I have been communicating with my sponsor at Eglin regarding our move. I asked him if they were still going to put me in the job I had accepted or not. Not surprising, they are “reconsidering” where to put me. So, the Bait-and-Switch is is now on-going and I’ll likely find myself in a different job that I expected.
In most circumstances I wouldn’t be too frustrated about this, but this is a unique situation. I had a choice on this assignment. I could retire or take the job. I chose to take the job based on the job they told me that I was going into. With that decision comes a commitment for me to stay in the Air Force for another two years. So, now I’m looking at going into a different job with a two year commitment. I hope that the new job will be something that I enjoy, since I can’t get out of it. Additionally, the move has made me vulnerable to a deployment overseas which I’m not allowed to refuse.
I am frustrated because I believe that pulling a bait-and-switch on me is an integrity issue. Had they explained to me the real job I’d be offered, I may have put in my retirement papers and be preparing today to enter the civilian workforce. I was looking forward to finally having a say in my future and my priority is to take care of my family and to work at something I enjoy. I will call my new boss later this week and see what they have in mind. My guess is that the job will be okay, but that I’ll have a lot more responsibility than the advertised job. But for now, I’ll vent a bit here on the unfairness of military life.
No matter what, we are both looking forward to the move to Florida and the new adventures that are ahead of us.