So what's up with Josh's job, anyway?

Yeah, about that. So back in 2006, right after I'd graduated from BYU, I was offered a job by the army to do research for their military intelligence (MI) people. It sounded like a cool opportunity, but the starting pay for someone with just a bachelor's degree was pretty low--too low to take the job, in fact. When I said "thanks but no thanks," they countered by offering to do my background check while I started grad school, so that by the time I finished, my clearance would be ready and I could start work--and at a higher pay grade, too. So I accepted. Two months after I started grad school, I was informed that I had passed the standard background check and that everything was in place for me to start work after I graduated. And it was awfully nice to have that promise of future employment while we plodded through grad school the past 3 years.

Fast forward to spring 2009. Graduation is coming up in 3 months, and nothing else in the job market has really worked out. I call my contact with the army and tell him that I am still available and interested in starting work at the end of the summer, if they still have a spot for me. He said he was happy to hear from me, and that he would start the ball rolling. Additionally, he offered me the choice of working in Ft. Belvoir, VA, Ft. Gordon, GA, or Wiesbaden, Germany. Although the decision wasn't as easy as some of my friends assume it would be (I am well aware of the logistical difficulties involved in moving overseas, and they didn't know, but we did, that we had a baby on the way who would be born wherever we ended up), but suffice it to say, after much discussion, fasting, praying, etc., both Geneil and I felt best about taking the Germany position. As a side benefit, the Germany position offered free off-base housing "on the German economy," as they like to put it, in addition to a higher salary. We were excited!

I informed the army that Germany was our first choice, and was assured that they would get the process moving to bring us to Germany in early September. We filled out pre-employment screening forms, I redid the drug test, and was told that everything else with my clearance was fine. Although it seemed almost like pulling teeth to get army HR to complete my travel orders and formal offer letter over the summer, they finally did so, and by the end of August, we had appointments with the movers, we knew where to ship our car, and we had tickets to arrive in Germany on Sept. 16. I gave two weeks' notice at work, canceled our lease, and we got medical records ready for the move (since Geneil would be 7 months' pregnant by the time we got here). On Sept. 15, we caught the Lufthansa flight from LAX to Frankfurt, and 11 1/2 hours later, we were in Germany!

As promised, they sent someone to pick us up at the airport and take us to the hotel. The next day, he took us up to Wiesbaden to start in-processing as new employees. There's a million things to do that first week--get sworn in, select health insurance, pass a German driving test, get ID cards, apply for official passports, get briefed by the Off-Post Housing office, open up a DoD bank account, find an apartment, get German tax-exemption forms, get computer access, get a security badge, etc., etc. And we got most of this done pretty quickly. Except that for some reason, my clearance wasn't popping up in their computer system. They assured me that this was just a simple computer glitch, and to keep checking every day, because it should come up soon. In the meantime, with no security badge, I can't even walk through the door at work--that part of the base is completely off-limits.

Well, "soon" turned into three weeks. Meanwhile, we're still living in a hotel, putting all of our food and lodging expenses on a credit card, and waiting for the first paycheck and eventual reimbursement while they got their computer systems in order. There are some pleasant aspects about it--the food is awesome, and we've had time to go see some friends from my missionary days. But I'm starting to get questions from my future boss about why it is that I haven't come in to work yet, and nobody seems to know why I don't pop up in their system. My repeated requests for help from HR at Army HQ went unanswered. Every office says that it's a different office's fault, but nobody seems to know where the buck stops. And then they started talking about putting me on unpaid leave while they tried to sort out the mess (a frightening prospect for someone with $7000 of yet-to-be reimbursed expenses on his personal credit card and a baby due in a month).

Well, after some intervention by people at high levels, we now know what the problem is. Turns out, my original background check has expired. This means that they have to do an entirely new security clearance for me, which could take months. The good news is, they're still going to keep paying me while I wait. The bad news is, they want me to drive up to Wiesbaden every day (30-40 minutes each way) to do clerical work or sit around the HR office in the meantime. And I might not actually start my real job until next spring.

Clearly, somebody in HR over in the States really screwed up. To make matters worse, there are apparently two other new hires in the same position as me. I don't know how they approved money for moving me, my family, my car, and all of my household goods to Germany before bothering to check if my clearance was still valid. Especially when I kept asking them throughout the summer if anything else needed to be done, and I specifically asked if everything was in order with my clearance. If this were the fault of a low-level person, heads would probably roll over this. However, I have reason to believe that some high-level people over there actually dropped the ball on this one, which means that no one will get in trouble over this fiasco, and the system is ripe for another, similar mess in the future.

So many thanks for your thoughts and prayers on our behalf. In short, I do have a job--it's not what I signed up for, and in fact it's pretty much a letdown after all the work I put into my studies the past few years. But at least it's a full-time, fully-paid job. And eventually, I will get to work in my chosen field, although it could take a few months before it works out. I guess you could look at it two ways--either you could be exceedingly pissed (and I don't use that word lightly) at the sheer incompetence displayed by the people involved in my hire, or you could look at it this way--I am officially the best-educated and highest-paid clerical temp in the whole U.S. Army. And in the meantime, we get paid to live in Europe, and we found an awesome apartment, and we'll get to move in next week. Has then been a frustrating experience? Absolutely. But many of the perks are still there, and we know it could be a whole lot worse.

Stay tuned for some pictures and video from our first few weeks in Germany, including pictures of our new house. And Geneil is officially 8 months along, so there will be other exciting pictures soon, too!