Design for defense – Landscape Specialization?

[Trace One]

The State Department has for years been retrofitting embassies around the world for defense, listing on their job site “Facility Management” type positions that specialize in that (and don’t require taking the Foreign Service Officer test!). This seems like an opportunity for a specialization for the Landscape Architect job seeker. The field of design for defense, in addition to design for global warming, are areas that are only going to burgeon, in coming years, IMHO.

[Trace One]

Cool, Henry! You are a fount, a veritable fount..

I have been interested in those jobs for years, having grown up in the Foreign Service..Definitely checking out that book –

Gracias!

[Trace One]

Wow, impressed again – you know the author! Thanks for the offer, it’s a theoretical interest for me for now, though

..

ps, I like the new photo, also – old hippy days? Alll men should have long hair, in my book..

 

: )

[Thomas J. Johnson]

Security Site Design should have some serious traction in this economy / political climate and in the years to come. It also seems well aligned with my areas of interest; hardscape, grading, engineering, mechanical design, spiky plants and general trickery.

Thank you for the fresh perspective Trace and Henry… I’ll have to look into this career path…

[Trace One]

Ha! jump qualified..hee hee…I think Thomas is on to something with hardscape and prickly, also- I think that is where I would fit in, in addition to being extremely defensive..

find your niche!

[Tosh K]

I remember a student a few years ahead of me did a “Homeland Security garden” for planted form – included the above mentioned prickly plants along with poison ivy.

[Thomas J. Johnson]

Poison Ivy is classified as a delayed-response defensive strategy. (I just made that up… but it sounds pretty good, eh?) The perpetrator won’t realize the discomfort they are due to experience until it’s too late. Then they will be very sorry indeed… and easily identifiable from the welts, swelling and redness…

[Thomas J. Johnson]

I’d love to go through special forces training. I actually applied to the Navy Seals when I got laid off in Nov. ’08 but they turned me down due to age. I was 30, the cut off is 29.

I used to be in good enough shape to do it too… mtn bike 75 miles, run 6+, swim a mile, lifted 4-6 days a week, could carry a 90 lb pack all day… that’s the kind of stuff I did for fun. I was in killer shape when I got my first LA job.

Then after 4 months of sitting at a desk 70+ hours a week I turned into a tender little veal cutlet, soft and useless in mind and body. I haven’t exercised (to speak of) since… went in at 175lbs and ripped… topped out at 235lbs and I’m back down to 200lbs now but don’t think I could run a block… I need to get back into shape…

If I’m jumping, I’m packing my own chute…

[Thomas J. Johnson]

Mock orange is good for making bows (bows and arrows) in case our other national defense strategies fail and we need to get “old school” on them… and those oranges would probably hurt like hell too if we could figure out a way to propel them… potato gun?

[Author]

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