Foreign Area Officer - Army Strong Stories

Back in the Saddle

Wayne Wall — Fri, 11 May 2012 01:51:00 GMT

By: Wayne Wall
Well everyone, not sure if you've given up on me by this point but wanted to check back in with those of you who may still be monitoring after a very LONG absence. I reached a point somewhere in the middle of my deployment to Iraq where the work load was just too intense to consider taking time to pound out a blog. Besides, my brain was so mushy that I'm not sure I would have been able to give you anything worthwhile. That said, what I'd like to do now is give you the short...read more

April in Jordan

Michael Bromund — Thu, 03 May 2012 12:15:00 GMT

By: Michael Bromund
Amman-April flew by and there were several activities which helped welcome the new season into Jordan. Although some of the activities I participated in and observed were maybe not strategic in their importance, they did increase my understanding of FAO roles and the military assistance program in the country and contributed to the big picture. As a collection point for information of all kinds pertaining to USG interests, the Embassy frequently hosts all kinds of visitors. Part of...read more

KSA Wrap Up

Michael Bromund — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 01:14:00 GMT

By: Michael Bromund
We finished our two week tour of Saudi Arabia by driving from Al-Khobar in the East to Jeddah in the West then North to Medain Saleh and back to Amman. We first stopped in Ta’if, a small city on the east side of the Hijaz region and a gateway to the Mecca Province. Because of the cooler temperatures which comes with its elevation, its population swells as the summer heat intensifies in Riyadh. While we were driving through KSA in the early part of our trip, I expected most of the...read more

Saudi Arabia, Day 2

Michael Bromund — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 19:56:00 GMT

By: Michael Bromund
The initial impression of Riyadh is a good one. We’re here at the right time of the year where a long sleeve shirt prevents a sunburn during the day and is plenty warm at night. I stumbled upon a newspaper article describing the cultural importance of the Riyadh International Book Fair and we walked around our largely commercial neighborhood last night and tried unsuccessfully to acquire directions. Fortunately, we ducked into a really good Indian restaurant before the evening...read more

Saudi Arabia, Day 1

Michael Bromund — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 19:35:00 GMT

By: Michael Bromund
11 Mar, Riyadh. Leaving Jordan, we were extended extreme courtesy of coffee, tea, and small talk in the commanding officer’s office followed by an invitation to eat with his family while we waited to have our passports stamped and the vehicle clearance memo. While we expected much worse on the Saudi side, it was relatively painless, albeit with the process spread out amongst four steps and four different stations as well. About an hour later, we were on our way down a wide...read more

Aqaba

Michael Bromund — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 20:53:00 GMT

By: Michael Bromund
Aqaba-sitting on the hotel balcony overlooking the Red Sea covered in a haze as the sun tries to burn through it before finally giving up for the night seems as inspiring place to write some observations as any. Over the past few days, I inserted myself into a multi-modal conference dealing with the initial use of Aqaba as such a port. Basically, stuff comes in by boat or plane, mostly from our war zones as we retrograde out of them, and leaves on a different mode. Nothing too complex until...read more

Defense is from Mars, State is from Venus

Robert McVey — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 03:41:00 GMT

By: Robert McVey
I am currently attending the Army's Intermediate Level Education (ILE) at Fort Lee, VA. One of the objectives of the course is to improve our understanding of and ability to effectively operate within the interagency. Visiting the State Department gave our class the opportunity to meet not only with several State Department representatives, but also with members of USAID, the Department of Energy, and the Treasury Department. Even having served on an embassy's...read more

Honored to Serve as an Army Foreign Area Officer

Robert McVey — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 01:25:00 GMT

By: Robert McVey
I am honored to have the opportunity to continue serving our Nation as an Army Foreign Area Officer (FAO). After earning my commission through the ROTC program at Loyola University Chicago, I served first as an Infantry officer in the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and then as a Logistics officer in the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team and the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division. I deployed for 16 months and served in both Mosul and Baghdad, Iraq....read more

First weeks in Amman

Michael Bromund — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:46:00 GMT

By: Michael Bromund
Amman- This entry is focused on sharing information for other FAO still in their language training at DLI. I’ve been in Amman for almost two weeks and am close to finishing the embassy’s inprocessing. It’s similar to the Army’s in that your information has to be entered into several databases for tracking purposes and for expected services, but it’s not instant as some of the information has to go to the host nation for processing as well. The offices in...read more

Regional Travel - Mexico part 2 (Teotuhuacan)

Dustin Heumphreus — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 03:18:00 GMT

By: Dustin Heumphreus
Our next trip was to Teotuhuacan, an ancient ruins site about 50km to the northeast of Mexico City. Teotuhuacan was incredible. The below picture is an internet download. I was unable to get up quite that high to get the whole landscape view. The grounds are huge and the two primary temples are massive. The word Teotuhuacan is an Aztec word (in the Nahuatl language) and means birthplace of the gods. The city is not an Aztec city, it predates...read more

