I'm finally off Top Dead Center on this. I applied on Aug 25 and got my notification to schedule an appointment today (Oct 12). There were appointments available in Blaine, WA for tomorrow. Too bad I'm in Oregon for the week. Saturday was completely full so I booked an appointment for Sunday. Timing works because I head for Asia on the 25th.

From what I understand I will get a provisional approval and a "Trusted Traveler" number at that appointment which will let me use the TSA Precheck and Global Entry coming home. Is that correct?