PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN FOREIGN SERVICE ASSOCIATION APRIL 2020

CAREER MANAGEMENT TODAY

DISCOVERING A POST’S HISTORY

RETIREMENT 101

FOREIGN SERVICE April 2020 Volume 97, No. 3

Focus on Career and Feature Performance Management 53 The Power of Language Here’s how an “English For Work” program improved security in Kabul. By Krishna Sharma

Retirement Supplement

JEFF MOORES 67 Retirement Planning 101 It may be years away, but the sooner 24 37 you think about and plan for your Needs of the Service and State’s New MSI Program: retirement, the better it will be. Those of Our People: Preliminary Results Are In By John K. Naland The New HR By Raeka Safai By Philip W. Kaplan 73 41 AFSA Membership 27 What’s Next for SNEA? in Retirement: By Donna Scaramastra Gorman What’s in It for You? Evaluation Reform at Besides camaraderie, there are paths State: A Work in Progress to engagement and advocacy, access By Alex Karagiannis 45 to unique practical information and Balancing Act’s assistance—and it’s a good deal! Formula for Driving By Dolores Brown 32 Institutional Change Life After the Redesigning Foreign By Lillian Wahl-Tuco Service Performance and Foreign Service Promotion at USAID 48 By Martha Lappin 75 From the FSJ Archive Managing a Foreign The Theater and Service Career Policy Salon By Michael Feldman 78 FS Heritage The Inn by the Lake By David Summers 49 Discovering Our Consulate’s History, 80 We Discovered Ourselves—Matamoros, Mexico Try the Smaller Pond By Moises Mendoza By Janice Weiner

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 5 FOREIGN SERVICE

Perspectives Departments

7 89 10 Letters President’s Views Reflections The Legacy of Tex Harris On the Road from Sibiu 12 Letters-Plus By Eric Rubin By Jonathan B. Rickert 14 Talking Points 9 82 Books Letter from the Editor Diplomacy in the Time of Corona By Shawn Dorman 20 Marketplace Speaking Out 84 Classifieds Breaking Away from “Born, Not Made” 90 85 Index to Advertisers By Andrea Susana Martinez Local Lens Donnally and Christina T. Le Cessy, France 86 R eal Estate & Property By Kevin Keen Management

AFSA NEWS THE OFFICIAL RECORD OF THE AMERICAN FOREIGN SERVICE ASSOCIATION

57 The Passing of F. Allen “Tex” Harris 57 58 State VP Voice—Giving the MSI the Attention It Deserves 59 USAID VP Voice—Labor Management Relations 59 AFSA Governing Board Meeting 59 Everything You Need to Know about the TSP 60 FCS VP Voice—We’ve Seen This Movie Before 60 AFSA Seeks Volunteers for Elections Committee 61 AFSA on the Hill—Building on Fiscal Year 2020 Gains 65 Call for Nominations: 61 Retirement Planning Five to 10 Years Out 2020 Exemplary Performance Awards 62 Foreign Service Artists Featured at 66 AFSA Outreach Campaign Highlights the AFSA Showcase Foreign Service as the First Line of Defense 64 AFSA Welcomes Incoming Classes 66 AFSA Hosts Breakfast for Ambassadors

On the Cover—Illustration by Jeff Moores.

6 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL PRESIDENT’S VIEWS

The Legacy of Tex Harris

BY ERIC RUBIN

he U.S. Foreign Service lost a Our country’s security and prosperity depend giant in February when Tex heavily on our international engagement. Harris left us. Tex did more than Tany single individual to build today’s AFSA, and to lay the groundwork simply doing their jobs, reporting accu- the world still needs the United States for AFSA to serve not only as the voice rately on what they observed, or for being to be a leader among nations to work of the modern Foreign Service, but as its homosexual or suspected to be. At that for peace and progress. The post–World stalwart defender and advocate, as well. time, AFSA did not stand up for them. War II era was shaped by the United Tex also believed passionately that Let me be clear about where AFSA States. Its institutions were largely our members of the Foreign Service could stands today: We will fight for our mem- creation. And the result was the single not simply count on the goodwill of bers, and we will fight for the practice of longest period of peace and prosperity management, but needed rules and diplomacy, which is the alternative to war. in human history. procedures in place to make sure that We are passionate about our com- We serve our country, with dedica- individual members of our Service were mitment to nonpartisan, nonpolitical tion and loyalty. But in working for treated fairly and were able to defend service to our country. We will loyally our country, we work for the world. themselves. serve whomever the American people Our country’s security and prosperity At AFSA, we take seriously our obliga- elect as their leaders and work assidu- depend heavily on our international tion to defend our members when they ously to ensure the success of the poli- engagement. No one can or will replace encounter difficulties. We are proud that cies established by our elected leaders. the United States if it withdraws from we raised enough money for our Legal But we expect respect for our patriotism engagement in the world’s affairs. Defense Fund so that not one AFSA and service in return. Americans need us—and the world member who was called to testify in the There are other things to say about needs us. recent impeachment battle is left with a the legacy of Tex Harris. More than any Tex also passionately believed in single cent of liability for legal fees. We other U.S. diplomat, Tex advanced the the importance of constructive dissent. also have a significant balance of dona- notion that America is about values, that The culture of the U.S. Foreign Service, tions to cover our members facing legal our country stands for more than just our and the value that we bring to the table, bills in the future—and to defend our own self-interest. Along with Assistant emphasizes the importance of speaking association if AFSA itself should encoun- Secretary of State Patricia Derian, he pio- truth to power—confidentially and inter- ter legal challenges. neered the idea that our diplomacy must nally—and insists that we can only get The lessons of the McCarthy period in include a commitment to basic norms of the right results in policy deliberations the 1950s resonate to this day. Hundreds human rights, and that ignoring or sup- when there is a real discussion informed of members of the porting gross violations of those values by career expertise and knowledge. Foreign Service undermines our standing in the world. For those of you considering whether were investigated, His human rights work in 1977-1979 to remain in public service, I repeat the pilloried, perse- Argentina still stands as an outstanding request I have made before. Please stay. cuted and fired for example for the Service. Please continue serving our country, specious reasons— Surely we have not always lived up and know that the work you do mat- in some cases for to that standard, to our principles. But ters—a lot. n

Ambassador Eric Rubin is the president of the American Foreign Service Association.

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 7 FOREIGN SERVICE

Editor-in-Chief, Director of Publications Shawn Dorman: [email protected] www.afsa.org Senior Editor Susan Brady Maitra: [email protected]

Managing Editor CONTACTS Kathryn Owens: [email protected] AFSA Headquarters: ADVOCACY Associate Editor (202) 338-4045; Fax (202) 338-6820 Director of Advocacy Cameron Woodworth: [email protected] State Department AFSA Office: Kim Greenplate: [email protected] (202) 647-8160; Fax (202) 647-0265 Publications Coordinator USAID AFSA Office: FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION Dmitry Filipoff: [email protected] (202) 712-1941; Fax (202) 216-3710 Director of Finance and Facilities Business Development Manager— FCS AFSA Office: Femi Oshobukola: [email protected] Advertising and Circulation (202) 482-9088; Fax (202) 482-9087 Manager, HR and Operations Molly Long: [email protected] Cory Nishi: [email protected] GOVERNING BOARD Controller Art Director President Kalpna Srimal: [email protected] Caryn Suko Smith Hon. Eric S. Rubin: [email protected] Member Accounts Specialist Editorial Board Secretary Ana Lopez: [email protected] Alexis Ludwig, Chair Ken Kero-Mentz: [email protected] IT and Infrastructure Coordinator Hon. Robert M. Beecroft Treasurer Aleksandar “Pav” Pavlovich: Daniel Crocker Virginia L. Bennett: [email protected] [email protected] Joel Ehrendreich State Vice President Harry Kopp Thomas Yazdgerdi: [email protected] COMMUNICATIONS Jess McTigue USAID Vice President Christopher Teal Director of Communications Jason Singer: [email protected] Joe Tordella Ásgeir Sigfússon: [email protected] FCS Vice President Vivian Walker Manager of Outreach and Internal Hon. Laurence Wohlers Jay Carreiro: [email protected] Communications Dinah Zeltser-Winant FAS Vice President Allan Saunders: [email protected] Michael Riedel: [email protected] Online Communications Manager Retiree Vice President Jeff Lau: [email protected] THE MAGAZINE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS John K. Naland: [email protected] Awards and Scholarships Manager PROFESSIONALS State Representatives Theo Horn: [email protected] The Foreign Service Journal (ISSN 0146-3543), Joshua C. Archibald 2101 E Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20037-2990 is Strategic Messaging Coordinator published monthly, with combined January-February Matthew Dolbow Nadja Ruzica: [email protected] and July-August issues, by the American Foreign Service Holly Kirking Loomis Association (AFSA), a private, nonprofit organization. Kristin Michelle Roberts Material appearing herein represents the opinions of the MEMBERSHIP writers and does not necessarily represent the views of Tamir Waser Director, Programs and Member Engagement the Journal, the Editorial Board or AFSA. Writer queries Lillian Wahl-Tuco Christine Miele: [email protected] and submissions are invited, preferably by email. The USAID Representative Coordinator of Member Relations and Events Journal is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, Lorraine Sherman photos or illustrations. Advertising inquiries are invited. Ashley Baine: [email protected] All advertising is subject to the publisher’s approval. FCS Alternate Representative Coordinator of Member Recruitment AFSA reserves the right to reject advertising that is not Mike Calvert and Benefits in keeping with its standards and objectives. The appear- FAS Alternate Representative ance of advertisements herein does not imply endorse- Perri Green: [email protected] ment of goods or services offered. Opinions expressed in Mary Parrish Retirement Benefits Counselor advertisements are the views of the advertisers and do USAGM Representative Dolores Brown: [email protected] not necessarily represent AFSA views or policy. Journal Steve Herman subscription: AFSA member–$20, included in annual APHIS Representative dues; student–$30; others–$50; Single issue–$4.50. LABOR MANAGEMENT For foreign surface mail, add $18 per year; foreign airmail, Jeffery Austin General Counsel $36 per year. Periodical postage paid at Washington, D.C., Retiree Representatives Sharon Papp: [email protected] and at additional mailing offices. Indexed by the Public Mary Daly Deputy General Counsel Affairs Information Services (PAIS). Philip A. Shull Raeka Safai: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Senior Staff Attorneys Phone: (202) 338-4045 STAFF Zlatana Badrich: [email protected] Fax: (202) 338-8244 Executive Director Neera Parikh: [email protected] Web: www.afsa.org/fsj Ásgeir Sigfússon: [email protected] Labor Management Counselor Executive Assistant to the President © American Foreign Service Association, 2020 Colleen Fallon-Lenaghan: Richard Bruner: [email protected] [email protected] PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. 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8 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Diplomacy in the Time of Corona

BY SHAWN DORMAN

s I write this letter (just before some very “inside baseball” elements of Our April Speaking Out argues against we go to press in mid-March) managing a Foreign Service career and, in the notion that diplomats are “born, from Baltimore, AFSA has particular, changes to the State HR Bureau not made.” The column’s authors make Amoved operations to all-remote (in addition to its new name, Bureau of a compelling case for a change in State work in response to the coronavirus out- Global Talent Management), as well as Department culture and for more system- break, now pandemic. The president has to the evaluation processes at State and atic training, education and mentoring. just held a press conference to announce USAID (the EER and the AEF). Perhaps the most significant space a “national emergency.” Universities are We bring you updates on the MSI pilot in the Journal, the Speaking Out column sending students home, sports events are and the special needs education allow- is where we can share different views being canceled, and travel restrictions ance (SNEA) program, and a look at the on current issues for the FS community. grow by the hour. Balancing Act organization, which shows In recent months, we’ve received fewer News about the spread of the virus how employees can make change happen. Speaking Out submissions than ideal. and how it’s being handled worldwide In addition, a special retirement section In hopes of inspiring wider participa- changes hourly, and the U.S. domestic offers useful guidance on planning and tion in the Journal, I share here thoughts response is still in the early stages. But profiles of life after the Foreign Service. from Editorial Board Chair Alexis Ludwig. from the time the first cases in China were made known, members of the U.S. Ours is an age of hyperventilation. or small, external or internal, large for- Foreign Service posted all over the world There’s quite enough yelling and scream- eign policy questions or vexing person- have been on the front lines, involved ing going on as it is, and no good reason nel problems. Whatever deserves a fair, in helping track developments, marshal to join in. But how about reasoned transparent or different kind of airing. data and information, liaise with foreign dialogue? How about cool-headed Whatever might need fixing. governments and international organiza- argument with one’s inside voice? Isn’t A few possible examples: tions, and keep U.S. citizens informed that what diplomats are supposed to do • Security clearance updates take too about public health and travel. best, including amid intense and even long; here’s what needs to be done. A monthly publication planned far in structural disagreement? • Here’s how to better utilize the advance, the Journal is not a vehicle for We put forth a dispassionate, broadly diverse professional skills family mem- breaking news. The stories, insights and informed perspective on a several-sided bers bring to the Foreign Service. lessons learned from the diplomats grap- or controversial topic in the hopes of • The tangible value of a nonparti- pling with this new world health crisis persuading others to take action, accept san, professional Foreign Service in a have yet to be told. When they are, you a compromise course or at least under- polarized environment. will find them here. stand where we’re coming from. Such • Here’s what’s wrong with the In the meantime, we continue cover- engagement would seem welcome and assignment system and a plan to fix it. ing topics relevant to our community, even tonic at a time like this. Please join the discussion. I urge you such as this month’s Why am I writing this now? The FSJ to contribute your two cents or more— focus on career depends on the Foreign Service com- if only to further ensure that the differ- management. We munity as authors. Right now, we need ent sides of issues that matter to us are take a close look at more submissions for Speaking Out, our duly aired, reflected on and argued. opinion page. Speak Out! Because silence, too, can be Shawn Dorman is the Issues worthy of speaking out about deafening. n­ editor of The Foreign are not in short supply. They can be big —Alexis Ludwig Service Journal.

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 9 LETTERS

An Inspiring Look Every day across the ingly overwhelming obstacles. You chal- at the U.S. globe, you work on the lenge powerful dictators and entrenched The front section of the front lines to prevent wars authoritarian regimes, often in face-to- January-February Foreign from breaking out, protect face encounters and on their home turfs. Service Journal does a good American citizens, promote You press on. job in reviewing the chal- economic prosperity, defend You are American diplomats and pub- lenges of recent months democracy and prevent lic servants who have brought American in the President’s Views, human rights abuses and ideals and values to the rest of the world letters from readers and in atrocities. These are noble for decades—showcasing America as a excerpts from online post- causes. powerful ideal and a counterweight to the ings, and I plan to keep this Thank you all for your allure of centralized authoritarian rule issue for its apt record of the important efforts to prevent the spread and use of that has captured much of the world’s current events affecting our Service. nuclear weapons, chemical weapons and population for decades. But it was Alexis Ludwig’s “Outside other weapons of mass destruction. Thank You work in an organization that is not Observers See the United States in Ways you for engaging in continuous dialogue without its faults, and you face many of We Ourselves Cannot” that I found with our allies and with our adversaries the same challenges that come with any especially profound and uplifting. I day in and day out, year after year and large institution. You have no choice but recommend it to all who on occasion decade after decade. to operate under conditions that are often doubt the grandeur and endurance of Your work to promote and demon- constrained by regulations and layers of the United States’ spirit. strate democratic values and advance a internal safeguards that have been put With close to 20 years in the Foreign free, peaceful and prosperous world is into place to help ensure the integrity of Service now, I found Ludwig’s piece not largely unseen to most Americans, yet the organization and provide accountabil- only historically and intellectually well you continue to serve with little praise or ity to the American people. researched and written (as are many FSJ recognition. But you overcome these and other articles), but also simply—at the risk of You serve in challenging environments, hurdles, and strive on a daily basis to sounding trite—good for my Foreign often risking your own lives in war zones, deliver excellence in service to our great Service soul. in regions where there are dangerous pub- country and to all Americans. Kristin M. Kane lic health epidemics and where the rule Thank you for doing all this and more. Deputy chief of mission of law is oftentimes very little rule at all. Joseph Domask U.S. Embassy Lisbon There are countless unsung heroes among DoMar Learning & Leadership founder you who devote time, energy and internal Potomac, Maryland Thank You for Your Service fortitude toward serving our country and Thank you to all members of the promoting the security of Americans in Your Special Collection Foreign Service for your service to our large and small ways. on McCarthyism and the country. I write this to pay tribute to what Many of you spend years separated China Hands I believe is one of the greatest institutions from family, often missing your children’s I learned about your addition of a new in the world—the State Department—and special milestones, such as graduations, special collection on McCarthyism from a to give thanks to all those who serve in this performances and more. Sacrifice is recent AFSA Daily Media Digest. I applaud important institution and in the other U.S. required on a continuous basis to carry the timeliness of this initiative, and would foreign affairs agencies. out the work that is required to help pro- respectfully suggest several additions for I have spent half of my career in the tect America and our values. the sake of completeness. State Department, most recently as a Even where the circumstances From the July-August 2008 FSJ, the director and senior adviser within FSI’s sometimes appear hopeless and where following should also be on that list: the Leadership and Management School, and authoritarian regimes have been in power letter from Ambassador Robert Service, I have worked hand-in-hand with many of for many decades, you press on with the “Getting History Wrong”; the letter you over these years. work at hand and challenge those seem- from Dana Deree, “Smearing the China

10 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Hands”; and my article, “Grace Under Pressure: John Paton Davies.” I would note that the latter was cited by historian Bruce Cumings in his epilogue to Davies’ autobiography. [All of these can be found in the FSJ Archive at www.afsa.org/fsj- archive.] Bob Rackmales FSO, retired Belfast, Maine

A Puzzling Statement Kudos for the excellent interview with Ambassador Hank Cohen in the Decem- ber FSJ. We can be grateful for his service and expertise in navigating the waters of post-colonial Africa. One of his comments puzzled me, however: “The Cold War never had any influence on U.S. policy toward Africa.” I believe volumes could and have been written saying that it did, and this was certainly my experience during my tours in Ethiopia and South Africa in the 1970s and 1980s. Chuck Ahlgren FSO, retired Incline Village, Nevada n

CORRECTION In the March FSJ focus article “When Lightning Struck Twice: Drawing Down Mission Russia,” Sergei Skripal is mistakenly identified as a former officer of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) on pp. 39 and 40. Skripal was an officer of the Rus- sian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU). We regret the error.

