The Spaghetti Method

Ok so you all know how this works: We are slated for Japan, but paper orders don't come until December, which means that we don't know what Senior Jefe's next duty station is until we have it signed in triplicate in my inbox in December. This makes life exceedingly difficult if I want to IDK have a J-O-B of any importance when we move to Japan...or...?.
So the low down info is it should be Japan or Norfolk, so I applied for my dream job in D.C., just to cover myself. I have no idea what I will do in Japan, but I am hoping to do contracting again, or get a postdoc. I will wait until I have paper orders before I call the head hunters about this possibility. The third possibility is stay at BIG U for another year, which I hope will not be the case. So I am perusing the classified ads in the back of professional journals and hoping my dream job will fall in my lap if I apply to enough things in enough places. I call this the spaghetti method, i.e. throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. I have another distant option of just signing up for geoscientists without borders for a while and seeing where that takes me.
The spaghetti method lead to me asking BIG WIG at BIG U for a reference today. This guy is overall pretty supportive, which is to say he tries very hard to quell his biases about the military, but they show up every once in a while when he talks to me. I try to ignore this, because he is really one of the most decent people I have met at BIG U. He said that if it gets to that point with dream job, he's got my back, which is AWESOME! HOLLA! I am really hoping I can pull off ABD (all but dissertation) status by the end of the year, so whatever gods you pray to, throw one out there for me.
My point with all of this is that I have always been able to find a job in my field, which is semi-portable, depending on how flexible your definition of my field  and portable are, because I have always cast a ridiculously wide net. Even when I have a job and I know we are going to be in one place for a while, I peruse the job boards in my field, listen to what's hot and what labs near bases of potential interest are hiring, so that when it comes time to look for real, I have lots of options lined up and people to support me in those applications. I think that while this is a time consuming approach, it is a lot better than the "here I am, set, scramble" approach. If you are going to be a professional, outside of teaching or nursing and your a military spouse you really have to work your social network and keep an eye out for good opportunities that show up in your profession's media. It helps you know the trends and makes it easier for you to develop the skills you need to meet the hot jobs out there at the moment.  Headhunters are awesome, but they may not be enough and this is one way you can help yourself out.