“Captain Bustamante, I look forward to extending your Air Force Officer commission for another 5 years!”
She was the nicest Human Resource person ever to wear the uniform, but she was just as wrong as Tom.
“I’ve decided not to extend, ma’am. I think there is more success waiting for me out there than in here.
”Without any idea where that success would come from, I decided to volunteer myself to the harshest place imaginable: war-torn Africa.Limited resources, no outside support, and total chaos – sounds like heaven, right?! I knew I couldn’t save everybody, but I figured I could at least meet a cute, big-hearted hippie chick with hairy armpits and nerves of steel! And in true action-movie style, we’d go on missions filled with danger, witty banter and passionate love-making.
But halfway through my online application, a big red screen popped up…
“WAIT: You may qualify for other federal positions. Will you put your application on hold for 72 hours while federal recruiters contact you?”
And like any 27-year-old single male seeking adventure, I clicked ‘yes.’An unlisted number from area code 703 called my phone 24 hours later.“
Andrew Bustamante, would you accept a plane ticket to a national security interview outside of Washington, D.C.?”
It felt like a joke until FedEx showed up at my door the next morning with the ticket and a hotel reservation.
This was exactly the adventure I was looking for.