Please send your letters to [email protected]

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 11 LETTERS-PLUS RESPONSE TO DEC. 2019 FSJ COVER STORY ON USAID TRANSFORMATION

writes that “the purpose of foreign assis- The Purposes and Use of tance should be to end the need for its existence. All of our reforms are designed Foreign Economic Assistance to accelerate development progress and work toward the day when partner coun- BY RAYMOND MALLEY tries can finance and implement solutions to their own development challenges.” In my view and long experience, this reflected with great interest ligan mentions affect and statement is too narrow. True, the prime on Chris Milligan’s article, overlap with the work purpose of foreign assistance is to foster “USAID Transforms,” in the of these other agencies. economic and social development. In December 2019 edition of Some examples: USAID practice, however, that is far from the only the Journal. It is hearten- and MCC often support purpose. Under every administration, Iing to hear that the agency development projects in USAID has been and continues to be a continues to reform to keep up the same country; all agen- soft foreign policy tool with an array of with the times, and I presume cies stress private-sector purposes. It is a flexible instrument, never that the changes in structure and free-market-based used solely for development—no matter are substantive and not mere approaches where possible; how much purists wish it were so. movements on the administrative tableau. MCC and DFC, in addition to USAID, The additional purposes of USAID’s But I have two comments. seek to co-finance with the private sec- work over the years and today are legion. tor; the State Department also has major Many, of course, are closely related to What About the Overlap? programs in health and humanitarian development, but some are only tangen- First, in addition to USAID, U.S. eco- activities; and State, USAID and Treasury tially related and others are not related nomic assistance relations with develop- manage relations with the various multi- at all. Here are some examples of other ing countries are the prime responsibility lateral development institutions. purposes: to reduce civil strife and create of four other agencies—namely, the Peace I assume that USAID took into account stability, including in failed states; to sup- Corps, the Millennium Challenge Corpo- and discussed with these agencies how ply humanitarian assistance to the world’s ration, the U.S. International Development the reforms relate to and affect their numerous refugees inside and outside Finance Corporation, formerly the Over- responsibilities and operations, and that camps, and to assist victims of natural seas Private Investment Corporation, and there are no problems in this regard. But, disasters such as hurricanes and earth- the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. surprisingly, there is no mention of other quakes; and to promote countries’ transi- Also, major departments of govern- agencies in the article. tions to democracy and free markets, as ment—such as State, Treasury, Justice, was so important with the collapse of the Agriculture and others—have assistance The Question of Purpose Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. spigots in their areas of competence. My second comment relates to the pur- Still other purposes are to support Many of the USAID reforms Mr. Mil- poses of foreign assistance. Mr. Milligan friends and allies, even authoritarians if necessary, such as South Korea’s Park Raymond Malley, a retired Senior Foreign Service officer, had a long and Chung-hee and Zaire’s Mobutu Sese varied career with USAID and State. He negotiated and managed develop- Seko yesterday and Egypt’s President ment and security projects in many countries, including Korea, India, Nepal, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi today; to spread Pakistan, Bangladesh and Congo/Kinshasa; was U.S. representative to OECD’s influence and help counter the influ- Development Assistance Committee; and was USAID’s contact with U.S. ence of adversaries, as in Eastern Europe International Development Finance Corporation and Treasury. He also briefly headed the and the South China Sea right now; and U.S. Trade and Development Agency. Later, he was a senior executive with the global Korean to uphold integral parts of treaties—for manufacturing group Hyun Dai/Halla. He lectures, writes and teaches at Dartmouth’s lifelong example, assistance to Israel and Egypt learning program. He and his wife live in Hanover, New Hampshire, and McLean, Virginia. under the Camp David Accords.

12 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Multiple Objectives More Efficient Further, U.S. assistance is supposed Organization to support major foreign policy initia- These skills and budgets need not tives and complement military opera- be centered in USAID, but they must be AFSPA tions, as in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghani- housed somewhere. Given political reali- afspa.org stan; assist in acquiring the use of ties, it is likely that things will remain as foreign military bases; and support they are for the time being. ASU Thunderbird School U.S. exports and investments in That said, there are better ways to of Global Management developing countries and create future organize these necessary capabilities that thunderbird.asu.edu/emagam profitable markets. (Note that DFC and would result in greater efficiency and TDA were created within USAID; when substantial administrative savings. One is Chambers Theory proved successful, they were spun off to merge MCC into USAID. USAID would chamberstheory.com under pressure from U.S. business be the major partner in such a merger, interests.) but the MCC name would better describe Clements Worldwide Of rapidly growing importance the wide range of responsibilities and clements.com/fsj today, assistance is also used to address activities. Or create another name. Episcopal Church Schools major issues that transcend boundaries, Our country then would have two of Virginia such as global warming and the great main foreign economic assistance oper- episcopalschoolsva.org number of problems that stem from it, ating entities—the merged USAID/MCC, as well as diseases, possible pandemics, dealing with most of the matters outlined Federal Employee population pressures and mass migra- above; and the DFC (merging the smaller Protection Systems tions. TDA into it), promoting finance and fedsprotection.com USAID collaborates with other parts private investment in, and trade with, of the U.S. government and bilateral developing countries. Some donor coun- Jake Realty Group and multilateral donors in most of tries do, in fact, divide their assistance jackrealtygroup.com these undertakings, and it contracts organizations in this way. with numerous companies, universities Yet another approach would be to Property Specialists, Inc. and nongovernmental organizations. merge USAID into State as a separate propertyspecialistsinc.com It also represents the United States on bureau and specialty; now the two are Richey Property the Development Assistance Commit- partly joined and partly separate. At the Management tee of the Organization for Economic same time, State could seek control of or richeypm.com Cooperation and Development in Paris greater influence over the other assis- and often to United Nations agencies in tance spigots. I have discussed these WJD Management Rome and elsewhere. options in previous FSJ articles (see wjdpm.com Are many of these wide-ranging Speaking Out in December 2010 and activities likely to disappear or decline November 2009). in importance in the near future? Of course not. Can the United States The Future as a country cease to address them? We live in complex and turbulent No. Thus, it follows that we must con- times. World problems will continue to tinue to have mechanisms, skilled per- accumulate as the decades pass. Most sonnel and budgets to deal with them, of them can be addressed only with even if—and this is most unlikely— substantial and wise use of soft power. most or all of the world’s countries That is the argument for a continued and reach satisfactory levels of economic expanded organization like USAID, suit- and social development. ably transformed for the long term. n

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 13 TALKING POINTS

GAO Report: State thing is wrong when most of those occu- Department Struggles pying our most powerful positions are with Diversity overwhelmingly male and overwhelm- hile the overall proportion of ingly pale,” stated Menendez. Wracial and ethnic minorities View the report at bit.ly/gao-diversity. at the State Department has grown in recent years, the proportion of African Trump Envoys Push Out Americans and women serving in the Career Diplomats department has declined, according to a n Feb. 5, Foreign Policy maga- AFSA/KIM GREENPLATE Feb. 25 report from the U.S. Government Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), at Ozine featured an exclusive report Accountability Office. podium, hosts a briefing on the GAO about an issue AFSA has been watch- report on Feb. 25. On the panel are, from From 2002 to 2018, the proportion ing closely—the pushing out of career right, AFSA Director of Professional of racial or ethnic minorities among Policy Issues Julie Nutter, Ambassador diplomats by some political-appointee the department’s full-time, permanent (ret.) Mari Carmen Aponte, GAO’s Direc- ambassadors. career employees increased from 28 to tor of International Affairs Jason Blair, President Donald Trump’s envoys and Ambassador (ret.) Gina Abercrom- 32 percent. On the Civil Service side, bie-Winstanley. have removed their deputy chiefs of the proportion of minorities decreased mission (DCMs) in South Africa, Canada, slightly from 44 to 43 percent, while in the France, Iceland, Romania and the United Foreign Service, the number increased diversity and representation throughout Kingdom, Foreign Policy reports. Some of from 17 to 24 percent. the ranks of its workforce,” GAO stated, the ambassadors did so shortly before or Though the overall number of adding, “However, longstanding diversity just after they arrived at post. department employees rose from 16,570 issues persist at the agency.” “We are deeply concerned by the to 22,806 during that time frame, the “State may have an incomplete picture number of removals of deputy chiefs of proportion of African Americans fell of issues affecting diversity in its work- mission overseas, which are happening from 17 to 15 percent of all employees, force,” GAO noted. “Taking additional at way above the normal pace,” AFSA GAO found. The proportion of African steps to identify diversity issues could President Eric Rubin told Foreign Policy. Americans in the Civil Service decreased help State properly direct its resources to “It’s generally very rare for a DCM to from 34 to 26 percent from 2002 to 2018, investigate, identify, and remove barriers be removed by the ambassador. It does while it increased from 6 to 7 percent in to a diverse workforce.” happen. Sometimes it happens for a good the Foreign Service over that time. On Feb. 25 AFSA Director of Profes- cause. But it’s rare. And it is now becom- The proportion of women in the Civil sional Policy Issues Julie Nutter partici- ing an epidemic.” Service decreased from 61 to 54 percent pated in a congressional briefing on the FP reports that in past administra- from 2002 to 2018, while the propor- report, hosted by Sen. Bob Menendez tions, career officials, including DCMs, tion of women in the Foreign Service (D-N.J.) and Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.). “felt they had the support of the State increased from 33 to 35 percent. “The results of this important report Department if their ambassadors were The proportion of minorities and unfortunately show that despite some causing issues.” women was much smaller at higher laudable efforts, the Department of State Lewis Lukens, who was ousted as ranks, GAO found. For example, women has yet to cultivate the kind of diverse DCM from U.S. Embassy London in 2018, make up 69 percent of jobs at GS-10 or and representative national security told FP: “When I was being told I had to below, but only 38 percent of executive- workforce we need,” Sen. Menendez, leave seven months early, the answer level jobs in the Civil Service. Minorities ranking member of the Senate Foreign from the department was, ‘Look, the make up 65 percent of jobs at GS-10 Relations Committee, said in a Feb. 25 ambassador is a friend of the president’s, or below, but only 13 percent of executive statement. he’s a friend of Trump’s, and there’s noth- jobs. “Whether we are talking about the ing we can do.’ I imagine that some of “State has implemented several plans, boardrooms of the Fortune 500 or the these other people are facing that same activities, and initiatives to improve upper echelons of government, some- situation.”

14 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Site of the Month: outstanding American or foreigner who Mapping the Coronavirus has shown distinction in the conduct of (bit.ly/cor-virus-map) diplomacy. “We need to build a constituency f you’re interested in among Americans,” Amb. Yovanovitch Itracking the COVID- said in accepting the award. “Over the 19 coronavirus, Johns last few months, I have received hun- Hopkins University’s dreds of letters, from all over the United Center for Systems States, from individuals thanking me for

Science and Engineer- AS OF MARCH 13, 2020 explaining what diplomats do. Clearly, ing has put together a we need to do a far better job at commu- dashboard showing real-time data data sources, including the World nicating our story.” on the number of patients diagnosed Health Organization and the Centers Ambassador (ret.) William Burns with the virus, the number of deaths for Disease Control and Prevention. joined Yovanovitch on the stage for a and the number of people who have The dashboard was first shared question-and-answer session following recovered by country. publicly on Jan. 22. “It was developed her remarks. You can view the event at The dashboard also features to provide researchers, public health bit.ly/trainor-award. a map that lets you track where authorities and the general public coronavirus cases have been found. with a user-friendly tool to track the United States, Taliban At press time, there were 136,929 outbreak as it unfolds,” according to Reach Peace Deal confirmed cases of coronavirus Lauren Gardner, an associate profes- he United States signed a peace deal worldwide, and 5,065 deaths, accord- sor in JHU’s department of civil and Twith the Taliban on Feb. 29 in Doha, ing to the portal. CSSE uses several systems engineering. marking the potential end of America’s longest war. But media reports suggested that key elements of the agreement were starting to buckle just days later. White House to Purge tration has “assembled detailed lists The agreement includes a 14-month “Disloyal” Feds? of disloyal government officials to oust.” timetable for the final withdrawal of U.S. he White House confirmed that it is According to a Feb. 21 Washington troops from Afghanistan, according to a Tseeking out disloyal employees in Post article: “The National Security Coun- Feb. 29 New York Times report. federal agencies, Government Executive cil, the State Department and the Justice In exchange for the withdrawal of U.S. reported on Feb. 25. Department are targets of particular troops, the Taliban promises to cut ties “It’s not a secret that we want people focus, according to two administration with al-Qaida, the terrorist group respon- in positions that work with this presi- officials, and there have recently been sible for the 9/11 attacks, and prevent the dent, not against him, and too often we multiple resignations and reassignments use of Afghan soil to threaten the United have people in this government—I mean at each of those agencies.” States and its allies. the federal government is massive, with Hours after the agreement was millions of people—and there are a lot Yovanovitch Wins reached, the insurgent Taliban and of people out there taking action against Trainor Award Afghan security forces had resumed this president and when we find them mbassador Marie Yovanovitch, who fighting, Politico reported on March 2, we will take appropriate action,” White Aretired from the Foreign Service not “marking an end to the reduction in House spokesperson Hogan Gidley told long after testifying in the impeachment violence that paved the way for the Fox News on Feb. 24. hearings, received the Trainor Award on agreement.” This follows a Feb. 23 report on the Feb. 12 from Georgetown University’s Also on March 2, the Taliban refused online news website Axios that over Institute for the Study of Diplomacy. to take part in talks with the Afghan the past 18 months the Trump adminis- The award is presented annually to an government, Politico reported, until the

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 15 government releases 5,000 Taliban pris- “The request has been made by the build out a peaceful resolution to their oners. Under the terms of the peace deal, United States for the release of prisoners, now, what for them, is a 40-year struggle.” the government-held prisoners were to and it can be part of the negotiations, but The New York Times added that the be released in exchange for up to 1,000 it cannot be a precondition,” he added. war has cost $2 trillion and taken the Afghan captives held by the Taliban by “No one is under any illusion that lives of more than 3,500 American and March 10. On that date, according to the this will be straightforward,” Secretary of coalition troops and tens of thousands of agreement, the Taliban was to start intra- State Mike Pompeo told CBS News’ “Face Afghans. About 12,000 troops were still in Afghan negotiations. the Nation” on March 1. “We have built Afghanistan at the time of the peace deal. On March 1, Afghan President Ashraf an important base where we can begin Ghani—whose government was not to bring American soldiers home, reduce The Costs of involved in the negotiations or the U.S.–Tal- the risk of the loss of life of any American Reconstruction iban deal—told reporters that “there is no in Afghanistan, and hopefully set the in Afghanistan commitment to releasing 5,000 prisoners.” conditions so the Afghan people can n Feb. 5 the Special Inspector Gen- Oeral for Afghanistan Reconstruction reported that there were 5,135 casualties 50 Years Ago in Afghanistan associated with recon- struction or stabilization between April The Quiet Battles 2002 and December 2018. That number, according to SIGAR, ecently, in a course on American losing purpose, to retain purpose includes at least 284 Americans (216 U.S. Rsociety, I tried to convey to my while implementing other people’s service members and 68 U.S. civilians) students some impression of what ideas. It may thus mean being able who were killed in Afghanistan. SIGAR it was like being a bureaucrat, in my to hold two ideas in his head at found that an additional 245 U.S. service case, a Foreign Service officer. … once, the official one, the one he members and 76 U.S. civilians were At twenty-two, when I entered may disagree with but implements, wounded. the Foreign Service, one of the first and his own, the one he hopes to The report, “The Human Cost of things I learned was that the Organi- introduce, quietly and effectively, Reconstruction in Afghanistan,” is zation was not simply an extension perhaps years hence at the proper believed to be the first official accounting of my personal development. It had time. … by an independent agency of the human work to be done, and this perforce A bureaucratic career does pose costs of reconstruction in that war zone. took priority over the work’s interest moral dangers. It can be thought of SIGAR found that 2,214 people or usefulness to me. … as a series of battles, some of which were killed and 2,921 wounded dur- By the time an officer has the will be lost. They are quiet battles ing the time period. It also identified opportunity to exercise a satisfying and often lack the glamour of sit- 1,182 people who were kidnapped or amount of initiative ins and picket lines, went missing. The majority of casualties will he still be able to? but they are no less, occurred between 2008 and 2011, the How much will the and perhaps are more height of reconstruction efforts according “system” get to him…? decisive for the future of to SIGAR. This, I believe, depends society. “While considerable effort is made on him, on his quiet —Craig R. Eisendrath, to track the amount of U.S. dollars day-to-day battles with a former Foreign Service spent, this review shows that we do not himself, on his ability officer, excerpted from adequately capture the human cost of to live fully into his his article of the same conducting reconstruction and stabiliza- experiences, to retain title in The Foreign Ser- tion projects while combat operations effectiveness without vice Journal, April 1970. are still ongoing, especially third country nationals and Afghans,” the report states.

