...and from his perspective I can see his reservations.
Good post, Chug. Funnily enough, I had a similar issue when I was about to return to the UK at the end of my (happily extended -twice) exchange tour on the F-15. The posters at Barnwood (as it was then) wanted to send me to some pen-pushing nightmare until friends in high places pointed out that one of the reasons for sending folk on exchanges is to bring back valuable experience and knowledge. It would have been a disaster to send me a scribbly job - I could only spell in American by then and suffered dizzy spells if I didn't pull 9 at least 6 times a day!
I was stunned by how little they valued returning exchange officers, as usual the complexities of the personnel management system couldn't cope with tactical value unless pushed with a big stick. Mind you, they remembered my background quickly enough when they needed someone to deploy to the Americans on ops when everyone else had excuses not to go.
Sox for the thread drift.