We filled up this morning with briefs about the sister services. They were pretty interesting, but right now I'm suffering from PowerPoint fatigue -- I politely tune out anything that's mandatory.
In the afternoon, we briefed an outside cadre on our LEX mission analysis, and that took us to 2:45.
The last thing we did today was listen to a visiting lieutenant colonel talk about career advice. As the last task of the day, it was agonizingly long -- it lasted all the way up to 4:30. It's kind of funny -- when I was in Texas, never left before 5:00, yet somehow I don't remember being so tired there.
(By comparison, here we often get our between 3 and 3:30, but I never fail to feel lethargic by the end of the day.)
The colonel's speech made me think back to my Army ambitions when I first came in. As I look forward beyond my company command time, I wonder what I should do: should I continue to gain experience in logistics, or try to transfer to Foreign Area Officer as soon as possible?
If I stay a logistician, what can I reasonably expect to attain in my career? General's out -- if that were the goal, I should have joined the Army ten years earlier. Brigade commander? I'm not sure I'd want that. Some staff job somewhere in D.C.? That doesn't really interest me so much.
All things considered, I think I'll try moving to FAO as soon as possible. My instructor gave me a point of contact for some of the questions I have, so I'll look a bit more into that.
As a final thought, I wonder what it is that makes someone "general material." Work habits, intelligence, "the look," personal connections, maturity, personality, commitment to excellence, and fate all seem to play a role. And yet, for all of David Petraeus's qualifications, his desire for achievement may have been his downfall. Maybe not being "general material" isn't such a bad thing after all.
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