16 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Freedom House Finds Global Democracy Contemporary Quote on Wane emocracy is under assault around I’m confident we can handle it here. I’m confident we’ll Dthe world, according to Freedom handle it better than any nation in the world. House’s “Freedom in the World 2020” —Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in response to a question about whether the report, released on March 4. United States could have as successful a response as China without imposing on “This year’s report is deeply concern- people’s civil liberties, during an interview with CNBC, March 6. ing, in that it finds that we are in the 14th year of a global recession in democracy,” says Freedom House president Michael Abramowitz. “Almost twice as many States’ democracy ranking has fallen decade ago, its ranking was on par with countries declined in their scores this several points, to 52nd on the list of 195 the United Kingdom and Switzerland. year as improved, and those declines nations and 15 territories, according Twenty-five of 41 established democ- aren’t just happening in places that you to the report. With a democracy score racies in the world have seen net losses expect, like China or Russia, but also in of just 86 out of 100, the United States in democracy since 2006, according established democracies.” falls behind Slovakia and Mauritius but to the report. “The most common areas Over the past few years, the United just ahead of Argentina and Croatia. A of decline,” writes the report’s author,

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 17 Sarah Repucci, “took place in functioning tool that our forces need to have available any confidence that they would respect of government, freedom of expression to them in order to ensure mission suc- international law,” Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, a and belief, and rule of law.” cess and in order to reduce risk to forces,” former commander of U.S. Army Europe, View the document at bit.ly/freedom- Secretary of Defense Mark Esper told told NPR. “So this is about being able report. journalists on Jan. 31. to protect allies and protect our own According to the Defense Department troops.” U.S. to Allow Greater Use policy, the U.S. will continue to prohibit But many are opposed to the use of of Land Mines? the use of any “persistent” land mines what they see as inherently indiscrimi- n January the Trump administration (without a self-destruct/self-deactivation nate weapons. The current policy, said Irescinded the presidential policy on function) per its commitment to the Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) in a Jan. 30 anti-personnel land mines adopted by Convention on Certain Conventional statement, “is the culmination of nearly the Obama administration in favor of a Weapons. 30 years of incremental steps, taken by new policy to be overseen by the Defense The United States did not join the both Democratic and Republican admin- Department that will allow land mines to more than 160 countries that signed on istrations after extensive analysis and be used in conflicts around the world. to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. Russia and consultation, toward the growing global The previous policy restricted the use China have not signed the treaty either. consensus that anti-personnel mines of land mines to the Korean Peninsula. “I’ve seen nothing in my study of should be universally banned.” “I think land mines are an important Russian or Chinese history that gives me “The Congress,” Sen. Leahy added, “must be consulted before any decision that would reverse the gains we have made toward ending the carnage caused by land mines.”

Senators Urge Field- Forward Policy n early February, Sen. Chris Van Hol- Ilen (D-Md.) and Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), co-chairs of the Senate For- eign Service Caucus, sent a letter to Sec- retary of State Mike Pompeo urging him to increase the deployment of members of the U.S. Foreign Service overseas. “From global health crises to emerg- ing technologies to great power competi- tion, the United States faces a diverse and growing array of threats that demand greater diplomatic engagement around the world,” they wrote. “In addition to our military and economic tools, diplomacy is essential for advancing U.S. national security interests.” “Posting more State Foreign Ser- vice abroad,” the senators continued, “coupled with an increase in the Foreign Commercial Service and Foreign Agri- cultural Service, will help underpin U.S.

18 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Proud to Help Foreign Service needs of those we aim to help. I salute your Families Heard on the Hill dedicated cadre of development profession- Foreign Service officers play a crucial als that too often are working in or near very role in furthering our national security dangerous circumstances. … interests and promoting our values abroad, Turning to the matter at hand, the presi- and their patriotic family members endure dent’s budget request for Fiscal Year 2021 is frequent moves to support that service. nearly a 20 percent cut from the Fiscal Year I’m proud to co-sponsor this bill to help 2020 enacted budget. I look forward to work- remove the hurdles that make it difficult ing with the chairwoman in the weeks ahead for Foreign Service families to access job on a bill that provides more appropriate levels opportunities. of funding to address the serious global chal- JOSH —Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), in a Feb. 7 press lenges that we are confronted with this year. release on the Foreign Service Families Act. —Representative Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), ranking member of the State, Foreign Operations and Supporting Commercial Policy Related Programs Appropriations Subcommittee, at the We’re also putting commercial diplomacy at the fore- hearing on the USAID budget request for FY 2021 with front of our foreign policy to help confront China around USAID Director Mark Green, March 3. the world through bills like my Championing American Business Through Diplomacy Act. The original mission of Telling the Truth the Foreign Service was to advance American interests, There are some 24,000 Civil and Foreign Service officers, American business interests. It’s in their charter, and yet Mr. Secretary, who are also listening to you right now. They many diplomats seem to forget that that is a fundamental know that they have a duty to implement this president’s mission of the State Department, to advance our business policies and they do. You called them just a moment ago interests abroad. “amazing people.” You know they’re not working against —Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), from remarks at a this president. But they also feel they have a responsibility Feb. 4 American Enterprise Institute event in Washington, to share with you and their president their best judgment D.C., “How to Counter China’s Global Malign Influence.” to tell you the truth as they see it, whether it’s what the leadership wants to hear or not. … Are you going to back Funding USAID them up when they speak what they believe to be the Let me start by once again acknowledging the good work truth? Are you going to stand by while people in the White that you are doing at USAID and the collaborative manner House talk about purging your employees? in which you do it. These are not easy times to be engaged —Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), questioning Secretary of in international development: the challenging operating State Mike Pompeo at a House Foreign Affairs environments from insecurity continue to mount as do the Committee hearing, Feb. 28.

global leadership and economic compet- abroad. According to the index, China to meet with the Secretary in the near itiveness, strengthen linkages between now has the largest diplomatic network future to discuss this important issue. the U.S. and other countries, and contain in the world. AFSA has long promoted a field-for- Chinese influence abroad.” The senators request specific data ward Foreign Service to restore America’s In their letter, the lawmakers cite the from State and pose several questions core diplomatic capability. n Lowy lnstitute’s “2019 Global Diplomacy about the pattern of diplomatic postings Index” to underscore the urgency of in recent years and going forward, stating This edition of Talking Points was com- increasing the U.S. diplomatic presences that they would welcome the opportunity piled by Cameron Woodworth.

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 19 SPEAKING OUT

Breaking Away from “Born, Not Made”

BY ANDREA SUSANA MARTINEZ DONNALLY AND CHRISTINA T. LE

he Department of State’s Dip- Without a more significant investment in lomatic Readiness Initiative education, we are abdicating our responsibility hiring surge from 2001 to 2004 Tincluded active recruitment for to prepare the next wave of diplomats. specialized languages and experiences. The expanded hiring should have been matched with relevant changes to our that diplomats are “born, not made”— ernize the personnel systems on which we organizational culture and accompanying remains pervasive. rely to ensure they reward talent and merit systems like promotions, education, eval- This organizational culture is pre- (not simply years of service). uations and assignments. Unfortunately, venting the State Department from it was not. It is often said by department realizing the full potential of the wide Training: Ready, Set, leaders that great diplomats “rise to the spectrum of people that make up our Diplomat top” and “hard work is rewarded,” but department, including not only the We describe ourselves as learned, it isn’t clear how a person’s efforts will ethnic, racial and religious diversity of and the Foreign Service Act of 1980 deliver promotions and opportunities. In our colleagues, but also nontraditional explicitly directs the executive branch fact, what allows some to rise over others? structures such as international or to develop a corps of well-prepared Director General Carol Perez’s recent interagency marriages, single parents, officers, “representative of the Ameri- personnel reform efforts have sounded divorced tandem spouses and second- can people” and “informed of current the alarm, highlighting the need for career professionals, among others. concerns and trends in American life, a new organizational culture. But her The situation, perpetuated now by knowledgeable of the affairs, cultures endeavors alone will not right the ship mostly outdated systems, is unlikely to and languages of other countries.” If the of State so long as our community con- change unless we are aware of our out- department’s role is to conduct foreign tinues to act on our antiquated thinking, dated views of the traditional workplace policy, it would stand to reason that and our personnel systems do not fully and break with this arcane thinking. It is continuous education is important. capture or keep pace with the diversity incumbent upon each of us to recognize Yet although we pride ourselves on of our people. The rigid institutional that diplomats should be made with expe- being smart, we do not hold education in identity underlying these systems— rience, mentorship and training, and that high esteem. Many among us have fondly which can be summed up as a belief it is essential that the department mod- referred to learning the art of diplomacy as “on-the-job training.” A more accurate Andrea Susana Martinez Donnally joined the State Department Foreign Service descriptor is “learn as you go.” Newly in 2004 after six years as an international trade specialist with the Foreign Com- arrived staff at a post, including first-tour mercial Service. She has served in Colombia, Iraq, Tunisia, India and Cyprus, officers, are lucky if they receive notes in addition to assignments in Washington, D.C. After joining the department, handed over by their predecessors. The she married and now has three young children, a dog and a working partner. majority of training (not education) a Christina T. Le joined the Foreign Service in 2009 and has served in Mexico, generalist receives throughout their career Greece and Japan, as well as in Washington, D.C. She was president of the is in foreign languages or technical skills Asian American Foreign Affairs Association from 2015 to 2018. She was a (e.g., budgeting and contracting). co-recipient of the 2017 William R. Rivkin Award for Constructive Dissent Mandatory leadership training for mid- and a National Security Fellow at the Center for a New American Security. level specialists and generalists is given for

20 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL three weeks over a normal career of more Without a more significant invest- while men are hired based on their than 15 years, and our orientation courses ment in education, we are abdicating our potential. If Foreign Service evaluations for new Foreign Service generalists and responsibility to prepare the next wave are supposed to be an assessment of specialists last six weeks and three weeks, of diplomats. While we have been hiring future potential, how might this affect respectively. Civil Service foreign affairs from a much wider scope and breadth of advancement? professionals receive just a one-week backgrounds and education, our failure to According to LeanIn.org, research orientation in most cases. invest in education undermines retention on bias has also shown that replacing Modules in some of these courses and sets up the next generation of diplo- a woman’s name with a man’s name focus on leadership development, mats to be less effective. on a résumé improved the odds of the including a new leadership capstone woman being hired by more than 60 project in A-100. There is also a sepa- Promotions: percent. Similarly, a 2017 study pub- rate “One Team” course for newly hired A Departmentwide lished by Harvard Business Review noted employees that brings together various Writing Contest that hiring rates doubled when names employment categories to learn about The recently renamed Global Tal- were made “whiter.” Why wouldn’t this the department’s mission, culture and ent Management Bureau (previously apply to promotions, too? history. These are steps in the right HR) brought thoughtful changes to the With raters and reviewers’ biases direction, but are not nearly enough to evaluation process in recent years by playing an outsized role in the advance- develop the corps of leaders the depart- making the form shorter and granting ment of our employees, how does even ment needs at every level. employees a greater say in their self- the best panel then take up the task of Specialized skills courses in, for evaluation. However, for all the changes, comparing one officer’s accomplish- instance, negotiations, crisis manage- it remains subjective. Unlike the pass/ ments during a crisis in a politically ment and public speaking taught by fail Civil Service evaluations or the volatile country to another officer’s experienced officers are only infre- private sector’s various metrics-based accomplishments maintaining a strong quently available and not required. evaluations, there are few quantifiable bilateral relationship in an economically These are skills that should be taught, criteria or comparable data for the pro- and politically stable country? not learned ad hoc on the job. motion panels to use. More important, 90 percent of the By comparison, a Marine Corps Moreover, promotion panels are not evaluation focuses on accomplishments officer receives 2.5 years of initial train- a trained, professional cadre of evalua- and less than 10 percent on areas for ing, including learning the culture of the tors; rather, they are a jury of our peers, development. While feedback from institution, followed by additional train- with their own widely differing biases, panels routinely indicates that the area ing throughout their career. standards and criteria. Research shows for improvement should not be a throw- At State, employees can take rotations that objective rules tend to be applied away, using the space correctly nonethe- and assignments outside the depart- rigorously to out-groups (those who less remains an exercise informed by ment, but doing so sometimes comes are different from “us”), but leniently rumor and potentially false assumptions with a cost. For some FSOs on detail to in-groups (those who share com- (e.g., never list “interpersonal skills”). assignments, promotion is delayed monalities), and that this effect is more This is not conducive to developing because the panels, reflecting State pronounced when review criteria—for the skills necessary to advance in one’s culture, do not view learning as part of example, the core precepts—aren’t career, nor does it help the department our work. Attending long-term education clearly specified or taught. build a professional corps of expert dip- programs in some cases even carries a It is very likely that our promotion and lomats; and it reinforces the “born, not negative stigma. Often, it seems, detail awards systems are accentuating biases made” mindset. assignments and long-term training that are slowing down promotions for One way to expand on an already are viewed as resting sites for returnees some over others. For instance, according positive trend is to shift into name- from high-stress posts and as last resorts to a 2019 study in Frontiers in Psychology, redacted, gender-neutral evaluations for undesirable officers lacking onward research shows that women are often and awards, as was done in the new assignments. hired based on their accomplishments, Meritorious Service Increase process in

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 21 2019. The launch of online and class- corridor reputations to their own benefit Speaking Out is the Journal’s opinion room unconscious-bias awareness train- led to a revolution in the assignments forum, a place for lively discussion of ing is welcome, and should be made process in 2006: the introduction of the issues affecting the U.S. Foreign Service mandatory for everyone. online 360 evaluation. In theory, it would and American diplomacy. The views expressed are those of the author; their Evaluations can further evolve to give voice to subordinates to help weed publication here does not imply endorse- include a score, so that the evaluation is out those officers who were best at “kiss- ment by the American Foreign Service less dependent on the rater’s and review- ing up and kicking down,” as we call it. It Association. Responses are welcome; send to [email protected]. er’s writing skills. We can also look at is welcome news that recently one more ways to make evaluations more concrete bureau joined the shared 360 platform. and link them to onward assignments. That said, the current format for 360s is not much more than a digitized Assignments: rumor mill and extension of the corridor rewarding educational opportunities, and Who You Know, Not What reputation that is often manipulated, agreeing that long-term training is work You Can Do lacks Equal Employment Opportunity for which we should be evaluated and Bidding instructions in 2019 urged oversight and is unevenly applied across recognized. As a requirement for one’s people to consider their qualifications the department. own promotion, we can institute mentor- before bidding. It was a mixed message, In the best scenario, the soon-to-be ing and professional development of because experience tells us that it’s not launched TalentMap could revamp the one’s subordinates and peers—not only skills and qualifications that get jobs, but 360 bidding process as the first stop for to improve their professional abilities, personal connections. This undoubt- bidders, with GTM offices reviewing but to strengthen our department and edly holds true for bureaus that employ name-redacted and gender-neutral résu- community. centralized bidding processes, despite més and conducting first-round inter- We can use our referent power to their claims to be open and transparent. views for all posts. Skills-based interviews make the institution more inclusive, Reaching the Senior Foreign Service and with the same questions for all applicants dynamic and effective. We can continue being hired into the Senior Executive that directly relate to the desired knowl- this conversation through the Director Service require a well-rounded career, edge and skills needed could give hiring General’s open conversations and other and this is a function of the assignment managers objective criteria to better dialogues within the department on how process and the accessibility of opportu- match candidates with staffing needs. to best achieve these aims. nities for professional growth. Shifting to a preestablished rubric Most important, we can move away When assignments are a crucial part could have a lasting effect on abolishing from vague definitions of good diplomacy of an officer’s education and develop- the favoritism that may be the root cause in exchange for defined examples we ment, it is easy to see how the belief that of the department’s failure to be inclusive aspire to replicate. We can identify rules “diplomats are born, not made” is upheld. and diverse, as laid out in the Diversity and regulations in the FAM/FAH that The culture of the department tells us the and Inclusion Strategic Plan. preserve the biases that hurt our efforts to best officers will shine through and rise become an expert, professional diplo- above the rest, naturally. Another way to The Challenge: Now What? matic corps; and we can advocate for put it: If you are good, you will get the best This is our Department of State. We changes to these rules. projects, the best jobs and the promotions. have a Director General heralding a time of By collectively acknowledging and Yet reality has shown us that doing more change, and we have the power to reshape actively working to demand and create a work is not necessarily the right way to get our institution to become more aligned new organizational culture—one where we promotions or good onward assignments, with our modern world. As a department, acknowledge that diplomats are not born, and the allocation of those opportunities we can acknowledge that becoming an but made—we are more likely to achieve is subject to the will of your boss and who effective diplomat is an active effort born the results we seek. In this manner, we are you know. of blood, sweat and tears. more likely to attract, retain and reward A backlash against bad managers, We can foster professional growth the workforce we both need and have “screamers,” who effectively manage their in our community by mandating and promised the American people. n

