Soldier Blog Post

SOFEX

May 17, 2010

Tags:  

jordan   fao  

This past week was full of activity, and yours truly was busy for the first time this year with actual work to do. It was a welcome change, as I have been fighting the sluggish feeling that comes with not having a real purpose other than to serve one's self for such a long period of time. The Jordanian government hosted the 8th Annual Special Operations Forces Exhibition and Conference in Amman this week with hundreds of exhibitors representing a wide range of products and about a hundred official delegations from countries around the world. The event began with an opening ceremony featuring a demonstration from Jordan's various special operations units and a visit from the King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan himself.

My role in this event was as the escort officer for Major General Michael Repass, Commanding General of the United States Army Special Forces Command. I was honored to be in such great company as it game me the opportunity to reconnect with the "real Army" for a few days, talk with the General about my experiences here in Jordan, and exchange information on several mutual acquaintances. I was pleased to be in a position to offer advice concerning the local political and military climate on several occasions and found that my observations of Jordan, along with my work with other military folks in the embassy, had sufficiently prepared me to answer the questions I did not see coming. It felt good to be a reliable source of information for someone in a critical position.

The SOFEX itself was great, being in "getting things done" mode for a while was great, but by the end of the week I was feeling a bit out of energy. So, I accepted the invitation from some of my Jordanian friends to join them at a new beach resort on the Dead Sea for the day. It was a great time, if not a bit hot. I had to remark to myself just how strange my life is this year, to be walking with generals one day and kicking back on a beach bed, staring at the West Bank from across the Dead Sea the next.

As a parting note... the long-awaited compilation video from Egypt is now up on my YouTube page if anyone is interested in checking it out. Again, the channel is called "UncleTravelingWayne".

My view of the Dead Sea and the West Bank on the other side, from O Beach.

     Previous Post

Back in Amman, Again
May 3, 2010

Next Post     

Quiet Time... And the Next Trip
June 10, 2010

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Comments

  • donald

    May 17, 2010 9:07 PM

    awesome...i cant wait. did you by any chance need to translate anything for the general?


    Reply

  • Wayne Wall

    May 18, 2010 2:04 AM

    As a matter of fact I did have to do some light translation/interpretation work. Mainly it was between me and the Jordanian escort officer who had decent English skills but sometimes would talk to me in Arabic if he couldn't get his point across to the general on the first try, at which point I would enter the circle.


    Reply

    • donald

      May 18, 2010 8:02 PM

      is this type of duty typical for a FAO?


      Reply

  • wayne wall

    May 19, 2010 12:22 PM

    It isn't typical but at the same time it isn't unusual. FAO's are out doing other things most of the time. This type of event is rare (annual, in this case), and having an FAO act as an escort officer is a good idea because of their functionality and knowledge. Plus, the language is a bonus asset for the VIP.


    Reply

  • Tim

    May 19, 2010 5:49 PM

    MAJ Wall. I was wondering if you could shed some light on the actual selection process for an officer interested in becoming an FAO. I am aware of the requirements as per the regulation, but wondered about who actually gets selected and why. Thanks. Sorry if you already covered this earlier.


    Reply

  • Wayne Wall

    Jun 9, 2010 7:44 PM

    Tim,

    I've been away from my blog for a bit so please excuse the long delay in getting back to you. The selection process starts around the 6th or 7th year of being a commissioned officer. At this point under the current system every captain is supposed to submit his or her preference to the Career Field Designation (CFD) board. This preference will indicate if the officer want to remain in his/her current branch or apply for one of the Army's specialty career fields such as FAO. There are requirements for each of these career fields and a good application will contain all of those requirements and several letters of recommendation in the best cases. But on the flip side, my buddy Tom got picked up for FAO and he never even submitted his preferences to the board. He is infantry, by the way. So, while there is a publicized process on how to apply, there is always the unpredictable "X" factor of not really knowing what gets talked about inside these boards.

    As for me, I had some experience in foreign relations through previous assignments, had taken the DLPT for Spanish just to have it on record even though the scores were not impressive at all (just to show I was willing to put forth the effort), had a high DLAB score, several letters of recommendation and an essay of my own detailing why I thought I would be a good candidate for FAO branch. Who knows if all that was necessary but it's what I did.

    As FAO grows in importance it is becoming a more popular choice. Therefore if you are interested in heading this way, you would be smart to study up on a language and get a decent DLPT score on your record. A 3/3 in anything will be VERY convincing to the board if all the other indicators are there and you can pull it off. FAO branch is getting pressured to shorten the training pipeline and an officer with a 3/3 before he starts training is a good way to do just that.

    That may have been a bit more information than you needed but I wanted to throw the extra out there just in case someone else came along and wanted to know. Hope it helps!

    Wayne


    Reply

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