Lately, I have been seeing many parallels between the Army and "
The Office". Let me explain. And I'll start out with this: HANG IN THERE WITH ME, THIS IS AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT POST!
Okay. So you all know that we are here (Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri) for MPCCC (Military Police (my husband's branch of the Army) Captain's Career Course). Or what we would see in the military is this: PCS 18Oct FLW, MPCCC 1-09. There would be other numbers in there, like his Unit and stuff like that, but to be honest, I can't even remember what Unit he's with right now. Oops. Anyhoo, in the middle of this class a big event happens. "Branch" comes to visit. Branch is a little like "Corporate" on The Office. Actually it's basically the Human Resources of the Army. I don't have space to write all the ways it's the same and why it makes me laugh, but it does. So it's a big deal that "Branch" is coming because....Branch tells us our next duty station (aka where we're going for the next few years!). Branch has always been talked about with awe, reverence and mystery.
So here's the process...A few days before Branch comes in from Washington, DC, you get a list of all the duty stations available to the MPCCC 1-09 class. There are 26 Captains that need to be placed, so Branch will deliver 26 slots to the class. The 26 slots list the priority fill number, the Unit, and the base location, and the position available. Example: Priority Fill 1, 705th HHC, Ft. Leavenworth, KS, SO/CC ((either Staff Officer or Company Commander)). If everyone preferences the same bases, obviously, many people get bases that were not at the top of their preference list, because all slots have to be filled. If it comes down to a priority 3 and a priority 1 slot, you are going to the get the priority 1 slot, even if it's ranked lower on your own preference list than the other priority 3 slot.
Basically, when Branch is coming is a mystery...and you just nervously wait to receive the "LIST" and then you know the legendary Branch is coming. So we received the "LIST" which contained 26 possible assignments and consisted of probably 15 different bases. Some bases need more than one Captain position filled, so they are listed multiple times. On our list, there was a base called Iraq that was listed 3 times. :) So we take this list, and rank our choices 1-26. (...#24 Iraq, #25 Iraq, #26 Iraq). Here's what makes this fun. The list does not tell you the actual job you will have. A Unit is HUGE...so when it tells you the Unit, that really doesn't give you a whole lot of info. The list does not tell you the deployment schedule of the Unit you will go to. So you could get there and realized that you are deploying in 2 weeks. Or, you could 'fall in on' a Unit that is already deployed...so you would join them in Iraq. The list does not tell you who you will be working for. Which no one really gets to choose who their boss in 'civilian' life either so that's not a really big one. But the biggest thing about the list is...the list is not correct. Some of the assignments are not actually available, they are ear marked for other Soldiers, and some are not available at all, and will be replaced with other options when Branch gets there.
How in the world do you make this work! Well, I guess that answer is easy, you pray a lot and then play the 'Would you Rather' game. Would you rather live....in Alaska or Montana.... (neither of those were choices).
So we did that, emailed our assignment preference list in 48ish hours later, and waited for Branch.
When Branch arrives, each Soldier gets a short (10ish minutes) interview with Branch (a committee of 3...2 of which are just for looks) to discuss their career goals and ask questions. Branch will say, "That's all fine and dandy, these are the needs of the Army, we think you should do this...". So then the Soldier asks a few more questions and gives them their final top 3 or 4. So when Josh went in, he told them what he would like to do career wise...they said, "We think it's better if you do this". Josh gets gutsy and says, "I don't want to". (In different words than that but you know what I mean). Branch says, "Ok, we'll keep that in mind". Which means, see you later, Cap-i-tan.
Then two days later, Branch puts out a list of duty assignments. This list is considered final...however, if the needs of the Army change before you have your official Orders in hand, your orders could appear differently. Not too likely, but, I wouldn't put it past the Army. Josh always says..."Nothing's official till it's on paper". But, we're going to say it's pretty darn close to official right now.
So, when Josh graduates 09 April, we will be going to.........
stay tuned! We will announce Thursday!!