22 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL

FOCUS ON CAREER AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

Needs of the Service and Those of Our People The New HR The newly named Bureau of Global Talent Management is taking steps to better recruit, retain and empower a high-performing, diverse 21st-century workforce. BY PHILIP W. KAPLAN

he goal of any human resources team Each year, roughly 37 percent of the Foreign Service relo- is twofold: to support employees and cates. Representing the United States overseas is an exciting and to strengthen the institution they rewarding vocation, but not always an easy one. The bureau took serve. It seems simple enough. Just on a number of significant reforms in 2019 to provide greater two things. But when they have to be support and enhanced flexibility for employees. These changes, done simultaneously, the balance can in turn, contribute to the bureau’s broader mission to recruit, be difficult to strike. Lean too far on retain and empower a high-performing, diverse 21st-century either side, and you risk undermining workforce equipped to advance U.S. foreign policy goals. the institution or eroding the morale of the people who make it work. Fair Share: Eliminating an Ineffective Policy TThis can be particularly challenging for the Department of Last July, Director General Carol Z. Perez announced the State’s Bureau of Global Talent Management, formerly known as elimination of the Fair Share bidding requirements, start- the Bureau of Human Resources. GTM supports nearly 14,000 ing with the Summer 2020 assignments cycle. Fair Share was Foreign Service specialists and generalists, as well as the depart- originally designed to ensure equitable burden sharing of ment’s more than 10,000 Civil Service employees, eligible family service at high-differential posts (the posts with the highest members and more than 50,000 locally employed staff. The levels of hardship and/or danger), but an analysis of bidding bureau plays a role in every step of a Foreign Service employee’s and assignments data revealed that the policy was slowing the career—from their entrance exam to their retirement out-brief- assignments process without achieving its desired outcome. ing, and is involved in all of the relocations, trainings, bidding The policy required that employees bid on high-differential and assignments, and promotions in between. posts, but not actually serve in them. In practice, departmentwide surveys from 2017 and 2018 Philip W. Kaplan joined the Foreign Service in 1994. He has served on service at high-threat posts revealed, most employees were in Santo Domingo, Panama, Ankara, Vienna and Lima, as well as motivated to bid based on financial incentives, career progres- in Washington, D.C., where he is currently acting director for gen- sion and the desire to serve our nation in the toughest places, eralists in the State Department Bureau of Global Talent Manage- not because of the Fair Share policy. Of all high-differential ment’s Office of Career Development and Assignments. positions on the 2018 assignment cycle, only 5 percent of pan-

24 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL eled jobs were filled by bidders subject to the policy. While well-intentioned, Fair Share ended up delaying the assignment The Fair Share policy’s elimination process for certain bidders, thereby limiting their opportunities, should simplify bidding without contributing to the department’s goal of staffing high- and make the assignments differential posts. Its elimination should simplify bidding and make the assignments process more efficient. process more efficient. It should be noted that high-hardship duty is still manda- tory for Foreign Service officers who wish to compete for entry into the Senior Foreign Service. Both the Career Development officers must test at the 3/3 level (or at the 3/2 level for a hard or Plan and its successor, the Professional Development Program, super-hard language) any time after tenure. The CDP requires include service at high-differential posts among the require- officers to test at the 3/3 level within seven years of opening their ments for entry into the SFS. window to become eligible for promotion into the SFS. The PDP, which is being phased in now and will completely The PDP for office management specialists contains the same supplant the CDP by 2026, strengthens the hardship standard by requirements, as will the PDPs for other categories of specialists requiring FSOs to have completed a 20 percent or greater hard- that will be phased in over the coming years. ship assignment after tenure, as well as either another tour at a 25 percent or greater differential post or a tour at an unaccompanied Taking Care of People post during their career. The CDP requires service at a 15 percent Several reforms adopted in 2019 provide additional resources or greater differential post—either one tour after tenure or two for employees to better care for themselves and their families. entry-level tours. The PDP also allows FSOs more flexibility in On Dec. 20, President Donald J. Trump signed the FY 2020 meeting the language requirement. Under the PDP standard, National Defense Authorization Act, which includes the Federal

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 25 are at the same time settling into a new residence and, in many Employees may take leave cases, enrolling children in school or arranging childcare. without pay (LWOP) for up to I remember arriving at one Latin American post with the intention of spending the first week focused on learning my three years at a time under a new job and unpacking. My daughter’s overzealous high new pilot program. school teachers, however, had other plans; on the first day, they assigned homework that required internet access, which I had to scramble to arrange. At another post, in Europe, my supervisor, a single parent, had to find someone to babysit her two small chil- Employee Paid Leave Act. Under this legislation, which received dren so she could attend a front office meeting within 48 hours strong backing from State Department leadership and employee of her arrival in country. Regulations do not permit the use of organizations, federal government employees will receive 12 administrative leave or consultation days in these situations, but weeks of paid leave following the birth, adoption or foster place- there is no such restriction on annual leave. ment of a child as of Oct. 1, 2020. In a message informing State In a December 2019 message, the Director General provided Department employees of the new law, Director General Perez guidance for the use of special compensatory time off (SCTO) welcomed the new policy, stating that she had seen far too many for employees performing overtime work. While tenured For- federal government employees, herself included, take leave eign Service employees are not eligible for overtime pay, they without pay following the arrival of a new child. are eligible for SCTO in circumstances where work has been The department also implemented reforms designed to ordered and the overtime hours approved in advance. (This does provide greater assistance to Foreign Service families with not apply to Foreign Service specialists or to untenured FSOs, special needs children, including revisions and clarifications who are generally eligible for overtime pay; nor does it apply to to policies and procedures related to the Special Needs Educa- members of the Senior Foreign Service, who are not eligible for tion Allowance. 3 FAM 3280 codifies recent regulatory changes overtime pay or SCTO.) that expand and clarify the services covered by SNEA, including Contrary to common perception, the FAM does not limit services provided outside a school setting, educational consul- SCTO to emergencies and VIP visits. It can be applied to any tants and extended school year services. [See “What’s Next for situation in which an employee is assigned official duties outside SNEA?,” p. 41.] regular work hours, such as participating in a webinar with an To support and retain employees facing life circumstances office in another time zone or working the check-in table for an that require extra flexibility, the Director General announced in evening Fourth of July event. November that employees may take leave without pay (LWOP) for up to three years at a time under a new pilot program. This More to Come in 2020 additional flexibility will enable employees to address fam- Meeting the needs of a diverse and rapidly changing work- ily commitments, learn new skills or recuperate from illness, force is a moving target, and therefore more changes can be without having to resign. The Director General has also encour- expected this year. Some initiatives are already in the works, aged bureaus to increase the number of domestic positions including a departmentwide Diversity and Inclusion Plan, a new eligible for domestic-employee-teleworking-overseas (DETO) Manager Support Unit in the Office of Employee Relations and arrangements to facilitate assignments for the growing number a monthlong program of events to recognize the outsized role of tandem employees. that managers and supervisors play in retaining and developing talent. Encouraging a Change in Culture Other ideas will come directly from the workforce. In May While some reforms are the result of policy changes, others 2019, the Bureau of Global Talent Management launched the DG require a change in department culture rather than the rulebook. Innovation Portal, which has received more than 1,000 submis- To that end, in a September 2019 cable the Director General sions from employees with ideas on everything from workplace encouraged the use of annual leave when possible for employees flexibilities to career development. In 2020, GTM stands ready newly arriving at post. By tradition, Foreign Service employees to turn some of these ideas into concrete changes to support are expected to begin work on arrival in country, while they employees and strengthen our institution. n

26 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL FOCUS ON CAREER AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

JEFF MOORES Evaluation Reform at State A Work in Progress

The 2015 EER reforms are the building blocks from which State intends to establish a fully modernized performance management system. BY ALEX KARAGIANNIS

pril is the cruelest month, T.S. Eliot well done, an evaluation touches not just on performance but wrote. For Foreign Service person- also on the person’s sense of self and identity. For the Foreign nel who dread employee evaluation Service, with its up-or-out system, employee evaluation reports season, that poem fragment may (EERs) are invariably sensitive. Raters, reviewers and employees have special relevance. In any orga- all feel pressure. Little wonder that reactions are often defensive nization, performance appraisals and emotionally charged, even when reviews are done well; are a difficult subject; neither asses- when done poorly, anxiety levels shoot up. sors nor employees relish them for Over the past decade, considerable work in the private sec- obvious reasons. No matter how tor by industrial psychologists and human capital experts has produced a revolution in designing performance appraisals that AAlex Karagiannis retired from the Foreign Service in better meet both organizational and employee needs to fuel November 2017 with the rank of Minister Counselor. performance and engagement and also build future leadership His last assignment was as senior adviser to the capacity. Major firms such as Google, General Electric, Micro- Director General of the Foreign Service and Director soft, Accenture, Cisco and others have revamped their systems to of Human Resources. better identify and reward those who merit recognition and/or

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 27 • Focus on goals, outcomes and results rather than tasks, GTM anticipated it would take activities and output. several years for employees to • Emphasize responsibilities (positive), not just requirements adjust and adapt to the new (defensive); and reduce the requirements section in the EER (which selection boards did not find especially useful) while system, and several more years retaining it in other documentation. to fully embrace it. • Change “Area for Improvement” (a negative) to “Develop- mental Area” (neutral), recognizing that no matter how strong employees are, they have not achieved perfection and still have promotion and help all employees do better while cutting clutter, scope for growth and professional development. complexity and costs, including time often spent on misguided • Add a new short section for the Senior FS for performance standards and ineffective and inefficient processes. pay, to provide performance pay boards with additional infor- Mindful of the new developments in this area and the advan- mation for that competition. tages they bring, the State Department made a series of initial • Move Meritorious Service Increases to a separate process, reforms in 2015 as preliminary steps toward a more consequen- in keeping with the Foreign Service Act. (The MSI, commonly tial future overhaul of the performance management system. mischaracterized as Meritorious Step Increase, is designed to USAID launched a separate reform in 2017-2018 [see p. 32]. identify and reward exceptionally meritorious service; its lan- Though progress has been limited in the past couple of years, guage and placement in the FSA—separate from the discussion the 2015 EER reforms are building blocks from which State aims of promotion—suggests that the act’s drafters considered it as to establish, in the near to intermediate term, a state-of-the-art rare, not commonplace.) performance management system, including a user-oriented This change was made in recognition that selection boards online interface. Director General Carol Perez has made reform are charged with identifying for promotion (future capacity) a priority and hopes to achieve traction this year. Foreign Service and under-performance (failure to keep up with the cohort), not Institute Director Daniel B. Smith is determined to achieve taking an overall look at past service and performance. A further improved leadership and professional training, building on aim was to introduce greater equity because some competing recent pathbreaking reforms. groups had too few members to qualify for MSIs under the exist- Further collaboration between the Bureau of Global Talent ing precepts. Management (formerly the Bureau of Human Resources) and Last, the highest numbers of MSIs were being awarded to AFSA, speaking for the Foreign Service, holds promise to have lower ranks—which had the greatest number of employees eli- a genuinely positive impact for employees. A new performance gible for promotion, but where it is less likely that, with relatively management system would significantly enhance employee limited experience, employees would truly have demonstrated confidence; better identify high performers and high-potential especially meritorious service. By contrast, employees at the employees; cut processing time; deliver promotion results mid-ranks and FS-1s had comparatively few MSIs available. The earlier; and have professional development baked into State’s lack of rigor and equity in awarding MSIs was jarring. corporate DNA. • Eliminate classwide reviews. These had required two steps to achieve one total promotion number for each cone (often with The 2015 EER Changes necessary adjustments in subsequent years if cones overshot or In developing the 2015 reforms, State conducted some 23 fell short of projected numbers). Further, they had not achieved information sessions, received more than 2,000 comments from their stated objectives for greater diversification and growth a SharePoint site, reviewed years of selection board reports and across all cones. The data showed that two cones received nearly recommendations, and collaboratively negotiated with AFSA. 70 percent of promotions at the FS-1 and above levels, and some The relatively modest EER changes incorporated structural and employees received counseling letters for not serving in cone cultural elements, as outlined below. Their objectives were to: (undercutting the very premise of classwide competition). Also, • Focus on past performance and project future capacity because classwide reviews came first and were followed by conal (“effectiveness areas”) rather than describing siloed proficiency reviews, the board seasons slid into October, deep into bid sea- in individual components (“the six competencies”). son, before promotion results came out.

28 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Advice on Writing EERs FOR RATERS/REVIEWERS n Hold frequent, rich conversations, ideally ones that are forward-looking. • Tighten the narrative boxes to accentuate brevity and clar- • Identify strengths and areas for development or growth. ity; and focus on challenges and significant achievements that • Offer stretch responsibilities—not regarding grade/rank, demonstrate readiness for greater responsibilities, not merely but within existing assignment. narrative exposition of lists of activities. • Help employee get experience and step up to future • Introduce a new mechanism to reduce the number and challenges. frequency that employees, raters and reviewers had to touch n Build toward the EER: Use formal and informal sessions to the EER for edits. (Owing to the complexity and limitations of have a continuous dialogue (evaluations are continuous PeopleSoft software, which does not work with Microsoft Word, and progressive, not a one-time event). this shift could not address all employee concerns and adminis- • Raters, reviewers and employees routinely have multiple trator needs.) conversations over the year; make them meaningful. Prior to the rollout, the Bureau of Global Talent Management n Before writing the EER, determine what you would do with conducted numerous information sessions, both in the depart- this employee if you had the sole decision; do not solely ment and at major overseas posts, and set up an online resource consider past performance. Ask yourself, is the employee bank that included helpful hints and guides (e.g., on distinguish- truly equipped and ready for greater responsibilities, and ing between performance and potential, and on avoiding loaded does he or she merit that outcome? and coded language and implicit or unconscious bias). GTM n Build the case for whatever is your decision. anticipated it would take several years for employees to adjust n Don’t surprise the employee. and adapt to the new system, and several more years to fully FOR EMPLOYEES embrace it. Given the turbulence with the presidential transi- n Read five years of EERs in 15 minutes; write down in tion, workforce reductions and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s three sentences what you got out of them. Consider what other management priorities, that timetable ran into additional impressed you about your own performance that shows headwinds. readiness for more responsibilities. It is important to highlight that the 2015 EER reform was not n Write to the board; it makes the decision, not the rater or designed to—and did not—influence the calculation of promotion reviewer. numbers. Contrary to some misperceptions, determining promo- • Be self-aware: highlight challenges and significant tion numbers is a separate and independent process. In 2017 the accomplishments; do not self-assess. numbers were at the lower edge of the prior five-year averages, • Be smart: strong verbs beat adverbs and adjectives; reflecting senior executive decisions. Numbers have subsequently boards want to see content (subject, verb, outcome, why crept back up, but again irrespective of the EER revamp. it matters) and professional development over time. • B e focused: back-and-forth negotiations over adjectives, Assessing the Changes tasks, activities take time but don’t improve weak content. Performance management reform did not occur in a vacuum, • Avoid clichés and worn, hackneyed language. but in concert with other changes. Overall, it can be regarded as n Think of the developmental area as where you can show a guarded net positive, though with mixed results in some areas. growth; avoid serial repetition of the same area. Promotion results are now released around Labor Day, enabling • Own your progress and ability to adapt and get stronger employees to better design bidding strategies. Adoption of a over time by addressing them in the next EER. departmentwide reference bank for bidding (eliminating dupli- n Think forward: consider your professional development cative bureau-run programs) and establishment of more cogent arc, progressively enhancing strengths, not just your career and useful questions for assignment decisions further stream- path and speed of promotion. What did you learn and apply lined processes that employees had long identified as trouble- over the past year, or three or five years that enhances your some. The reference bank was designed to give employees and future capacity ... and hence your promotion competitive- bureaus better information for assignment decisions, separate ness? from the promotion system, but also with the intent of reducing n Think collaboratively: what did you do that helped others burdens on employees and assessors. get better and achieve results that matter? Thanks to the Foreign Service Institute, employees now have —Alex Karagiannis updated, more refined and useful leadership training modules

