Scott Elston:  

Life Well, the last few weeks have been rather eventful, I've qualified as an observer and as a team lead for three separate mission areas here in the Sinai. I am qualified in both the Border Guard Force (BGF) Area of Operation, the BGF Area of Interest and also the northern Sinai Areas 3 and 4. The BGF encompasses the area from the border with the Gaza strip to just past the city of Al Arish. There is a strong insurgent presence here and they have recently affiliated with ISIS. We travel in armored Toyota Land Cruisers and have armed security along with us. I can now lead both reconnaissance and verification missions in those three areas. This entails checking Egyptian military and police installations for personnel, equipment, weapons and armor. Driving on the terrible local roads and through the sand (been stuck a few times but managed to dig out). All in all, this is the best job that I have ever had. I like it so much that I requested a one year extension and have been approved for it. I'm going to try for an ex-mil assignment to the Civilian Observer Unit (COU) upon reaching the mandatory foreign service retirement age of 65. I can do this until I hit age 70. Most recently, just finished two years (2012-2014) in Islamabad, Pakistan where I was assigned to our embassy there. I've most recently resigned from the Foreign Circus...err, Service and am now with the Multinational Force and Observers in the Sinai, Egypt as a civilian observer. Job is to observe, verify and report to both the Egyptian and Israeli governments any possible violations of the peace agreement they signed over 30 years ago. I joined the Marine Corps just a few weeks after graduation from L.C. After boot camp and infantry training I was sent to become a telecommunications technician, which I remained during my 24 year career. I was stationed in various places in the U.S. from South and North Carolina to California and from Florida to New Jersey. Overseas, I was stationed on Okinawa three times for a total of nearly 10 years. I was also stationed in Stuttgart, Germany for 3 and a half years. Other places I was at TAD (TDY for you Army and Air Force pukes out there) Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (twice), England, Spain, Korea, Phillipines, mainland Japan. I got to visit Hong Kong (prior to its return to Communist China), Taiwan, Austria, France, and Belgium. My first wife, who was Japanese, passed away in 2000. We had a daughter, who has two children of her own, and a son, who is still trying to tell his ass from a hole in the ground. After wife's death, I joined the Foreign Service as an Information Management Specialist so I could still travel the world. After initial trainin...Expand for more