Saturday, February 19, 2011

A long time ago in a place far, far away...

A long time ago the Grouch attended the U.S. Army Ordnance advance course at Aberdeen Proving Grounds MD.  This is a course that teaches all sorts of cool stuff to officers that show promise and potential for bigger things in the Army.  How I got into it I have no idea.  I guess their guard was down when I came along.  Anyway, as part of the U.S. outreach to other militaries around the world foreign officers also attended this course (and others too).  My class had two Egyptians, two Tunisians, a Turk, A Kuwaiti, and a Philippino attending.  Since then I have sometimes wondered how the foreign officers fared in the turmoil and strife in their countries.  Did the Kuwaiti Captain survive the invasion of Kuwait in 1991?  Which side did the Egyptians and Tunisians choose in the recent upheavals that their countries went through?   Where are my fellow officers today that attended the class with me?   I remember that the Missus and I were invited to the quarters of one of the Egyptian officers for a dinner.  I don't remember much at all about the evening except that the Egyptian wife did not speak English at all and that she was very pretty but of course not as pretty as the Missus.

Can you pick the Grouch out from this line up?  Just look for the debonair officer (and click on the picture for a larger view).  

A long time ago indeed.  The past is a different country....

2 comments:

  1. This was some interesting personal history. (I forgot to comment the first time I read it.) Enjoyed the picture. I was actually having trouble deciding between the 2 mustached guys but realized the middle row is on a different step and it was the difference in heights that was throwing me off.

    Ah, Aberdeen Proving Grounds! Best known for being the birthplace of a certain daughter, no doubt.

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  2. One more note- too bad we can't see your bow tie.

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