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 29 the report that selection boards read. Despite the best intentions, Some misperceptions about eliminating names does not fundamentally address bias, accord- EERs persist. One holds that ing to extensive peer-reviewed and validated analyses. Only a promotions are more a matter concerted effort to help all employees get better—positive bias— will mitigate negative bias at the front end. Other than insisting of chance than merit. on diversity in judges, trying to tackle bias at the back end will have limited, if any, impact. Other aspects of the reforms also have a mixed record. For that better fit with both the department’s leadership and instance, after an initial flurry of interest by employees in the management principles and GTM’s promotional criteria. new EER-related resource bank, its use tailed off. GTM is looking And GTM revamped the Career Development Program into to make the resource bank more prominent and easily accessible the Professional Development Program to put the emphasis because it offers guides and advice, including on such things as on professional growth (not career arcs) and strength (not avoiding coded and loaded language and hidden biases. speed) for advancement, and to simplify assignment distri- bution requirements and eliminate overcomplicated majors Misperceptions about EERs and minors. Some misperceptions about EERs persist. One holds that The program for granting Meritorious Service Increases was promotions are more a matter of chance than merit, using a revamped by GTM and AFSA in 2016, in the form of a three-year coin toss, dice roll, crap shoot or roulette spin as metaphors. pilot program [see p. 37 for more on this]. Separately, the bureau This misses the point. An individual EER is a one-year snapshot. and AFSA had had a contentious period with institutional griev- Selection boards have a dynamic view: cumulative (three or ances and appeals on the 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 MSI award more years of reviews); comparative (each individual’s develop- results. The department did not pay the MSI awards in 2013 and ment arc); and competitive (performance and future projection only awarded MSIs to 5 percent of those who had been recom- assessed in the context of the full cohort). It is not speed, but mended for promotion but did not achieve it in 2014, 2015 and strength of development across assignments—challenges and 2016. This led AFSA to file grievances; the association won the accomplishments—that counts heavily in determining readiness first (2013), lost the second (2014) and awaits final decisions for greater responsibilities. on the last two (2015 and 2016). Meanwhile, the department Another misperception is that writing is the single critical launched the three-year pilot. factor. Naturally, clear, concise, crisp, vivid writing is better than In the MSI pilot for 2019, GTM did not include employee flabby, verbose, pedestrian, flat writing. But writing is a, not the, names in an attempt to mitigate implicit bias on the part of panel determining factor for boards. Content matters more than prose. members. The results did not show a statistically significant Making a business case goes further than a good story—the difference, but rather a slight decrease, in the number of women latter is interesting to read, but not the most consequential com- and minorities getting awards. The reason is rather straight- ponent for decision-making. forward—it was a mechanical solution to a cultural problem. A third is the notion that the “development area” is a mark Private-sector human resources experts have noted what they of near death. What’s important here is not to have a repetitive call the “idiosyncratic rater bias effect.” Since MSI nominators pattern. Throw-away lines do not impress boards; they degrade know the employees, any implicit bias is more likely at that stage the overall integrity of the report. Boards also see through them: (including whether to nominate at all) than it is later from a No matter how characterized or disguised, weaknesses in inter- panel that is deliberately composed of individuals representing personal relations come through. It is natural for strength in all diversity. competencies to grow over time, but leadership and relational The answer to implicit bias is to address it head-on and growth must improve faster and more consequentially to make change attitudes and behaviors. Unlike other fields (e.g., music one competitive for promotion. As employees handle more com- auditions, where technical skill and virtuosity are key factors and plex internal and external policy challenges, the human factor evaluators are well served by not seeing the candidates), nomi- becomes ever more important. Progressing from responsibility nators for awards and raters and reviewers for EERs know the for oneself, to teams, to an enterprise level entails exponen- person. In EERs, employees write the initial section and frame tial growth in leadership to inspire people and foster the next

30 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL generation. Lack of self-awareness, emotional intelligence and personnel meant losses in both national security and foreign people skills comes through in EERs. policy experience, as well as leadership—including in inspiring None of this is to suggest that there are no false positives and employees and programmatic management, further deflecting false negatives when it comes to promotions. But the system is attention from performance evaluation. designed to mitigate against it. More important, their occurrence In 2019 the State Department listed “Talent” as the first suggests that more reform is essential. Such reform should draw category of its top five management priorities. As noted earlier, from employee and AFSA input, in addition to reviewing results performance management improvements are highlighted as an and mining best practices from both public and private-sector objective, though regrettably the format of the management state- initiatives, to create a new architecture and new user-friendly ment did not include a specific, targeted, timebound goal. As with software interface. any change, for performance management reform to be a success, robust, ongoing communications with, by and for employees will The Road Ahead be essential as the department moves to design and implement During 2017 performance management reform received a new performance management architecture and EER form comparatively less attention as the department grappled with and processes. It can build incrementally on the 2015 reforms the hiring freeze, the Redesign (later rebranded The Impact (go small) or adopt a more radical approach (go big, and join the Initiative, or TII) and the President’s Management Agenda and ranks of cutting-edge enterprises); both have benefits and risks. associated Office of Management and Budget reporting require- It remains to be seen what lessons the department draws, ments. Even as GTM concentrated on workforce hiring and what resources it devotes, what benchmarks it sets, and what attrition issues, the sizable outflow of Senior Foreign Service timelines it develops for implementation. n

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 31 FOCUS ON CAREER AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

JEFF MOORES Redesigning Foreign Service Performance & Promotion at USAID

USAID took the first bold step to modernize its performance management and promotion systems in 2014, asking FSOs to report honestly and in detail what they thought of these processes. BY MARTHA LAPPIN

n 2014 USAID took the first bold step on a journey 7,905 at State). The results, published in 2015 in “Current State to modernize its performance management prac- Report: Evaluation of the USAID Foreign Service Performance tices and increase the transparency and fairness Management Program,” were not a surprise; they reflected the of its promotion process. The Office of Human complaints, frustrations and growing cynicism about processes Capital and Talent Management asked Foreign FSOs had been sharing with each other and their leadership for Service officers to tell us honestly, and in great years. detail, what they really thought of the agency’s What was new, and also exciting, was the agency’s com- performance management and promotion pro- mitment to do something about it. All we knew at the time was cesses (USAID FSOs number 1,850, compared to that Band-Aids and quick fixes wouldn’t suffice, and that FSOs themselves would have to play a leading role in overhauling an IMartha Lappin is a USAID personnel psychologist. She outdated and inefficient system. previously spent 15 years as a research psychologist for Here are the changes USAID has implemented to date, as the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and well as some of the lessons learned in the process. Social Sciences, returning to the federal government in 2016 to lead the Foreign Service Performance Manage- Identifying the Problem ment Redesign Initiative at USAID. She holds a doctorate in industrial/ Federal mandates established by the Foreign Service Act of organizational psychology from Michigan State University. 1980 provide the foundation for FSO performance management

32 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL and promotion policies. Advancement in the Foreign Service relies on a rank‐in‐person, competitive promotion system, The Annual Evaluation Form supported by a traditional approach to planning, monitoring had largely devolved into and evaluating performance. For decades, the cornerstone of both the performance management and promotion processes at an exercise in artful writing USAID was the Annual Evaluation Form. The AEF served as both designed to impress the the annual performance evaluation, documenting how well the promotion boards. individual has done over the past year, and the primary input to the boards charged with recommending candidates for promo- tion. In theory, this might seem like an efficient way to “kill two accountable for poor performance, but our human resources birds with one stone”—however, in practice, the AEF served systems provided little support for their efforts. With too few neither purpose well and consumed an inordinate amount of people and too much work to do, it was just too easy for mean- time every spring. ingful conversations between employees and supervisors to get What we suspected, and our assessment confirmed, was that sidelined or postponed indefinitely. candid conversations about professional development were few and far between (and met with considerable resistance if they sug- Putting Employee Development into Performance gested that an employee’s performance wasn’t up to par in a par- Management ticular area), and that the AEF had largely devolved into an exercise As HCTM made a commitment to acknowledge, understand in artful writing designed to impress the promotion boards. and address these challenges, we were extremely fortunate to These and other findings reflect the fundamental problem have the full support of USAID’s senior leadership—including with trying to use a single document for two very different pur- our administrator, our partners at AFSA and, most important poses. AEFs tended to focus on the employee’s most notewor- of all, our hardworking 18-member community of stakehold- thy achievements and were often exaggerated and laden with ers (CoS). Beginning in April 2016, the CoS that led the rede- superlatives that obscured true differences across employees’ sign consisted of FSOs from the FS-3 to Senior Foreign Service skills and readiness for promotion. Moreover, it was never grades. The group was co-chaired by the USAID counselor, the clear whose opinion the AEF reflected—although “officially” highest career FSO at the agency, and an FS-3 officer. The role of written from the supervisor’s perspective, employees often the junior officers was particularly important because we sought wrote the first (and sometimes final!) draft of their own AEF. to build to the future. And 360-degree feedback solicited at the end of the year was The goals of the redesign were: often reduced to quotes used to support supervisors’ glowing • F acilitate ongoing, meaningful feedback and professional narratives. development to build employees’ expertise throughout The norms that evolved around AEFs over many years con- their careers. tributed to FSOs’ loss of confidence in the process, but that was • E nsure that processes for dealing with employee miscon- not the only casualty. The single-minded focus on AEF writ- duct and chronic poor performance are clear, fair and ing every spring also undermined what should have been the effective. primary goal of the performance management system—namely, • Increase the transparency, objectivity and fairness of the helping FSOs develop and enhance the many complex skills promotion process. they need to be successful as they move up the career ladder. • R educe complexity and administrative burden, wherever When performance management is viewed as synonymous possible. with writing AEFs, things like thoughtful conversations about HCTM supported the stakeholder community by provid- performance, honest feedback about strengths and weaknesses, ing input from the latest research and standards of practice and deliberate efforts to create developmental assignments tend in both the public and private sectors, and by facilitating the to take a back seat. many working groups that discussed, debated and, ultimately, This doesn’t mean that most supervisors didn’t care about designed the framework for the interrelated elements of the developing their staff. Many supervisors tried to maintain a new processes. Forms, instructions and operational details were focus on employee development, including holding employees developed and refined through focus groups, field tests, negotia-

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 33 The Six Promotion Decision Factors

• An Annual Accomplishment Record consisting of five entries of 75 words (or fewer) where employees summarize their contributions to the team or mission and then supervisors review, suggest revisions if appropriate and sign. • Counseling and Performance Improvement Plans for under- performers. Training and guidebooks highlight the importance of honest two-way conversations about progress, performance and priori- ties. They emphasize supervisors’ responsibility to employees’ advancement by developing their own coaching, feedback and communication skills. And they underline the need for supervi- sors to seek and share timely, relevant and development-oriented COURTESY OF MARTHA LAPPIN MARTHA OF COURTESY 360-degree feedback on the people they supervise throughout tions with AFSA and a three-day promotion process pilot test. the year. This collaborative, data-driven approach produced systems that All of these changes were rolled out and communicated to are practical as well as innovative. the USAID workforce in 2018 and 2019, along with the promise The first task the stakeholder group tackled was to integrate that every element of the new process would be evaluated—and the FS Skills Matrix and the SFS Skills Model into what is now our refined—in the coming years based on employee feedback. The FS/SFS Skills Framework. The differences across the FS and SFS Year One Evaluation was comprehensive, including promotion core skills and subskills suggested that, suddenly, as one entered board member interviews and surveys, as well as an October the SFS different skills were required, when in fact what our work- 2019 Workforce Survey completed by more than 500 FSOs (repre- ing group determined was that skills required for success are the senting nearly one-third of the FS USAID workforce). same; what changes is the expected level of proficiency and the We have learned that we are clearly on the right track, but still sphere of influence and context in which the critical skills are have work to do. The good news is that two-thirds of our respon- demonstrated. dents reported having had both required quarterly conversa- The FS/SFS Framework now provides a solid foundation for tions in the first two quarters of the appraisal cycle. Given all the both performance management and promotion processes across summer assignment transitions, these are pretty good numbers; an individual’s career at USAID. In addition, the behavioral exam- however, there is room for improvement in how quarterly conver- ples developed to illustrate how expected proficiency levels in the sations are used. four core skills change as FSOs progress in their careers help both Only half of all FSO respondents felt that their supervisor had supervisors and promotion boards anchor their expectations. “used quarterly conversations effectively to clarify expectations Next, stakeholders charted a vision for what our performance and priorities”; and only half said they had established a skill management system should look and feel like. We named the development objective with their supervisor. This year, HCTM new system “Employee Performance and Development,” leaving and senior leaders need to do a better job communicating the no doubt that developing our people was the primary objec- value of skill development objectives. These objectives not only tive. The actual requirements of the system are minimal, yet the keep attention focused on specific developmental goals; they also redesign represents a major shift in our culture—from a focus on create relatively nonthreatening opportunities to practice the art end-of-year documentation to year-round conversations. Here of asking for, giving and acting on constructive feedback. Never- are the new requirements: theless, it is encouraging that fully 85 percent of our respondents • Quarterly conversations between supervisor and employees. agreed that quarterly conversations were a good investment of • Skill development objectives, along with performance/task time for employees and supervisors. expectations, for every FSO. • A skills assessment review and discussion conducted by Promotions supervisors at the end of every performance appraisal cycle. The changes to the promotion system were even more • A satisfactory/unsatisfactory end-of-year evaluation, with no dramatic than the changes to our performance management written narrative. processes. In rethinking what boards need to see to make wise

34 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL promotion recommendations, the stakeholders group recognized that boards need more than just one perspective (the supervi- We named the new system sor’s), and they need input that would more clearly differentiate “Employee Performance FSOs. After much discussion and debate, the group determined and Development,” leaving that promotion boards would need three different documents to reliably assess the best candidates for promotion: no doubt that developing • The Annual Accomplishment Record (completed by all FSOs our people was the as part of the Employee Performance and Development primary objective. process). • A Promotion Input Form, consisting of five 250-word blocks employees complete and one 250-word block supervisors complete to help boards assess candidates on the six promo- raters and identify which colleagues in the pool of potential raters tion decision factors [see the graphic, opposite page]. best meet the criteria. The goal is to only include individuals who • Multisource Ratings (MSRs) of behaviors that reflect the have a strong working relationship with the FSO and thus are in four core skills, collected from supervisors, colleagues and a position to have observed most of the behaviors they are asked subordinates. to rate. The peer/other and subordinate ratings are aggregated The Annual Accomplishment Record is designed to provide across the individuals in those groups, and averages are only a fairly objective account of the employee’s significant contri- shared with FSOs if there are at least three respondents in the butions and accomplishments over the course of the appraisal group. This is to preserve the confidentiality of the peer/other period. It is written by the employee with input from the supervi- and subordinate ratings—one of the most critical elements of the sor, who also has to sign off on its accuracy. The new Promotion process. Supervisor ratings are not confidential. Input Form asks employees to describe how they have demon- Summaries of the MSRs are provided to promotion candi- strated each of the four core skills (these are four of the six pro- dates to support their professional development, as well as to the motion decision factors), and to also show their understanding of promotion boards. and ability to advance the agency’s mission. Of the three new components of the promotion package, the Supervisors have just one block to complete, and this is where Multisource Ratings are the most controversial. The anxiety and they can recommend or not recommend someone for promo- confusion over them are reflected in the fact that when asked if tion, and share what they believe the promotion board needs to including the ratings in the promotion process would help boards know to accurately assess the employee on the six promotion better assess candidates’ core skills, more than 40 percent of the decision factors. October survey respondents said no. The survey also revealed some possible reasons for this skepticism. For example, aver- Multisource Ratings: How They Work age ratings, particularly from supervisors, were very high; and The promotion process also involves collecting data from mul- most FSOs did not believe the five-point scale was adequate to tiple sources on the extent to which promotion-eligible FSOs are differentiate candidates. We also noted that too many supervi- displaying specific behaviors related to the four core skills. This sors (approximately 15 percent) failed to follow the rater selection information is collected via short surveys where respondents use process and guidance, and that the large number of peer raters a five-point scale to rate the extent the FSO does things like “seeks we allowed (up to 15) encouraged including raters who did not information from relevant sources to develop and implement truly meet the selection criteria. appropriate solutions when problems arise” and “communicates The Office of Human Capital and Talent Management is effectively and respectfully with people at all levels of USG and addressing each of these issues. For example, we are using host country.” These Multisource Ratings are completed by the item analyses to identify those that are “too easy” and fail to FSO’s immediate supervisor and all direct reports, if they have adequately differentiate FSOs. We are also modifying the rating any. Ratings are also collected from a carefully selected group of scale anchors and reducing the maximum number of peer and colleagues. subordinate raters from 15 to 10. The other major focus for 2020 Supervisors are instructed to meet with their promotion- is communication. Only 60 percent of our FSO respondents said eligible FSOs to review the clearly defined criteria for peer/other their supervisor encouraged the team to participate in the MSR

