AEP and DRI have been postponed b/c we recruited enough junior officers (or so we think) to fill the mid-level slots that were a casualty of the hiring freeze in the 80’s. And, to be honest, AEP never worked well and brought in people who already had field experience and didn’t want to learn.
As Homer Simpson would say : “There’s three ways to do things – the right way, the wrong way, and the Max Power way.” The last most resembles the AEP, if we’re being honest.
If you’re serious about being an econ officer, email me and I’ll tell you what they do.
Grasshopper must wait b/c we all had to wait, and it’s a* rite du passage* , as the French would say.
All will be revealed in due course. When you know the meaning of the phrase “Welcome to the Foreign Service,” then all will be made clear. Patience, and you’re not the youngest officer that ever was, not the one who had to wait the longest. Email me if you want to vent, I’ve been there and know how to work the system.
Several years ago, before being accepted to graduate school I seriously considered doing this or teaching English overseas. I really wish I did but now it is probably too late to do something like that.
Not at all, and in fact you’re rewarded for outside job experience (monetarily and otherwise.) To put it in perspective, my officer class ranged in age from 21 to 55.