Greatly Disappointed
Posted by Daren Jaques on December 14, 2007
by Daren Jaques
I am going to try not to sound bitter because truly I am not - disappointed, sure, but not bitter.
By the narrowest of margins, I missed out on an amazing Army training opportunity. To make a long story short, I got selected to travel to [a middle eastern country] (sorry, probably shouldn’t publish where) to undergo joint operations training in Arabic culture with the host country’s military. It was a long shot that I would get picked up for this, but it happened. All I needed was permission from my current command to go to another command (temporarily) for this training. I really didn’t think they would say no. My command didn’t even have to pay for my travel or lodging, and I was only going to be gone for about two weeks! The other command was covering ALL my expenses. Woo Hoo, right?
No. I was astonished when my request was denied. Officially, I’ve been told that the Arabic training doesn’t “sufficiently relate to my current mission to warrant releasing” me. There’s definitely something else going on, but I don’t know what it is. That explanation, hardly survives the laugh test. Regardless, I accept the decision, and I’ll assume that whatever the other reasons are, they’re good ones (I hope).
I’ll close by saying that my chain of command is very competent, and I respect all my superior officers and their decisions… but that doesn’t mean I don’t feel like I’m not getting what I wanted most for Christmas… 
Pity party over. Jaques out.