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 35 process, and only 50 percent said their supervisor reinforced tance of the Employee Performance and Development process, the need for honesty, confidentiality and integrity in the MSR although we need to continue to encourage and support supervi- process. As we develop better training, and as supervisors and sors to use the required quarterly conversations more effectively. managers get more comfortable with the rating process, we To that end, we have provided extensive education and training expect confidence in the MSRs to increase, as well. opportunities for the new process, and have been delivering a Overall, we were very encouraged to learn that nearly all course on critical conversations. promotion board members endorsed the value of the new With respect to the new promotion process, acceptance may promotion package. And while many FSOs are adopting a wait- take a little longer. Understanding the new process requires and-see attitude about MSRs and the overall impact of the new unlearning the deeply embedded norms and practices of the AEF process, a large majority see it as an improvement over the old system, and this takes time. It also requires the Office of Human evaluation forms. Capital and Talent Management to continue to work on training and communication, in addition to paying close attention to the A Step Forward one-off situations, technology issues, and equity and fairness In summary, the innovations USAID implemented in 2018 concerns our workforce is sharing with the office and with AFSA. and 2019 represent a huge step forward in the agency’s effort to Fortunately, our workforce is a partner in this great endeavor, enhance the skills and professional development of the work- and with their continued good faith efforts to make it work—and force while simultaneously providing promotion boards with the to provide honest feedback when things aren’t working—our per- information and structure they need to identify the best can- sonnel systems will only get better. We are already looking forward didates for promotion. There appears to be widespread accep- to hearing what FSOs will tell us in the Year Two Evaluation. n

36 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL FOCUS ON CAREER AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

JEFF MOORES

State’s New MSI Program Preliminary Results Are In

Creating an MSI award process that eginning in 2015, the State Department is transparent, efficient and true to the undertook to update and streamline its intent of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 employee evaluation system. As part of that effort, the department proposed is a shared goal of AFSA and a process for awarding Meritorious the State Department. Service Increases that was removed BY RAEKA SAFAI from the EER/selection board proce- dure. In 2017, after weeks of negotia- tion, the department and AFSA agreed, to establish MSIs in a separate awards program, albeit as a three- Byear pilot, for 2017 through 2019 MSIs. The MSI pilot program is completely nomination-based, with awardees identified by two dedicated MSI panels: a generalist panel and a specialist panel. The awards are apportioned in line with the approximate ratio within the department of both gener- alists and specialists (i.e., 60 percent and 40 percent, respectively). The pilot program also expanded the awardee pool beyond those employees who are eligible for a promotion and, in 2019, intro- Raeka Safai, Esq., is the deputy general counsel duced the requirement of gender-neutral nominations. for the American Foreign Service Association. In November 2019, AFSA sought feedback from our members She provides legal and policy guidance to elected on the program. Here we share some background on the MSI AFSA officials and members on a full range of labor- program and its evolution, along with a detailed report on the management and employment related matters. survey findings on the pilot.

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 37 The MSI Pilot: What Survey Respondents Said Here is a sampling of the free-form comments on the MSI pilot program from AFSA members who participated in the November 2019 survey.

The Issue of Administrative Burden Transparency and Fairness “The administrative burden on supervisors with EERs, “I believe that the trial system that was used is the most regular post awards, and then MSIs is too much.” transparent and fair system that State Department has rolled out.” “Nomination-based systems require employees to have supportive managers willing to go above and beyond the “I appreciate the attempt to give specialists MSIs because EER process—extra work. … Managers and supervisors are they are overlooked, and the promotion rates are abysmal.” often unwilling to do extra paperwork for things such as awards and MSIs.” “I prefer the nomination not to be linked to being recom- mended for promotion. Having a separate process allows “This is better, but it still comes down to initiative on the the panel to concentrate on the specific work being nomi- part of supervisors, which is hit or miss.” nated. … Promotion is supposed to be based on potential to serve at a higher rank, while the MSI is about work already The Issue of Timing accomplished. Linking the two can blur that focus.” “MSIs suffer a lack of nominations in part because it’s yet another form to fill out and also because they are seen as Gender-Neutral Language risky to both nominee and drafter. If MSI is not received, “I love the flexibility of the pilot, and I also love the gender- Great Employee may get nothing; missed both the board’s neutral-language feature. I think having the freedom to blessing and then too late for the post's award committee recognize outstanding work by any colleague at any time process for the work done that year.” is excellent practice. I also think removing gender bias is critical to ensure equal representation in selection from “MSI nominations are difficult because the employee could submissions.” qualify for different types of awards. The MSI nomination specifically says it cannot be for the same performance that “Gender-blind review is really important. Glad this was a Meritorious Honor Award or Superior Honor Award was piloted in the MSI, but really it needs to happen for EERs awarded. t o o.” “Thus, it is possible that employee would have supe- rior performance and be nominated for an MSI, but not The Issue of Organizational Culture approved for that award and then also not get a MHA or SHA “Generally speaking, I think that the pilot is a wonderful pro- because the performance is substantially in the past or the gram. I just fear that State lacks an organizational culture employee or supervisors have changed posts, or an awards where managers seek to understand (and act on) all the budget has been exhausted due to the MSI processing time. avenues available to them to reward their people. MSIs are a “MSIs should be harmonized with MHAs and SHAs so nice, creative path to recognize someone, but are underuti- that the employees with very high performance do not miss lized, as evidenced by the statistics that HR shared.” recognition.”

Why Change the MSIs? matically received MSIs, and bureaus had an additional relatively A number of factors led the State Department and AFSA to small number of awards to distribute on a discretionary basis. review the MSI award process. Since the start of the MSI program Because of the October 2013 government shutdown, how- several decades ago, MSIs had been mainly tied to the promotion ever, the State Department awarded no MSIs at all that year, process in a manner that operated relatively routinely. Until 2013, which prompted AFSA to file an implementation dispute. In an agreed-on proportion (5 to 10 percent) of those who were 2014 the department resumed the award of MSIs but cut the recommended for promotion but fell short of achieving it auto- percentage down to 5 percent of those recommended but

38 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL unable to achieve promotion and held it there through 2016. AFSA filed implementation disputes for each of those years. The criteria for promotion AFSA won the 2013 suit, and employees received “back” MSIs, and the criteria for an MSI with interest. While AFSA prevailed before the Foreign Service Grievance Board in the 2014 dispute, the Foreign Service Labor are distinctly different. Relations Board overturned that decision. The Grievance Board ruled that it was bound by this decision in the 2015 and 2016 consolidated disputes. AFSA appealed that ruling to the FSLRB vice [italics added], to any member of the Service … an additional and is awaiting a decision. salary increase to any higher step in the salary class in which the While awarding MSIs automatically out of the promotion member is serving”—i.e., the MSI. The criteria for promotion and process may seem efficient, it has become apparent that assess- the criteria for an MSI are distinctly different. ing an employee to determine their potential to perform at the There were additional considerations. First, because MSI next highest level is not the same as assessing an employee’s past recipients had to have been recommended for promotion, signifi- performance to identify especially meritorious service. Specifi- cant groups of employees were excluded from consideration even cally, selection boards use the Decision Criteria for Tenure and if they had displayed meritorious service (e.g., employees not Promotions to assess the potential of each employee to perform at eligible for promotion in that year and smaller cohorts, such as the next highest level—i.e., for promotion. At the same time, how- office management specialists, with limited promotion oppor- ever, Section 406(b) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 mandates tunities). Second, combining the MSI awards and promotion the Secretary to grant, “on the basis of especially meritorious ser- bogged down the selection boards, which meant that it took an

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 39 inordinate amount of time to release promotion results. Third, as Although 61 percent of the respondents believed they received a subsidiary of the promotion process, MSI awards did not get the adequate information and guidance on the pilot program, it is a consideration that would ordinarily be required for citations of shared goal of AFSA and the department to increase messaging exceptional and important service. and guidance on the MSI program going forward. Unlike the old MSI process, the new program is purely nom- To better understand how engaged our participants were in ination-based. A one-page nomination form can be filled out the new MSI program, AFSA asked whether respondents had by anyone and only requires the approval of an official in the been nominated for an MSI under the pilot: 23 percent said they nominee’s chain of command. The pool of potential awardees had, while 77 percent had not. We also asked whether partici- has been expanded by defining eligibility as follows: (1) career pants had nominated anyone for an MSI under the pilot program: members of the FS in grades 1 to 7, (2) generalist career can- 25 percent had nominated someone, while 75 percent had not. didates recommended for tenure prior to the MSI nomination The survey then asked whether respondents preferred an MSI deadline, and (3) specialist career candidates who are eligible program that was: (1) nomination-based and open to all; (2) tied for competitive promotion. to recommendations for promotion; or (3) other. Significantly, Nominations are considered and awards granted by special more than half of participants (53 percent) chose option 2, MSIs MSI panels that are created in the same way as selection boards, tied to recommendations for promotion. About a third (30 per- by the Performance Evaluation division of the Bureau of Global cent) voted for a nomination-based system; and 17 percent chose Talent Management. The appropriate MSI Panel (i.e., specialist “other.” Based on the comments we received, the consensus for or generalist) reviews the nominations and rank orders those “other” appeared to be a hybrid system incorporating options 1 nominees who have met or exceeded the criteria set out in the and 2. MSI Procedural Precepts, which establish the scope, organiza- The survey results and comments also revealed that the tion and responsibility of the panels. majority of those who preferred an MSI system tied to recom- mendations for promotion (like the old system) found a nomina- Gauging the Response tion-based process (like the pilot program) too burdensome. The To gauge the response to the pilot program, AFSA Director concern raised most often was that, while anyone can nominate of Professional Policy Issues Julie Nutter conducted a member an individual for an MSI, supervisors did not, or were not, taking survey in November. At the time, we shared basic data on the the time to nominate their employees. pilot’s operation. Such data include the fact that during each AFSA also received several comments noting that the delay in of the three years, more than 810 nomination slots had been receiving MSI award results under the new system—as opposed allotted to bureaus. Unfortunately, on average, the total number to a Meritorious or Superior Honor Award—made the MSI a of nominations received by the bureaus was only 60 percent of “riskier” option. the total slots available. In other words, 40 percent of MSI award opportunities were not utilized. Of those nominated, an average Future of the Pilot Program of 77 percent received MSI awards. The shared goal of AFSA and the department is to create an We are pleased to report that 822 members participated MSI award process that is transparent, efficient and true to the in the AFSA survey, and 418 respondents provided us with intent of the Foreign Service Act of 1980. In an effort to reach this additional comments. We thank those who participated; your goal, the parties have agreed to continue the MSI pilot program responses and comments are invaluable as we look to the future with gender-neutral nominations for an additional year to allow of the MSI award process. [See p. 38 for a selection of additional time to review and improve the award process based on observa- comments from survey respondents.] tions and data collected by the department, as well as the survey Approximately 70 percent of participants identified them- results and comments received from our members. selves as generalists. A plurality (45 percent) has been in the We invite any members who wish to share their views and Foreign Service for more than 15 years; the second-largest cat- comments with us to do so via email to [email protected] with the egory (26 percent) has been in the Foreign Service for 11 to 15 subject line “MSI Pilot Program.” Emails sent to this address will years. Among respondents, 45 percent had received MSIs prior go directly to AFSA’s Labor Management office. For additional to the 2017 pilot program; just 16 percent had received them information on the MSI Pilot Program, please see State VP Tom under the pilot. Yazdgerdi’s column in this month’s AFSA News. n

40 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL FOCUS ON CAREER AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

What's Next for SNEA?

The special needs education allowance JEFF MOORES program had become almost impossible to navigate. Will the new SNEA policy make a difference? BY DONNA SCARAMASTRA GORMAN

ou don’t really think about most Department for support and recognition of the issues they face allowances until you need them. as they try to bid on, get to, and survive at overseas posts. Still, problems with the special needs In response to the pressure, the State Department decided education allowance (SNEA) have in 2017 to review the matter. The department’s SNEA task force been bubbling up for several years included representatives from MED, human resources, AFSA now, as Foreign Service parents of and the Foreign Service Families with Disabilities Alliance, a special needs children fought with group of FS members that advocates on behalf of families with the Bureau of Medical Services special needs children. (MED) and with the broader State In December 2019 the task force completed its work, and the department presented a revamped SNEA policy that was YDonna Scaramastra Gorman’s articles have outlined in the newest section of the Foreign Affairs Manual, 3 appeared in Time magazine, Newsweek, The FAM 3280, and accompanying changes to the Department of Washington Post and the Christian Science Monitor. State Standardized Regulations. A Foreign Service spouse, she has lived in Amman, But are these changes making a difference? Moscow, Yerevan, Almaty, Beijing and northern Vir- ginia. Formerly an associate editor for the Journal, she is currently A Brief History posted in Moscow with her husband and children. She would like Over the past few years, the problems FS families have to thank the numerous parents and others in the department who been encountering with SNEA have been covered extensively shared their views on SNEA, none of whom wished to be named in in The Foreign Service Journal, with both parents and depart- print. Senior management in the Bureau of Medical Services did not ment officials weighing in. From there, the issue moved into respond to requests for information. the wider world, with outlets such as The Washington Post and

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 41 promise that MED would “continue to advocate very strongly As it got down to work, the on behalf of all FS children.” task force uncovered multiple Child psychologist James Brush later wrote in the FSJ that during his time at State, he “found that many MED psychia- problems, including issues trists, some members of the Office of Overseas Schools and with communication, financial some within the Family Liaison Office were prepared to tor- management and coordination pedo the [Child and Family Program] from the start.” As it got down to work, the task force uncovered multiple among SNEA stakeholders. problems, including issues with communication, financial management and coordination among SNEA stakeholders. In addition, the task force determined that MED was not only understaffed, but also not well staffed for addressing problems with SNEA. The hiring freeze of 2017 depleted MED’s staff as Foreign Policy covering State’s seemingly callous approach to employees left the department and were not replaced. Parents FS families in need. argued that some of those who remained at MED either didn’t In 2017 Washington Post reporter Jackie Spinner wrote that understand or were downright hostile to the program, working the department was “quietly withdrawing financial support for behind the scenes to dismantle it. diplomat families of children with special needs, effectively And then there was the problem with the professionals in forcing some parents to serve overseas without their children charge of administering the program. Parents, and even many or ultimately leave the Foreign Service.” Spinner noted that of the department’s own medical professionals, have long there was no formal change in policy when, without warning, argued that State needs to hire educational experts, not medi- MED began slapping class 5 clearances on special needs chil- cal doctors (RMOs) or psychiatrists (RMO/Ps), to help deter- dren, which prevented them from going overseas with their mine what remedies might best serve special needs children families and forced some parents to pay thousands of dollars posted overseas. out of pocket to find appropriate schooling for their children. Foreign Policy jumped on the story next. In April 2018, Rob- The Solution(s) bie Gramer reported that starting in 2015, “the medical office Heather Townsend, a retired FSO and senior grievance has been arbitrarily cutting funding for children with autism, counselor who has spent the past few years working on behalf attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or other of AFSA’s clients to resolve problems with SNEA, says AFSA special needs or mental health issues. It has also revoked the is pleased with the changes as outlined in 3 FAM 3280. The medical clearances for some children that are required for for- allowance is now clearly spelled out, she says, which “should eign posting, forcing some diplomats out of their jobs because provide for greater consistency of administration and less of their children’s special needs.” individualized interpretation by the approving authority.” After a group of Foreign Service members representing For the first time, she notes, the FAM articulates a formal some 1,400 families sent Secretary of State Mike Pompeo a let- philosophy “that is clearly supportive of families of children ter in 2018, saying the department had slashed benefit options with special educational needs.” The FAM asserts that “by and funding for children with special needs, FP again cov- assisting employees with the fulfillment of the educational ered the topic, quoting from the letter. (The Secretary himself needs of their children, SNEA encourages employees who chose not to answer the letter.) Heather Nauert, State Depart- have children with special educational needs to bid on and ment spokesperson at the time, said in a statement to FP that serve in foreign assignments.” It also promises that the depart- department leadership “continues to work toward a solution.” ment will authorize SNEA “as flexibly as possible” because it is MED’s own practitioners also jumped into the fray. When “in the department’s interest to maximize employees’ ability to parent Kathi Silva wrote about the “disconnect between MED serve in foreign assignments.” and the families” in the March 2018 issue of The Foreign Ser- Changes have also been made to the allowance for board- vice Journal, Dr. Charles Rosenfarb, then the medical director ing school. DSSR 276.22 was amended to permit employees of the Bureau of Medical Services, responded with a vague to apply for the away-from-post educational allowance for a

42 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL child who would normally reside at post while not attending school if the child’s medical clearance allowed it. Parents and educational consultants, however, are still unclear as to how these changes will affect individual cases. One parent says she has spent more than $50,000 out of pocket to pay for her child’s therapeutic boarding school because the cost of such a school exceeds the normal away- from-post allowance. She was afraid to request financial help for the school, she says, because she knows of families who were forced to curtail when MED determined that their edu- cational challenges couldn’t be met at post. She has written to MED several times since the December 2019 cable came out, but says she has yet to receive a reply as to whether the policy changes apply to her family. Other important changes to SNEA include clarification that it applies not only to children who would be covered in the United States by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, but also to those covered under Section 504 of the Reha- bilitation Act. Speech therapy and language therapy will now be covered by SNEA even when provided outside the school setting or normal school hours. Further, extended school year services may be reimburs- able even when they are provided in noneducational settings, as long as those settings offer the services specified in the child’s individual learning plan (ILP). Another change is one that parents have long wanted: In some circumstances, the services of an instructional aide hired directly by the parents are now reimbursable.

