In a message to Robert Linenweber  Derek wakefield wrote:
 Dw> Uh...yeah, its those sorta programs I need to find out more about.
Of course that was a tongue in cheek example.  However, quite seriously the 
one piece of advice I would offer is to talk to several different people.  A 
lot of folks don't have the big picture or don't understand changes that have 
recently taken place and they will give you well intentioned but incorrect 
answers.  Other folks are looking for an easy way out or to fill a specific 
slot and they will intentionally deceive you.
I was married to an Army nurse when I was in Vietnam.  She formally requested 
a 45 day drop so she could come home when I did.  Oh no!  No way!  The Army 
was way too short on nurses to let her come home early.  Months after we were 
both back in the states we had dinner with another couple who had been in the 
same area as us.  The husband was a helicopter pilot, the wife was a nurse in 
the same hospital as my wife.  We learned that night for the first time that 
she had formally requested a 45 day extension so she could go home with her 
husband.  No way!  The Army had far too many nurses in country to allow her 
to stay.  The real killer was **it was the same 45 days!**  The real answer 
is the paper pushers found it a lot easier to just say no than to try to 
accommodate anyone.
So, if someone tells you it can't be done or says no, go ask someone else.
Good luck,
Bob Linenweber
.
... There is safety in numbers - Participate in the "Wings" Program!
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