ste_noni

The whole thing boils down to a battle between Joe's primary specialty - Military Intelligence - and his secondary - the FAO thing.  Joe called a friend who works at the FAO branch and they totally want him.  They think he is the perfect guy for the job, more qualified than any one else, totally has the experience for it, and would slot him today if possible.

BUT, he needs to be released by his primary branch first.  The good news is that they all work for the same person these days, the two branches, that is.  The bad news is that, according to the FAO guy, Joe has a fantastic record for tactical intelligence stuff (read: deployment!) and MI branch will very likely resist letting him go.

The good thing is that because of this recent reorganization, there is one decision maker instead of two colonels arguing over it. The bad news is that Joe has done well over the years and his tactical experience and his consistently high evaluations mean that the MI people will certainly feel that he belongs in the "real" Army instead of going off and playing diplomat.  

I guess this is the part where the persuasion comes in.