The New SNEA There has never been an appeals process available to parents. The department is reportedly at work, however, on a new 16 FAM section that will lay out a SNEA appeals mecha- nism. Townsend says AFSA is still waiting to see and comment on 16 FAM. AFSA is also expecting to comment on the new centralized vouchering mechanism that the department is developing. The department anticipates that a central system for processing payments will remove the discrepancies that parents currently face as they work with different financial management officers from post to post, all of whom read the regulations differently. Some parents, though, have expressed concern that this centralized system, once implemented, will continue to delay decisions regarding payments. Ultimately, Townsend says, AFSA “would like to see the availability of special education resources eliminated as a consideration in the MED clearance process altogether.” And,

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 43 but still, while progress has been made, says one, there’s “a Last year the State practical side where things aren’t where they need to be yet, Department initiated a largely because staffing within the Child and Family program office was decimated, leaving only one person to process all pilot program allowing FSOs SNEA cables and claims worldwide.” to bid on posts even if their Changes to the policy aren’t happening where families can family members had not yet see them, and AFSA’s Townsend says this lack of transparency is because the Office of Child and Family Programs (MED/ been medically cleared. MHS/CFP) has been “critically shorthanded,” with just one employee processing all requests, resulting in delays for fami- lies seeking SNEA authorization or reimbursement. The good news, she says, is that “MED is making progress now with hir- ing, and if that stays on track, MHS/CFP will be up to six staff she says, “SNEA is an educational allowance; we would like to by this summer.” see the department adopt the approach that it trusts parents” And, for the first time, MED’s staff will include a profes- to make educational choices on behalf of their own children. sional with expertise in special needs education, something for Last year the State Department initiated a pilot program which parents have long asked. allowing FSOs to bid on posts even if their family members had not yet been medically cleared. A great idea, some What Can You Do? parents say—but until MED begins to process clearances So what can you do if your family is still stuck in a SNEA in a timely fashion, it isn’t much help to parents, because nightmare, beyond simply waiting for MED to staff up and medical clearances still need to be received before paneling. enforce its new policy? Still, says one parent, if you get an assignment, then you’ll have For starters, familiarize yourself with 3 FAM 3280 and the someone at your incoming post advocating on your behalf with revised DSSR. Consider hiring an educational consultant or MED, because post wants you cleared to serve. Before the pilot educational attorney to help you understand what assistance program began, bidders were all alone in their battles with your child is entitled to under U.S. law. If you are an AFSA MED. member, you can contact senior grievance counselor Heather Townsend for help interpreting the new rules. Or join the For- Parents Respond to the Changes eign Service Families with Disabilities Alliance, whose mem- Many parents are withholding judgment at the moment, bership advocates on behalf of families like yours. with most saying they haven’t yet seen the promised changes Educational counselor Rebecca Grappo, who has helped go into effect. But they are hopeful that, given time to increase numerous Foreign Service families navigate these waters, and expand its staffing, MED will make good on the promises remembers that SNEA used to be a “wonderful” program, one outlined in 3 FAM 3280. that helped parents and the department work collaboratively One FSO parent says he applauds the new policies and the rather than causing friction and mistrust between the two effort it took to put them in place. When the initial cable came groups. Many parents also recall that until a few years ago, the out, he “hoped things would be different.” But sadly, he has not program ran smoothly and helped families develop creative yet seen a change. “Policies are just policies until they are put solutions to their children’s unique health care and educa- into action,” he says. “While the policy has changed, the people tional needs. have not; and in our case, we have not seen a positive change. The State Department needs to make this program work MED is still a dysfunctional office with no accountability.” again, says Grappo, “because they need to staff embassies all Several people close to the task force specifically named Ste- over the world. You want it staffed? Take care of people’s kids. ven Walker, formerly a deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau This is in the interest of the U.S. government; it’s not a perk. of Human Resources, as the person who deserves thanks for You need people, and you have people who will go, and they pushing these changes through. (Mr. Walker was unable to will serve where you need them—as long as their kids are being comment for this article.) Parents are appreciative of his effort; taken care of.” n

44 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL FOCUS ON CAREER AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

JEFF MOORES Balancing Act’s Formula for Driving Institutional Change A small group of working mothers pioneered putting work-life balance on the agenda at the State Department. Here’s their story. BY LILLIAN WAHL-TUCO

ine years ago, seven frustrated Another colleague said, “Why is this balance so hard to strike, and Civil and Foreign Service women does it have to be?” sat around a table in Foggy Bot- All of us were working mothers who shared a passion for our tom to discuss their struggle to work but were struck by the lack of flexible policies and support balance work and life responsi- for working parents at State compared with other government bilities over coffee. One of us who agencies. We vented about inflexible policies, supervisors and was pregnant said, “There must offices; shared challenges in arranging leave for pregnancies or be a better way. Why do I feel nursing between meetings and language classes; and discussed like Eve having Abel at State?” the lack of institutional focus on modernizing State’s policies in these areas. Indeed, the policies, or lack thereof, still seemed to NLillian Wahl-Tuco joined the Foreign Service in 2006 reflect a 1950s organization, not one designed to recruit and retain and currently serves as the public diplomacy desk a diverse 21st-century workforce. officer for Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus in the Even worse, when we would raise these issues individually Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs. Her previ- with management or the Bureau of Human Resources (now the ous assignments include Paris, Skopje and Sarajevo, Bureau for Global Talent Management), we were mostly dis- and in Washington, D.C., on the Czech desk and on Capitol Hill missed—either told that the Foreign Affairs Manual didn’t allow as a Pearson Fellow on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. A flexibility on an issue or that “there’s nothing we can do.” Occa- 2019 recipient of the Swanee Hunt Award for Advancing Women in sionally, a sympathetic boss or HR staffer would share our frustra- Foreign Policy, she is a co-founder of Balancing Act and a current tions, too; but few advised on how to advocate for real change. board member. She is currently serving on the AFSA Governing Doing nothing was not an option as we watched countless Board, which she also served on from 2012 to 2014. Part of a Foreign colleagues struggle so much that many ultimately chose to Service–Civil Service tandem, she is the mother of two children. leave the State Department. Nevertheless, we persevered,

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 45 discovering viable approaches and solutions as we worked to became our most trusted mentors and champions of Balancing bring about change. Here, presented in terms of lessons learned, Act. Early SAs were strategic-thinking, seasoned leaders such as is our story. Dana Shell Smith, Pam Quanrud, Rob Goldberg, Ann Ganzer, Marie Yovanovitch, Mark Pekala and Roberta Jacobson who had Lesson 1 access to the most senior principals in the department like the Band together. Find allies to collectively advocate. under secretary for management (M), the Deputy Secretary (D) Given the stonewalling that routinely met individual requests and even the Secretary of State (S). for flexibility, we knew we had to expand our forces. We also felt We would secure annual meetings with these top officials, that there was a gender dynamic at play because many of these invite them to the federal Work-Life Month events each October issues disproportionately affect women and mothers, though in tandem with HR and lobby them for smart policy changes. We we recognized that men and fathers struggled, too. In addition, knew we were gaining traction when the bureau used the white many of our single colleagues felt that their work-life priorities papers we drafted on our recommendations in their own internal were ignored or being sacrificed due to a lack of adequate backup papers. But as we researched the issues, we quickly uncovered support for parents taking leave. We decided that it would be a bigger problem at State: There was a significant lack of data or more difficult for leadership and HR to dismiss a larger group who none available on, for instance, the number of employees who sought change. asked to telework, or who took leave after the birth of a child (and Six months later—in early 2012—we formally launched Bal- how much leave) or who quit over work-life issues. ancing Act at State, as an employee organization under the leader- So when we struggled finding this information, we began ship of Amy Coletta Kirshner and Anne Coleman-Honn, and collecting our own data in membership surveys we designed that we’ve never looked back. With more than 1,300 members today became a critical annual endeavor for Balancing Act. We then and countless advocacy wins for workplace flexibilities, Balanc- analyzed the data and presented it in membership reports. ing Act put work-life balance on the map at State. The group was Our HR contacts came to rely on this data, too, and requested the engine and driving force behind the creation of the voluntary more information on our proposed solutions as a result. We wea- leave bank, the emergency backup-care program, the pregnancy/ ponized the data to make the business case for our asks because adoption guide, centralized job shares and numerous FAM we realized that no one was going to agree to the asks for reasons changes such as allowing employees to telework on medevac. of morale alone. At one meeting with a former M, we showed But how did we get from seven to 1,300, and how did we get HR the data on how much money State loses (more than $1 million to support our ideas and asks? dollars a year) by not having an emergency backup-care program in place, as other agencies do, for employees who have a sudden Lesson 2 lapse in childcare or eldercare. M said yes on the spot, and every Crunch the numbers. Use data to make the employee now has five days of coverage a year per dependent for business case … and get senior buy-in. emergency backup care. It was a huge early victory for Balancing First, as a group we got smart on all FAM and Office of Manage- Act, and we knew that in making the business case for smart solu- ment and Budget policies related to the human resources issues tions we had found a successful formula. we struggled with. These included telework, leave, lactation and childcare, among others. Each of us became a subject matter Lesson 3 expert (SME) on one of these topics so we could divide and con- Be strategic in your asks. Tie them to broader goals. quer the various problem sets. We built a close relationship with “There are two things I don’t accept as answers: ‘It’s too hard’ the work-life division in HR’s employee relations office; they were and ‘It’s never been done.’” This is what a former M said to us when supportive of the new energy we brought, yet also skeptical of how we presented the leave bank idea that had originally met stiff much change senior leadership would entertain. resistance to him. Balancing Act agreed. We also felt that much Knowing how our top-down bureaucracy operated, we also of the bureaucratic inertia that resisted our innovative mindset agreed that we needed senior leaders to help guide and champion stemmed from a lack of understanding of the importance of getting our efforts to get buy-in from the seventh floor. We approached workplace flexibilities right. So our BA board members sought the senior leaders we admired and respected, asking them to sup- advice of academics in the work-life modernization space. port our work. We called them senior advocates (SAs), and they We contacted academics like Stew Friedman at The Wharton

46 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Balancing Act

Founding Members Lillian Wahl-Tuco Amy Coletta Kirshner Carol Volk Anne Coleman-Honn Margot Carrington School who championed the idea that if you offer employees Lesley Ziman Kristin Dowley flexible work options, you not only increase productivity, but also help recruit and retain a more diverse pool of employees. This Former and Current Anne Benjaminson concept intrigued us, and we invited Friedman to State to meet D Board Members Sharlina Hussain-Morgan Asha Beh, current co-chair Emily Bruchon staff and give a talk at an event during one October National Work Andrea Donnally, Miriam Murray Awad and Family Month. The event was a huge hit, and Friedman was current co-chair Manuel Medrano able to tie employee productivity and retention to having flexible Nicole Otallah Cheryl Harris workplace tools in place like telework, job shares and alternate Rob Hollister Michelle Bernier-Toth schedules. Brian Gillespie Lillian Wahl-Tuco Armed with this new information, we leveraged these points Isabella Rioja-Scott when advocating for a new employee leave bank—an idea from For more information or to join Balancing Act, find them our own board members who learned that other agencies had this on Facebook at “Balancing Act at State and USAID.” incredible tool in place. When we first approached HR, we were Email [email protected] to told it would be too difficult to implement because of a software receive the monthly membership email. issue in the time and attendance system. Luckily, M agreed with us again that this shouldn’t be a good reason not to attempt to create a program that would become such a critical tool for employees tion this year). They will experience a department that allows you needing hours covered for a host of medical or personal reasons. to telework while on medevac and allows your spouse or partner Balancing Act also realized in our advocacy efforts that in to work remotely in a domestic employee teleworking overseas many cases there was information “out there” for employees on (DETO) arrangement. They will know a department that is trying certain policies, but no one could find it. It was too hard to find to change a culture where productivity is measured by the hours on HR websites, or buried in department literature and cables. BA at your desk and not what you actually accomplished, or where helped to serve an information-sharing role at the grassroots level you arrive at a new post and work the very next day as opposed through our monthly membership emails and meetings, which to having a day or two to arrange your personal life. These are also helped build the organization and the constituency. changes that our new Director General, Carol Perez, is champion- ing—changes reflecting the needs of a modern workforce that BA Lesson 4 fully supports. Keep at it. Rome wasn’t built in a day. When I look back at all that Balancing Act has accomplished, It’s now nearly a decade since Balancing Act started, and we it gives me an immense sense of pride. The original founding have learned that change takes time—and change in a bureau- members get together once a year, and we still vent and share cracy this size takes even more time. One appeal to senior stories, but now we also smile, laugh and reminisce at the path leadership is rarely enough. We have learned that if you don’t get we’ve forged. Anne Coleman-Honn and I like to joke to family and the response you want right away, keep coming back, and do it friends that Balancing Act is “our other baby,” because we’ve had collectively, strategically and consistently. For the past few years, a hand in creating it, raising it and watching it grow over the years. Balancing Act has been invited to brief every new A-100 class And like any good parent, we want to see it continue to thrive and that comes in. At the “work-life lunch” session, we discuss the succeed. programs that are offered for workplace flexibility, and why our As we look ahead, there is still much more to be done. We want new colleagues should embrace having a good work-life balance to see a one-stop platform with options for supervisors to help fill in an organization that has not traditionally been known to foster gaps when an employee is out on extended medical or parental such balance. leave. We want more lactation rooms and childcare options. We They, of course, don’t know the journey Balancing Act has want more DETO opportunities across all bureaus. And we want been on or how long it took for each BA “ask” to be approved travel covered for the birth or adoption of a child for the non–birth (about two years each). But what they will know is a department parent or partner. We are confident we will get there because at that has entered the 21st century with a more modern toolbox of the end of the day, we are the State Department, each of us—indi- workplace flexibilities. They will experience a department that has vidually doing our best and collectively working on these goals to paid parental leave (another early BA ask that finally came to frui- change the culture and embrace the future. n

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 47 FOCUS ON CAREER AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

Managing a Foreign Service Career From the FSJ Archive

Impressions of the “Outside Man” on the Junior Foreign Who Is the “Total Candidate?” FSO Hiring Today Service Selection Board for 1947 by Shawn Dorman, June 2008 by G.W. Magalhaes, June 1947 By government standards, the changes to the Foreign Service The first thing that an “outsider” realizes when he is invited generalist entry process have been made at warp speed. to help out on the selection of Foreign Service officers for EERs: The Forgotten Front in the War for Talent promotion is the fact that he personally does not know by Jonathan Fritz, June 2009 the officers who he is to rate. The Employee Evaluation Reports we spend so much time The New Foreign Service: Problems of Placement writing every year fail to give promotion panels a useful by Edward W. Mulcahy, August 1954 means for comparing officers to their peers. The “ready interchangeability of personnel” called for in the Overhauling the EER Process Wriston Report can flourish or it can founder on the shoal by Tyler Sparks, September 2012 of placement. Now that another Employee Evaluation Review season A Public Member Looks at the Selection Boards has mercifully come to a close, it seems clearer than ever by Herbert Bratter, March 1956 that our personnel evaluation system is broken. If I were a young man starting my career I should have no The New Specialists hesitancy in joining the State Department’s foreign service corps. by Francesca Kelly, October 2014 Are Efficiency Reports Lousy? Here is a look at the wide world of Foreign Service Specialists. by Theodore C. Achilles, July 1957 The State Department Needs to Reevaluate Its Use of Anyone who has served on a Selection Board may shudder 360-Degree Reviews at the thought of the efficiency reports he himself has written by William Bent, September 2015 in the past. If used correctly, 360-degree reviews can be a valuable tool Basic Questions on the Writing of Efficiency Reports for an organization seeking to develop its workforce and by Arthur A. Ageton and Everett K. Melby, December 1960 foster a culture of leadership and management excellence. Certainly some of us have failed to accept and exercise Examining State’s Foreign Service Officer Hiring Today our responsibility with regard to efficiency reports. by Glenn H. Guimond, July-August 2016 The Foreign Service Assignment Process Here's an inside look at the process of becoming a Foreign by John Ordway, June 1963 Service officer, considered the “gold standard” in professional The average Foreign Service officer has a very hazy idea recruitment. about how the assignment process works. A Roadmap for New Hires: 30 Rules to Survive and Thrive On the Education of Diplomats—A Commentary by Stephen G. McFarland, July-August 2016 by Paul M. Kattenburg, April 1971 An experienced FSO ambassador identifies the unique We can start by observing that attorneys become such attributes Foreign Service personnel should have and upon completing law school, doctors upon completing offers a guide to acquiring and perfecting them. medical school, and so on and so forth. But diplomats Straight Talk on Bidding: What You Need to Know Before do not as a general rule prepare in “diplomacy.” Trying for that Heavily Bid Job Talking to Mr. Syplogoo by Paul Poletes, April 2019 by Michael A.G. Michaud, September 1986 Most of the time, bidders’ hopes are misplaced. You will look at bids, staffing patterns, check position Think you’ve got what it takes to land one of those numbers, personnel audit reports, negotiate with colleagues, “dream jobs”? Here’s what you need to know. and take heat from bureau directors.

