahead of me.



Now that you know how I got here, this is why I am doing this:

As i mentioned above, the training that the Army gives you is precisely what you need in your job, not some theoretical pie in the sky briefings and tests that don't teach you how to be more effective in the real world. That is just a benefit of the Army. The main reason is because I don't want to be a young officer and be in an office environment. I know that eventually as an officer, it is inevitable, but right now i should be developing my leadership skills and interacting with enlisted men. The main job I have at my current job is making sure the refrigerators are stocked with soda and there is no cardboard in the break rooms. I was ok with that at first, but for 6 months it gets old. Another thing is that if there isn't a certain type of soda in the fridge, it gets through the chain of command and eventually i find out about it, and i get in trouble. If i don't do something in my real job, it's not really a big deal. So it comes down to priorities; if an old 50 something fat contractor doesn't have his diet soda and candy bar, all hell breaks loose.

Another reason why i switched is because i would like to experience at least a few deployments while I am young. As an engineer in the AF, your deployment opportunities are limited, and they only take captains and majors, and to top it off you may go individually to some random unit doing who the hell knows. As an infantry LT, yeah it may be more dangerous, but i would be going with men i know well and trust, the same guys i have been with for several months, and you can bet that when i get to HI, that i will go somewhere within a few months. I like that idea of unit cohesiveness and camaraderie.

There are countless smaller, less insignificant, reasons, namely: i would like to do my small part in this current conflict and don't feel that i am doing anything here, the people that i would be working with have a much different mindset than those i work with now. The people here do everything they can to impress their superiors instead of actually contributing to the MISSION. All we talk about in squadron settings is what we need to do to check different boxes in pursuit of promotions or special programs. My friend Scott and I were remembering that not once in the briefing did we hear "war", or "duty" or "country" and only heard deployment as a means of padding the officer performance report (OPR). In Army Officer Evaluation Reports (OERs), people probably have multiple deployments on it and that is normal. I don't expect to be rewarded when I deploy in the near future because its just normal to them. But to the AF acquisition community, a deployment is like you went to Afghanistan, fought bin Laden in hand to hand combat, and brought back his head on a platter to the President. Don't get me wrong, that would be sweet, but everyone who goes on a deployment from our squadron or other acquisition units wants to make a freaking PowerPoint presentation (what we do best) on what their experience was like making presentations, like this one, to random people and doing paperwork in the AOR (Area of Responsibility). Don't think that there are no airmen doing great work while deployed. Pilots, Navs, maintenance, definitely Civil engineering, i might say they work the hardest (construction workers on steroids - but not literally), communications, and on and on. The true nature of acquisitions is that it is support; we don't directly fight the war. We produce the weapons that the pilots, navs, maintenance, etc, fight the war with. So in certain ways you can see that we are an important part of the bigger picture, and we are. However, some people do great in this business oriented environment, and that is awesome. Most of the people in know in my unit are engineers, very bright, skilled at what they do, but don't quite understand why I am doing what i am doing, except for a few. I want everyone to know who reads this that i have nothing against them. they are great people who do an important job developing high-tech weapons for the present and future battlefield. The only part where we differ is that this job just simply isn't for me. i have given it a chance for almost a year, but i finally decided it was time to something in which i would have fulfillment and more in line with my perspectives and attitudes.



A newer friend, Scott, has pretty much the exact same thoughts about everything that I do. He is one of those guys that you are glad is on your side, because i would be scared to death of him if i was a terrorist (especially if you made him mad). I am not a huge guy, so if i got mad i would be scrappy but wouldn't be able to knock you over like a charging rhino, and that horn, OUCH! He is going through the same process as me but with the Navy. He is hoping to get selected to go to BUD/S training this summer. This is Basic Underwater Demolition/ SEAL training. Much more difficult than my Infantry and Ranger pipeline, the SEAL pipeline is brutal, mentally and physically, and they can kick you out even if you look at them funny. So in some cases, you get through with a little luck, but in all cases you get through with sheer mental and physical toughness, no questions asked, you cant skate through. Neither can i skate through in any of the training i will be doing, especially Ranger School. I am doing what i am doing because i believe it is within my potential, i don't know if i could make it through SEAL training, that is a different level. I am fully confident that he will get in and make it through. It is even harder for officers to even get accepted for training, and probably harder to pass once you are in. He wants to reach his full potential just like i do, while being in the special warfare word, while i will be in more conventional units, for this part of my career anyway. I wish him the best of luck getting in, getting through, and getting that Trident.


The things i will be doing in the next few weeks before i separate from the AF and take the Army oath of office on May 22nd:

Getting all my personnel papers, medical, dental records, etc. together

We will move our stuff out at the end of May

I am going to Ft Rucker, AL in a few weeks to get all of my new uniforms, and other stuff

Prep as much as i can studying the field manuals for tests i will have to take during training

Work out as much as i can with 12mile marches and 10 mile runs on the weekends and weight lifting all during the week in the mornings

Studying the training schedules so i know what to expect for the next year

Try not to get too anxious because i do way too often

Pack up and jet.



Once i get to Ft Benning in May, I will most likely be living on base with a couple other guys in my infantry class in a 3 bedroom house close to where all of our training is. it should work out very well. i am very excited to start this new part of my life here in a few weeks. I am trying not to think about it too much so it will go by faster.



Well that's my last 6 months in a nutshell, all the while enjoying the Florida warmth and sun, even though right now there is a flash flood watch and lightning and thunder outside, I'm scared.

Feel free to post comments or questions on the comments tab, and i will check them regularly to respond in kind. In the future it may take longer to respond for a few days, weeks, months at a time but i let you know.

Eric