Hi Allie,
Welcome aboard ! I hope your soldier also contributes herein.

A wartime situation often means we try to fill gaps with whomever. During Desert Storm the Army sent me to back up an office in Tbilisi, Georgia although I was in Africa and a French speaker. They could (should) have transferred a French speaker from say Paris or Brussels, or more appropriately, a Russian speaker from just about anywhere. During my short time in Georgia, they sent a Spanish speaker to replace me in Zaire.

This is not to say that the peacetime Army is much better. The most rewarding part of being in the Army (I retired nearly two decades ago) was being immersed in foreign cultures. To each his own I reckon. Had I let the Army dictate my tours and education I would have never experienced Africa and now Estonia.

The personnel system is managed by people who, in some cases never left the suburbs of DC and have not the slightest clue what they just did to fill a billet. Sometimes just calling your branch and saying "hey, WTF?" (which is what I did in 1985) changed the course of my entire life. Don't wait for the Army to totally dictate your future.

Quote Originally Posted by Morgan View Post
Not sure why the personnel managers (commonly refered to as bean-counters)
Morgan,
I always thought the accountants and loggies were bean counters. Well, at least when I joined way back when