**Cross-posted from Friends of Gabriels Landing page**

Greetings All,
While you were away at the war I was required to choose my next job. I have told this story about three times and I'm writing it down so I don't end up telling it another five times. I was actually really lucky that a friend of mine cares about his career. He watches the assignments homepage and keeps abreast of the latest changes and reads all the propaganda that they spew forth on regular intervals. So my friend stops by my office to ask if I have seen the list.

For the record, I will start reading US propaganda when they start taking it seriously. Where is the United States Office of War Information (OWI) now?

Well, I told him I didn't even know what he was talking about, and he informs me we have 6 days to choose our next job and the list came out yesterday. I love the Army, I really do. The Army is always changing, it forces you to travel, and it keeps you moving so you never get bored; but like any large organization we have communication issues. So I get the list and start marking out the ones I am not eligible for, and I am left with 65 really crapy assignments to choose from. Now friends, I have a nearly unassailably positive attitude, but this list felt like a kick in the nuts. The vast majority of jobs were guaranteed to bring me back to Iraq within a year, and the others were the sort of spirit-breaking drudgery that would make you want to suck start a pistol. After some deliberation and a lot of cussing, I whittled the list down to the five or six of the least miserable choices. I spent 100 of my allotted 120 hours doing web searches to find out about the jobs I had chosen. When I felt I was ready for a fight, I called my assignments officer. I expected to get his answering machine that would give me the digital age's version of the finger with a message that would politely instruct me to go fornicate myself, but here's the funny thing about being me. I am the luckiest son of a bitch I have ever met. Not only did I not get the machine, my assignments officer turns out to be the guy I replaced here in Iraq. Stan, since we are on first name basis now, tells me "don't worry about the list, why don't we send you to school next?" "Oh," I think to myself, "the school that I would love to attend in Kansas that currently shows no vacancies?" I sat there trying to be angry at an unfair system that is currently working in my favor, and failing miserably. It took another minute of chatting and pleasantries, and my future was set for the next 18 months.

So my future schedule with notes follows:
?? NOV 2007: Return to Fort Drum, and commence partying with friends and family
15 DEC 07 - 13 JAN 08: Block leave, uncertain of the activities schedule but the front runners are Divorce court in Florida, or Diving in the Truk islands of Micronesia.
14 JAN 08 - ?? JUN 08: Serve as Brigade S4 (supply officer), complete training for my Hang Gliding level II certification
JUN 08 – JUL/AUG 09: ILE (Intermediate Leaders Course) Fort Leavenworth Kansas, complete my Masters of Logistics Management (yes that is as exciting as is sounds)
JUL 2009 - JUL 2012: Probably be asked to serve over seas, I have my eye on a job in Wiesbaden Germany. I would be the fuel manager for all of Europe. It's a quiet job in a resort town, and I can go see Europe on Uncle Sammy's dime.
JUL 2012- AUG 2014: Cubicle Monkey, HMFIC Poo Flinging Division.
AUG 14: RETIRE; bring on the back tar heroin and Thai Whores

Well, that's my update in a nutshell. It's funny to think that I wasn't on the phone for more than 10 minutes and I mapped out the rest of my career. Now I guess I should give some thought to what I want to do when I grow up. I can’t wait to see you all when I get home.

Take care; be well.

Yours in Service,
Gabriel