Date of Separation Established (8 of 11)
The promotion notification came out today. Staying true to my extended metaphor, I've been trying to gain as much altitude as possible with one engine out and the other one trailing smoke, but now we've reached the moment of truth.
Everything is quiet. The intercom squawks the fateful words: “Not selected for promotion. Not selected for continuation. Date of separation established.”
Translation: “Mayday. Mayday. We're going down!" I've already picked out a few alternate landing fields (with the Foreign Service) and have trimmed for my engine-out configuration to keep me aloft as long as possible. But I can already tell that it's going to take some time before I can tell if I'll be able to cover that distance and have any altitude left over.
With any luck, I'll make it into the Foreign Service. I applied for two specialist positions back in November/December 2011 and recently received word that I've been invited to both of the Oral Assessments (OA). If I pass the OA, I'll get a tentative offer of employment. Then it's a matter of security and medical clearances to get placed on the register and wait for my name to be called to begin training. So those are two options for a soft landing.
If I fail at both OAs, then I'll have a little more work in getting myself to where I want to be. But let's focus on the present situation. Or as the saying goes: "Aviate, Navigate, Communicate."
To read my Military to Civilian Transition mini-series in chronological order, Click Here.
To read my Entering the Foreign Service mini-series in chronological order, Click Here.
Everything is quiet. The intercom squawks the fateful words: “Not selected for promotion. Not selected for continuation. Date of separation established.”
Translation: “Mayday. Mayday. We're going down!" I've already picked out a few alternate landing fields (with the Foreign Service) and have trimmed for my engine-out configuration to keep me aloft as long as possible. But I can already tell that it's going to take some time before I can tell if I'll be able to cover that distance and have any altitude left over.
If I fail at both OAs, then I'll have a little more work in getting myself to where I want to be. But let's focus on the present situation. Or as the saying goes: "Aviate, Navigate, Communicate."
To read my Military to Civilian Transition mini-series in chronological order, Click Here.
To read my Entering the Foreign Service mini-series in chronological order, Click Here.
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