“Volunteering”

I knew the exact moment I was about to lose an argument with the military: it was when my branch officer tried to redefine the word “volunteer” when the exact opposite was true. We had a disagreement in 1985 about my next assignment. I lost in the short term, but my life’s direction changed for the better.

 Cath and I served in Germany from 1979 to June of 1983 – Platoon leader, staff officer, and then company commander. There was lots of field time and deployments. We loved our time there, but it felt good returning to America.

 In ‘83, after attending the Signal Officer Advanced Course, Signal Branch sent me to grad school for my master’s in electrical engineering. In 1985, with about six months left before graduation, I called Branch about my next assignment, a “utilization tour.”  That is, a job where I would directly use my master’s degree. I was looking forward to a job in DC, or Fort Monmouth, NJ, or Fort Huachuca, AZ, all places with engineering centers.

 Branch had a different idea. They wanted to send me to the Information Systems Engineering Command, Europe (ISEC-EUR) in Worms, Germany. I said something like, “Ummm, I just returned from Germany 20 months ago, after spending 4 1/2 years overseas. I prefer to stay in the States.”

 Branch saw it differently. My earlier time there was an asset. I knew the country. I would adapt at once. And besides, once I graduated, I would have been in the States for two years.

 I didn’t want to adapt at once. I wanted to reacquaint myself with America. Branch disagreed.

 We spent the next three months arguing back and forth. Finally, they said it was a critical assignment and there was a crucial need for me personally. No one else met the requirements.

 Me: “Well if you are going to send me there, then just do it, and let’s finish this.”

My Branch Officer: “Great! Can we count this as you volunteering to go there?!”

Me: [silence]

Branch: “Did you hear me? Can we count this as you volunteering to go there?”

Me: “Yes, I heard you. No, you may not count this as me volunteering for the assignment.”  I thought of the many other things I could have said right then and chose not to. It is good I didn’t say anything else.

 Fast forward to Europe. The job turned out to be a great one. The work was cutting edge in the areas of both Network Engineering and Command Center Engineering. Cath and I lived in a little village where we became a part of the fabric of the town. We enjoyed it so much, we extended 9 months.

 Then fate intervened. A colonel I previously worked for took over the 22d Signal Brigade in Frankfurt, Germany. He offered me a job as a Battalion S3 (operations officer). A GREAT job, and a chance to get back to the tactical world and the “muddy boots Army.”

 I called Branch to work out the needed 18-month extension. 

 I explained the need for the extension to my Branch Officer, who said, “Well, this is strange. I was getting ready to contact you. We are going to reassign you to the Defense Communications Agency (DCA) in Washington DC. There is a critical need for a nuclear command and control officer. It is a Joint billet, and you will need a TS/SCI clearance.”

 I said that was all nice and good, but I really want to extend and get back to the muddy boots Army.

 They said that wasn’t going to happen. There was an urgent need to fill this billet, and I was the only one who could do so.

 I thought to myself that I must be God’s gift to engineering. For the second time, the Army had an urgent need, and I was the only one who could answer the call.

 No, I didn’t really think that. I can’t print what I really thought.

 It was a done deal over which I had no control. The colonel tried to intervene to no avail. Cath and I were returning home.

 It again turned out to be a fantastic job in Nuclear Command and Control Engineering. This is really about communications in the event of a nuclear event and is pretty complex. I loved the job and traveled to locations all over. It was all classified work, and sometimes I would disappear for a week or two at a time, and Cath would have no idea where I went.

 Three years later when I left the Army, the job at DCA opened several opportunities in the civilian world. It started me on my career at the company SRA, first as an engineer, and then later as a manager. Eventually I became a VP, a Senior VP and then an Executive VP. Working there changed my life once again.

 You never know how things are going to turn out. You make your plans, but sometimes others make decisions that shape your path instead. While plenty of people get burned by the military, both of those forced decisions—despite my fierce opposition at the time—steered me toward opportunities I couldn’t have planned better myself. They set me up for success first in uniform, and then in the civilian world.

 Looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing.