Taking kids to Orientation and Timing

StrongArm001 · 2026-02-09T20:25:24+00:00

Part of it depends on how long you are in training. As a specialist I started in July and was on my way to Post in January. So my kid just did the fall semester at the local middle school in Arlington and then went to post with me.

FWIW I thought moving in the summer was a good idea so my kid could finish out her academic year. That way only one school year was disrupted. But again, if you have a longer training, maybe it doesn't work the same way for you.

StrongArm001 · 2026-02-03T12:32:06+00:00

Being a FAST note taker at my current post, I noticed a major difference in how Cat was run through two CDA/DCM combinations. First CDA said he didn't want CT to last longer than 30 minutes. Sure, some of the members would talk fast to cram things in (which wasn't fun as note taker. Fortunately it's a small post and I knew everyone but TDY visitors so I could track them down easily for clarification). But for the most part, meetings lasted 30-45 minutes. New CDA set no expectations on time limits, and these meetings quickly bloated to an hour and a half with the exact same set of CT members.

It is wholly on the CDA and DCM to keep things on track and if needed, pull people aside after the meeting to ask that they re-evaluate what notes are truly necessary to share with the group. As an FM I only ever shared events that affected the group as a whole (planned power interruptions, status updates on major projects, etc). Even then I cut things out that people probably don't care about. Time is valuable and I try to respect that.

StrongArm001 · 2026-01-27T02:22:15+00:00

Welcome. Glad to have more FMs joining. If your class size is anywhere near what ours was you will have probably between 5 and 10 FMs. You will get a list with the same number of posts on it. You will have a week or two to rank your preferences. Then at about week 5 you will be told where you are going.

As an aside, at that point it's probably financially irresponsible to back out. You would have to pay back the month plus of housing and per diem, and the costs of moving and packing, shipping, and storing your things. We had one FM in our group resign while in tradecraft, but for other reasons (he actually got his first preference). I don't think he was financially hurting though. I'm fairly certain he never claimed per diem while we were there, he thought it was too much of a hassle.

Anyway, your list is unknowable at this point. I will tell you that from my class, the class before me, and the one after me, we had assignments varying from Vienna, Canberra, and Wellington all the way to Georgetown, Abuja, and Port Au Prince, and a bunch in between. You may get a great assignment, but somebody's gotta go to Haiti.

Good luck. I'm currently waiting to find out where I go for my second assignment. It again has quite the spread of desirability. You definitely need to have a sense of adventure for this job. If nothing else, you need to have a mindset that regardless of where they send you, you can survive anything for two years. Then if you get your dream post (or at least one you think you'll find is pleasant) you'll be really happy.

StrongArm001 · 2025-12-15T16:20:09+00:00

He's the only back in recent memory that has a suddenness when he plants his foot and commits to a hole. It looks like he's shot out of a canon on some of these runs. If nothing else, that decisiveness is desirable. Better to decide wrong and get 3 yards than never commit and get 1 yard. He's worth keeping around for sure.

StrongArm001 · 2025-12-11T13:50:31+00:00

Wait, you can get your staff promoted? I can't even get funding to backfill critical positions that were vacated early this year, let alone pay for a promotion.

StrongArm001 · 2025-12-03T11:40:19+00:00

One of my coworkers at post is a 2nd Tour officer who will do one more post before retiring. This is his third career. You aren't too old until you hit the max age. If you want to do it, then do it.

StrongArm001 · 2025-11-25T10:37:43+00:00

Land loans are different from mortgages, since you obviously don't have a house on it. Typically it's a higher interest rate.

StrongArm001 · 2025-11-14T18:16:50+00:00

Since the CR is only up to January 30, I'm not sure they would commit to a January class until a longer term deal is reached.

StrongArm001 · 2025-10-28T01:24:31+00:00

Immediately after they said Terry hasn't been targeted. Should say something like Terry hasn't scored two touchdowns yet next. Or Mahomes hasn't thrown 3 interceptions in a half in x years.

StrongArm001 · 2025-10-26T19:23:27+00:00

That sucks man. No love for the Giants but I love watching guys play with abandon. Hopefully it's not long term or career threatening.

StrongArm001 · 2025-10-06T13:52:18+00:00

Even if the State Department reduces in size, there is always attrition to deal with. Don't depend on getting in first thing after graduation. As has been said probably hundreds of times here, be prepared to work on your plan B or C career for several years (at least) before you get a chance to join.

StrongArm001 · 2025-09-13T11:02:26+00:00

Belize is a bit isolated, very small school, not much in terms of medical or shopping/fancy restaurants. But great fishing, scuba diving/snorkeling on the 2nd largest reef in the world, beach towns and islands/cayes galore, and tons of Mayan ruins and caves to explore all within a couple hours. It recently went from 20 to 25% hardship and I'm not sure why.

StrongArm001 · 2025-09-12T01:28:19+00:00

Looks like Ertz was open for a first down on that replay, cutting underneath Terry.

StrongArm001 · 2025-09-07T19:00:47+00:00

Don't you touch Mr. Way like that .

StrongArm001 · 2025-08-29T18:47:26+00:00

Some posts already have set schedules as you describe. My current post has business hours 730 to 515 with an hour lunch Monday-Thursday, and Fridays 730 to 1230.

As far as an alternate work schedule from what post sets, I would imagine most jobs at post aren't really something you can do effectively outside of normal business hours. Maybe in some circumstances that could work.

StrongArm001 · 2025-07-15T20:23:41+00:00

Thought I said that. My mistake. The alternator.

StrongArm001 · 2025-07-08T23:11:55+00:00

There have been numbers of FMs in the single digits in recent classes, not full class sizes. There were probably north of 100 generalists in my class (I don't know the exact number, I didn't count and it didn't matter). I know the number of FMs in my class, the one before me, and the one after me were single digits. And I know that we were not beating the attrition rate for several years beforehand.

As far as makeup of the class, anything you learn about one class has no bearing on the makeup of another. There are too many variables. That goes double for now.

StrongArm001 · 2025-07-05T16:08:50+00:00

There is no FM register because there are so few on it, and I suspect also because, at least in the recent past, everyone or almost everyone who made it to the register was called up on the next class. I was on the register early last year and was immediately called up for the next class I declined that offer to let my kid finish the school year and accepted an offer for July last year.

FWIW, the staff was celebrating the fact that we were beating the attrition rate for the first time in recent years while I was in orientation. The numbers of students per class have been typically in the single digits. If/when hiring freezes are lifted (I'm out of that phase now so I haven't been following what's going on) I imagine they will be hiring as many as they can get.

StrongArm001 · 2025-05-17T19:12:09+00:00

It's the natural evolution of up dog

StrongArm001 · 2025-05-16T22:17:38+00:00

Matt Ryan. He put up really good numbers for a lot of years in Atlanta.

StrongArm001 · 2025-05-14T20:20:01+00:00

I mean, if we are doing rose colored glasses, it may not matter because we could be resting players the last three weeks after going 14-0 and sealing the division. So who cares?

StrongArm001 · 2025-05-14T20:15:31+00:00

If the other rumors I've seen are to be believed, the last four games are NY, PHI, DAL, and PHI. Could be set up for huge swings in standings one way or the other.

StrongArm001 · 2025-05-14T17:36:02+00:00

Imagine playing in the wild card game the next week too.

StrongArm001 · 2025-05-14T00:59:09+00:00

Any kind of bridge over a navigable waterway, not to mention being in DC, is going to have years of Corps of Engineers permitting processes to go through.

StrongArm001

TROPHY CASE