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soldier,฀scout,฀statesman฀ ฀ |฀ ฀ 9 CHAPTER 2 Soldier, Scout, Statesman L ike฀all฀intelligence฀officers฀in฀the฀late฀1970s,฀I฀lived฀and฀breathed฀ ฀ the฀Soviet฀threat.฀But฀it฀became฀apparent฀that฀the฀army฀had฀enough฀ ฀ Soviet฀experts.฀I฀considered฀myself฀a฀student฀of฀Israeli฀military฀ history.฀So฀when฀selected฀for฀early฀graduate฀schooling,฀I฀decided฀to฀ become฀a฀Middle฀East฀foreign฀area฀officer฀(FAO),฀the฀regional฀specialist ฀program฀the฀army฀uses฀to฀develop฀expertise฀about฀the฀world฀ at฀large.฀I฀was฀as฀ignorant฀of฀the฀FAO฀program฀in฀1980฀as฀I฀was฀of฀ Zaire฀in฀1978,฀but฀it฀sounded฀exciting.฀I฀first฀heard฀of฀FAOs฀in฀1976฀ when฀a฀fellow฀student฀at฀the฀officer’s฀basic฀course฀asked฀a฀visiting฀ lecturer฀about฀the฀program.฀“Don’t฀worry฀about฀the฀FAO฀program฀ now,฀lieutenant.฀You฀have฀years฀of฀dues฀to฀pay฀before฀you฀can฀even฀ apply,”฀was฀the฀response. Be All an FAO Can Be So฀three฀years฀later,฀I฀put฀in฀for฀training฀as฀a฀Middle฀East฀FAO.฀Based฀ on฀my฀cadet฀record฀at฀Texas฀A&M,฀the฀army฀had฀guaranteed฀my฀ graduate฀schooling.฀Becoming฀a฀FAO฀would฀require฀a฀year฀of฀Arabic฀ language฀beyond฀the฀graduate฀degree.฀Then฀there฀was฀what฀was฀ referred฀to฀as฀“in-country฀training”฀to฀follow฀later.฀All฀of฀that฀was฀ in฀the฀future.฀I฀was฀exchanging฀the฀82d฀Airborne฀for฀the฀advanced฀ course฀at฀Fort฀Huachuca.฀From฀there฀I฀would฀head฀to฀Monterey฀and฀ the฀Naval฀Postgraduate฀School,฀followed฀by฀the฀Defense฀Language฀ Institute.฀I฀did฀not฀realize฀at฀the฀time฀that฀I฀was฀leaving฀the฀tactical฀ army฀forever.฀Or฀more฀accurately,฀the฀next฀tactical฀missions฀I฀would฀ be฀on฀would฀not฀be฀with฀U.S.฀forces. ฀ Two฀years฀later฀I฀had฀a฀master’s฀degree฀in฀Middle฀Eastern฀Affairs฀ and฀some฀proficiency฀in฀Arabic.฀I฀graduated฀with฀honors฀from฀both฀ the฀Naval฀Postgraduate฀School฀and฀language฀training.฀I฀wrote฀a฀thesis฀ 10฀ |฀฀ ฀ on฀U.S.฀and฀Soviet฀interests฀in฀Saudi฀Arabia.฀My฀classmates฀in฀the฀ graduate฀program฀were฀a฀mix฀of฀all฀the฀services.฀The฀navy฀sent฀intelligence ฀officers,฀SEALS,฀and฀an฀occasional฀aviator฀to฀the฀area฀studies฀ program.฀My฀army฀companions฀were฀to฀a฀man฀foreign฀area฀officers฀ like฀me;฀I฀would฀continue฀to฀bump฀into฀them฀over฀the฀next฀fifteen฀ years.฀Air฀force฀officers฀also฀attended,฀mainly฀those฀headed฀to฀attaché฀ duties.฀The฀faculty฀was฀largely฀civilian,฀and฀the฀regional฀specialists฀ were฀just฀that,฀area฀experts.฀A฀bonus฀for฀my฀group฀of฀Middle฀East฀ area฀studies฀students฀came฀from฀an฀unexpected฀quarter:฀Israel฀had฀ a฀number฀of฀students฀in฀various฀courses฀at฀the฀school.฀Their฀senior฀ officer,฀Col.฀Ran฀Goren,฀attended฀several฀of฀our฀seminars.฀Later,฀Ran฀ would฀rise฀to฀the฀rank฀of฀major฀general฀and฀deputy฀commander฀of฀ the฀Israeli฀Air฀Force.฀He฀was฀able฀to฀offer฀us฀an฀insider’s฀view฀on฀the฀ Israeli฀military฀that฀textbooks฀could฀not฀hope฀to฀match. ฀ We฀soon฀got฀to฀meet฀the฀other฀side฀of฀the฀Middle฀East฀equation:฀ the฀Arabic฀department฀at฀the฀Presidio฀of฀Monterey฀offered฀its฀own฀ type฀of฀regional฀immersion฀on฀the฀shores฀of฀Monterey฀Bay.฀We฀had฀ Syrians,฀Lebanese,฀Iraqis,฀and฀Egyptians,฀each฀with฀their฀own฀identity฀ and฀axe฀to฀grind.฀Classmates฀were฀largely฀army,฀mainly฀interpreters฀ or฀other฀FAOs.฀Two฀would฀work฀with฀me฀in฀the฀1991฀Gulf฀War.฀We฀ did฀have฀one฀senior฀sergeant฀who฀was฀from฀the฀secretive฀Delta฀Force,฀ recuperating฀from฀injuries฀sustained฀in฀the฀aftermath฀of฀the฀abortive ฀Desert฀One฀rescue฀attempt.฀There฀were฀several฀air฀force฀officers฀ headed฀to฀attaché฀duty฀and฀one฀marine฀from฀the฀Corps’฀smaller฀FAO฀ program.฀One฀of฀the฀air฀force฀officers฀would฀become฀the฀assistant฀air฀ attaché฀in฀Egypt,฀where฀I฀ran฀into฀him฀while฀traveling.฀And฀we฀had฀ a฀navy฀lieutenant฀commander฀from฀the฀SEALS฀who฀would฀become฀ the฀admiral฀in฀charge฀of฀all฀navy฀special฀operations.฀Other฀attendees฀ included฀FBI฀agents฀and฀others฀from฀unspecified฀agencies.฀A฀female฀ FBI฀agent฀in฀the฀course฀ended฀up฀at฀my฀twentieth฀Texas฀A&M฀class฀ reunion,฀married฀to฀one฀of฀my฀friends฀who฀had฀left฀the฀marines฀for฀the฀ FBI฀Hostage฀Rescue฀Teams.฀In฀short,฀it฀was฀a฀diverse฀and฀very฀select฀ group฀that฀would฀maintain฀contacts฀long฀after฀leaving฀Monterey. ฀ Two฀things฀from฀the฀instruction฀stuck฀in฀my฀mind.฀The฀first฀was฀ an฀instructor’s฀comment฀that฀Lawrence฀of฀Arabia฀was฀the฀role฀model฀ for฀true฀FAOs.฀He฀meant฀we฀should฀bury฀ourselves฀in฀our฀regions฀ if฀we฀were฀to฀be...

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