Regional Travel - Mexico

Dustin Heumphreus — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 03:02:00 GMT

By: Dustin Heumphreus
Okay, it has been a very very long time since my last post. For that I apologize. Since my last post a lot has happened to me in real time. I think at the time of my last post, my daughter had just been born. She's is a very mobile and precocious nine month old. I graduated from my master's program and I have begun CGSC (ILE). So, I have a lot of things to blog about, but before I can get to those more recent developments, I...read more

Writing for self development

Michael Bromund — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:01:00 GMT

By: Michael Bromund
Monterey-One of my habits I’ve acquired comes from the Army’s program to develop leadership. The most important pillar of the program is the self-development one does after some introspection and identifies one’s shortcomings. Because of this, I read Dale Carnegie’s, “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” and Elbert Hubbard’s, “A Message to Garcia,” before every new assignment and reflect upon my application of their lessons. I...read more

Overseas Preparation

Michael Bromund — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 22:46:00 GMT

By: Michael Bromund
Monterey-Now that Ihave finished the formal part of my language training, I intend to write more frequently in this forum. Although Arabic is a tough language to learn as an adult, I appreciate the opportunity to represent the U.S. and I appreciate the efforts of my instructors at the Defense Language Institute (DLI). 16 months of 8-10 hour days plus homework and I have the ability to understand most of the newspaper and maneuver around in an Arabic speaking country. The end came...read more

Intro

Michael Bromund — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 19:52:00 GMT

By: Michael Bromund
This month is my 12 year service anniversary in the Army. Although I've criticized certain events and experiences with my family and friends, looking back at it all, I've been very fortunate and happy with the experiences. First Fort Richardson, Alaska then Fort Leonard-Wood, Missouri, Fort Riley, Kansas, a 15 month deployment to Iraq, recruiting duty in Olympia, WA, and now here in Monterey all provided opportunities to work with great people and see our country and world. I was...read more

U.S. Army in Alaska

Liam Connor — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 00:11:00 GMT

By: Liam Connor
First time blogger here, please bare with me. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to discuss the U.S. Army in Alaska. Having served for 11 years in the Army, I was in my mind extremely fortunate to serve 9 1/2 of those years in Alaska. By no means did I seek or fight to stay in Alaska, but rather it was coincedence and unique sequence of events that allowed me to serve for this duration. Although Alaska is not for everyone, it is a beautiful and...read more

How to make rental cars affordable to Army

Matthew Sun — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 01:08:00 GMT

By: Matthew Sun
I am currently attending the ILE satellite course at Ft. Gordon, GA. One of our graduation requirements is to blog about a subject that we feel like we can contribute to. I have been hesitant to write my blog because I didn’t want to write about “just anything” in order to get this task checked off of my list of things to do. However, once I received my first rental car bill, I was once again reminded of an area that I feel the Army wastes a...read more

Estado Mayor: Part dos

Dustin Heumphreus — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 05:57:00 GMT

By: Dustin Heumphreus
Well, I have now completed eight weeks of classes at the Estado Mayor. Since it has been six weeks since my last update, I figured it was time to stop being lazy with my blog. I’ll pick up right where my last entry ended, and that is with PT. It turns out that PT is actually three times a week. We have PT every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, in the manner I described previously. But, we also have PT every Wednesday...read more

El Estado Mayor de El Salvador

Dustin Heumphreus — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 05:49:00 GMT

By: Dustin Heumphreus
Below is the first of a couple posts I made about my expereinces at the Estado Mayor - or El Salvador's ILE. While there were some frustrations involved with my time there, overall it was a great experience. I was thoroughly impressed with the caliber and professionalism of all of my companeros de clase. They are good guys and the definition of "brothers in arms". I have now completed one week and one day of the...read more

A US Embassy Halloween

Dustin Heumphreus — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 02:40:00 GMT

By: Dustin Heumphreus
Happy Halloween from El Salvador. The Embassy tries very hard to act as your home away from home, or rather your USA away from the USA. Yesterday, we celebrated Halloween. It was a very family oriented event. The Embassy held a decorating contest and trick or treating in the halls of the office buildings followed by a family party. It was really a lot of fun. Each of the agencies within the Embassy decorated and then passed out candy to the kids as...read more

Marine Corps Ball

Dustin Heumphreus — Sun, 29 May 2011 01:04:00 GMT

By: Dustin Heumphreus
The Marine Corps has its annual birthday celebration every year on 10 November. All across the world Marine units celebrate the founding of the Corps, which includes the Marine Corps Security detachments at the Embassies. It is one of the biggest parties of the Embassy year. It is hosted 100% by the Marine Corps (which means they foot the bill) but it is also a huge representational event for the Embassys. High ranking foreign officers (host nation and other...read more