Rambo IIIl: Great Film or the Greatest Film?

Rambo III will always have a special place in my heart.  I remember spending hours in my backyard atop my fence with a red bandana on, mowing down Soviets in the Afghan desert.  I love the Rambo series to this day, although upon re-watching them I sometimes wonder why my mother thought this was good programming for her young son.  I suppose I was just an especially mature young lad.

Many films from the 80s and 90s seem ridiculous when you sit down to watch them today, but Rambo III remains as awesome as ever.  I’ve been thinking about Rambo III a lot recently, because I have just had my one-year anniversary as a Foreign Service Officer (FSO).  What does Rambo III have to do with my time in the Foreign Service?  As it turns out, everything…
 

 Woohoo!  Diplomacy!!!

As many of you are aware, the process of becoming an FSO begins with the Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT), a three-hour exam that is meant to determine whether an individual would be a good State Department employee.  The first (and most difficult) section of the exam is a collection of multiple-choice questions ranging from politics, world history, geography, mathematics, management styles, and several other topics. 

The day I took the test, I started making my way through the questions, when I came upon one halfway through, which asked something to the effect of: “The present-day Taliban gained much of their fighting experience through which of the following armed conflicts?”  Among the answer choices I read: “Repelling a Soviet incursion in the 1980s.” 

As fate would have it, I was home alone the night before I took the FSOT, which meant I got to watch Rambo III on AMC (since Sarah is not one to spend the evening watching Rambo).  And what does the intrepid John Rambo do in the third installment of his film series?  Why, go to Afghanistan to help the Mujahideen repel the Soviet Union, of course!  What luck that I would have watched the film the night before taking the exam!

I don't know what my final score was on the FSOT, but I like to think that Rambo gave me just the push I needed to pass the exam.  Fast forward six months, and I received an official offer to join the Foreign Service.  After several days of trepidation, we decided to say yes.  And what should come on TV that very night.  You guessed it, Rambo III.  In many ways, you could say Rambo III has been my guiding light through the entire hiring process.  So, here's to you, Rambo!  Thanks for always being there for me.