48 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL FS HERITAGE

Discovering Our Consulate’s History, We Discovered Ourselves

Digging deep into his post’s history unearthed more than this FSO ever expected—including a passion for discovering and sharing knowledge to aid public diplomacy and boost morale. BY MOISES MENDOZA

t all began with a claim I had heard repeatedly since v arriving at post as a first-tour consular officer in the My curiosity about Matamoros led me to the State Depart- summer of 2017: Consulate General Matamoros, so ment’s Office of the Historian. There, I was provided with the story went, had been founded in 1832 and was the scans of old personnel cards that seemed to indicate the first world’s oldest continuously operating U.S. consulate. consul in Matamoros had been appointed in 1832. Indeed, But I soon ran into a contradiction when I learned official State Department records listed that date, too. I decided the consulate in Ponta Delgada in the Azores Islands, to dig deeper, however, and contacted the National Archives founded in 1795, has long been recognized as the and the Library of Congress. I talked to the Bunche Library at world’s oldest U.S. consulate. So was the founding date the Department of State. I pored over archives of department of our post in Matamoros as mythical as its claim to be the oldest publications. Iconsulate in the world? In fact, I would soon find, it was. Finally, at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, in This is how my passion for correcting the historical record Brownsville, Texas, I found the Holy Grail. In a copy of a National and using our rich, long-lost post history to advance U.S. foreign Archives and Records Administration microfilm publication con- policy priorities began. As I researched my post’s history, I real- taining reproductions of original records was the first despatch ized that I was blazing a trail that any officer can follow to break written by a consul in Matamoros—dated 1826, not 1832. Further ground and advance U.S. foreign policy objectives. We just need investigation into newspaper records revealed that our first to know how. consul had actually been appointed in 1825, when the city was

Moises Mendoza left Matamoros, Mexico, in June 2019 after serving two years as a first-tour consular officer. His next post is Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, where he will be a political officer. He is currently working with the State Department’s Office of the Historian on a project to enable posts to more easily access and use historical records. The views expressed in this article are his own and are not necessarily those of the U.S. government. The author would like to thank Bill McAllister with the Office of the Historian, David Langbart with the National Archives and Records Administration, and Foreign Service Officer Telside Manson for their assistance with this article.

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 49 NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION RECORDS AND ARCHIVES NATIONAL

A copy of the first despatch that came out of Matamoros in 1826.

known as Refugio. Its name changed to Matamoros the following The coolest finds, however, were the stories of heroic employ- year, in 1826. ees who had been forgotten over the years, like the story of a con- The department’s records were incomplete and, in some sul who was shot in the cheek in 1851 while helping put out a fire cases, erroneous. They had listed Matamoros and Refugio as two during revolutionary street combat in Matamoros. Or the consul separate consulates, when they were actually one. Fortunately, in 1913 who remained valiantly at post while fighting raged in the I was able to work with the Office of the Historian to correct the streets surrounding the consulate building. department’s account of the consulate’s founding. And another, Consul Richard H. Belt, died an agonizing death Digging deeper into newspaper archives from the 1800s, during a typhoid fever outbreak while serving in Matamoros in consular despatches and declassified department records, I real- 1844. Because he had never been recognized on the AFSA Memo- ized how remarkable our consulate’s history really was—and how rial Plaques, I nominated him to be added, and the nomination incomplete our knowledge of it had become. For instance, buried was accepted. in archival records was the fact that in 1862 our consulate had When I shared these findings with my managers, American burned to the ground during a siege of the city. This was one of Citizen Services Chief Etan Schwartz, Consular Chief Elizabeth many violent incidents throughout the 1800s and early 1900s in Alarid and Consul General Neda Brown, they responded enthusi- Matamoros, a strategic location during various Mexican revolu- astically and supportively. Within a few days, we were developing tions. a Facebook campaign and a brochure about our rich, long-lost Another fact: the local business community found the con- history for visitors to the consulate, working to rewrite erroneous sulate to be so valuable that its members had helped fight off information on our post website and integrating historical infor- attempts to close the consulate due to budget cuts twice, in 1948 mation into the consul general’s speeches. We soon found that and in 1995. There were even long-lost photos and original floor this project was helping to advance an important policy objec- plans for the building that housed the consulate between 1872 tive: strengthening the U.S.-Mexico relationship. and 1948. We also found ways to integrate my project into the every- I also discovered plenty of fascinating, and sometimes dis- day work of the consulate. As just one example, the American turbing, drama. A consul in the 1860s cut all the records out of Citizen Services unit was able to use old newspaper articles and post accounting books before fleeing under a cloud of corrup- press releases to pinpoint the exact dates and circumstances of a tion charges. And in the 1930s, another consul’s teenage son was 20-year-old incident as part of a fraud investigation. caught trying to smuggle marijuana into the United States in his But the most gratifying moment of my yearlong project came own car. when CG Brown invited me to speak to the entire consulate

50 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL The coolest finds, however, were the stories of heroic employees who had been forgotten over the years.

community about my discoveries. Afterward, some colleagues approached me to discuss ideas of how to ensure our consulate maintained its history. Should we frame old consular despatches? Create a partnership with a local university to digitize all that we’ve discovered? One colleague excitedly told me after my presentation that understanding the past can help us understand the consulate’s integral role in northeastern Mexico. “We belong here, and we’re part of the richness of this area,” he said. “Seeing that come to life is really inspiring.” v So why put effort into researching your own post’s history? There’s the abstract argument that knowledge of history can help right past wrongs, honor forgotten heroes and inspire us all toward a better future. But there’s also a more practical perspective. Posts can con- vert their own unique story into concrete public diplomacy and morale-boosting deliverables, just like in Matamoros. And the really good news: It’s not that hard at all. Your starting place should be the State Department’s Office of the Historian, which has great resources and advice. Historian Tiffany Cabrera started me off by emailing me digitized copies of “consular cards,” file cards begun in the 1800s that listed all U.S. consular personnel assigned to Matamoros through the 1950s (although, as I later found out, the records weren’t completely accurate). She also recommended other places to explore, such as the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training’s oral his- tory project, the State Department’s Bunche Library and AFSA’s website, which has an amazing digital archive of every issue of The Foreign Service Journal since 1919. By mining the above resources, you’ll have a decent amount of information. But there’s more. Your next step should be the National Archives and Records Administration, the repository for the permanently valuable records of the U.S. government, includ- ing the State Department. The department’s central files are the key records. The pre-1907 diplomatic and consular despatches (reports to the department) are available through various issues

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 51 The U.S. consulate in Matamoros in the early 20th century.

positioned to tell their stories because of their proximity to world-class American universities, which often have meticulously maintained information regarding nearby border posts. Also, their activities have been reported on extensively by U.S. newspapers. Indeed, in many instances, relying almost completely on American sources may be necessary. For instance, my research revealed that the entire local MÉXICOENFOTOS archive of Matamoros newspa- pers from the 1950s and 1960s had been destroyed in a flood. Yet the vast majority of U.S. Posts can convert their own newspapers, from The New York Times to the Brownsville Herald unique story into concrete and stretching as far back as the 1700s, are available through public diplomacy and morale- sites such as newspaper.com or newspaperarchive.com. Many old consular records are also available through ancestry.com. boosting deliverables, just like Although some of these sources are behind a paywall, there are in Matamoros. also free options like the excellent “Chronicling America” news- paper series of the Library of Congress. How deep you dig will depend on how deep you want to go. of the “Despatch” series of National Archives Microfilm Publi- You might be satisfied by simply tracking down and framing the cations and distributed to libraries around the world (find the very first consular despatch ever written from your post. Or you location of the “Despatch” series you’re looking for at worldcat. may become so addicted to the research that, like me, you just org). They are also available for purchase at eservices.archives. won’t be able to stop. If that happens, your public affairs officer gov/orderonline. and front office will love you for it. The entirety of the central files for the 1906-1910 period and And you never know how your efforts might connect you to some records for the period 1973-1979 are available online. For something bigger. As it happened, while I was researching at the the most part, you’ll likely need to travel to the National Archives post level, the Bureau of Consular Affairs was engaged in an effort itself for the records in-between, but they’re there for the search- to explore the history of the U.S. consular service globally and ing if you have the time. The central files from 1980 and later included some of my research in its work. In addition, through a remain in the custody of the department. joint project, the Office of the Historian and I are creating a toolkit Other useful sources of information may include your nearby that will empower posts to more easily tell their histories. universities or the local foreign ministry, which likely has an extensive archive of old correspondence between your post and v the local government. During my research, I realized that the Throughout my investigation into the history of Matamoros, I Mexican government had maintained more than 100 years of realized I was a pioneer in a way. My project had plugged histori- fascinating records pertaining to past U.S. consuls in Matamoros, cal holes and inspired my colleagues. And for that, I’m grateful. all available and open to the public in Mexico City. In addition, I There’s a very good chance your own post’s history con- found that the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, across the tains unusual, wild and incredible stories that have been lost to border from Matamoros in Brownsville, Texas, was eager and oblivion. Don’t assume that anyone has sought them out before. excited to help. You might be the one to tell those stories to your colleagues—and Border consulates in Mexico and Canada are particularly well to the world. n

52 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL FEATURE The Power of LANGUAGE Here's how an “English for Work” program improved security in Kabul. BY KRISHNA SHARMA

nowledge of major languages for national or misunderstanding crucial information can be detrimental in security, diplomatic stability and interna- sensitive situations. The inability to communicate clearly and tional reliability is as important as bearing precisely can delay the execution of critical tasks and increase arms in war zones. Apart from serving the risk for diplomats and others working to bring peace to politically purpose of communication, languages volatile places. are also recognized as powerful security Besides making English proficiency one of the prerequisites enablers in diplomatic settings. for local nationals recruited as security guards, the Department of Take Kabul, Afghanistan, for instance, State has employed scores of Dari-, Pashto- and English-speaking where the challenge of protecting the most interpreters to help establish and ensure better communication in vulnerable places—like the U.S. embassy, where I am presently Afghanistan. This is essential so that guards can effectively carry Kposted—is multifaceted and, as elsewhere, local employees are a out the task of securing the International Green Zone from the vital part of the security team on the ground. Islamic State and the Taliban at a time when multiple complex Here’s how an “English for Work” program launched in 2018 attacks are occurring right at the border of the zone. The Taliban, made a difference for the Gurkha Guard Force, a unit of Nepali IS, Daesh and the Haqqani network, among others, have never soldiers critical to Kabul embassy security. The improvement in ceased concentrating their violent focus on the Afghan capital. their English-language fluency, in turn, raised the efficiency and Third-country nationals (TCNs)—such as Gurkha Guard Force effectiveness of the mission’s security system overall. personnel—have to meet even harsher selection criteria for this critically important mission. A background investigation, security Communications and Security investigation and physical efficiency battery, or PEB; weapons It is no secret that not being able to communicate effectively qualifications and previous battlefield experience; and English- language proficiency all are a must for these TCNs. Krishna Sharma is a vetting specialist and linguist In Kabul, the Gurkha Guard Force has been a critical part of who has served at U.S. Embassy Kabul’s Regional the embassy security force for the past 14 years. The GGF has a Security Office since February 2018. storied history of bravery, honesty, diligence and distinction for a peaceful world order that stretches from World War I to today. Commonly known as “men of action rather than words,” they

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 53 U.S. EMBASSY KABUL The Gurkha Guard Force at the first session of the “English for Work” program in Kabul, June 2018. display a legendary professionalism and dedication to duty. For force use, it was designed exclusively for members of the GGF this reason, they have been entrusted with vital security assign- (local-hire Afghans do not handle weapons). Its aim is to ensure ments that range from securing Buckingham Palace in England clear, detailed and unambiguous communication when it comes to safeguarding the 2018 North Korea–United States Summit in to strategizing ideas in the battlefield. Singapore, to name but two examples. The English for Work program, which runs as a supplement From a security standpoint, the fact that the Gurkha sol- to the mandatory dedicated training for at least three months diers communicate with each other in their native Nepali, a annually, is intense; and GGF personnel are required to pass little-known language, is a plus: Their exchanges are not easily the final exam to continue with their employment. The training picked up by locals, and secrecy can be maintained. At the same includes discussions, presentations, roleplay, workshops and time, because English is their second language, most of the Gurkha soldiers struggle when it comes to communicating professionally in English. The caution they take while exchanging information is proof of how careful they are while discharging their duties. They are very mindful of the consequences of miscom- munication in as intensely perplexing a place as Kabul.

“English for Work” Recognizing the signifi- cance of the challenges the Gurkhas face, Diplomatic Security’s Regional Security Office in Kabul initiated an “English for Work” program for GGF personnel in June 2018. Since the program also U.S. EMBASSY KABUL entails techniques of deadly An English for Work class at Camp Seitz in Kabul.

54 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL frequent security drills. Approximately 500 GGF personnel have benefitted from the classes. The program was designed for the specific purpose of arming GGF personnel with sufficient professional English fluency to be trained at a higher standard and to be able to immediately and effectively apply the lessons learned in the field—namely, to accurately and quickly report security incidents that they might potentially engage in, whether experienced directly or occurring around their work stations or watchtowers. Those who attended the classes are now comfortable using English in the face of adversity and danger, and they are able to make tough decisions when required. They have mastered the ability to quickly and correctly react to commands or threat situ- ations and then verbally report to the higher authority, or write the incident report in a detailed, accurate and timely manner. “The classes not only helped me professionally during my security duty in the embassy, but also helped me gain confi- dence while speaking in other settings,” says senior GGF mem- ber Nar Bahadur Thapa. “Additionally, I now know how to write incident reports in an accurate and timely manner, which is a crucial aspect of the job.” At his concluding ceremony, GGF member Bhim Bahadur Gurung said that the program had been “a double reward for me, since I was able to develop my English language skills while in the workplace.”

A Critical Dimension The GGF personnel are now able to carry out specific job duties seamlessly by communicating fluently with their chain of command, expatriates and locally employed guards during times of crisis at the command of the regional security officer. They now know how important it is to listen before accurately responding with the five W’s and one H (Who, What, Where, When, Why and How). They are able to translate their under- standing of English into the day-to-day spoken and written word, which has a direct impact on the overall security of the U.S. mission in Kabul. Strengthening their English-language capabilities has added a critical dimension to GGF members’ unique ability to commu- nicate efficiently and secretly among themselves using Nepali, much as the Navajo “code-talkers” used their language as a means of secret communication during World War II. As the case of the Gurkha Guard Force and the English for Work program in Afghanistan shows, it is worth keeping in mind German journalist and writer Kurt Tucholsky’s saying: “Lan- guage is a weapon; keep it honed.” n

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 55

AFSA NEWS THE OFFICIAL RECORD OF THE AMERICAN FOREIGN SERVICE ASSOCIATION

The Passing of F. Allen “Tex” Harris CALENDAR

The American Foreign Ser- After retiring from the April 8 vice Association is saddened Foreign Service in 1999, Tex 12-1:30 p.m. Seminar: to announce the passing of continued his close involve- “Demystifying the Franklin Allen “Tex” Harris, ment with AFSA. In 2000, he Transportation one of the most consequen- was instrumental in creating Process” tial people in the history of the F. Allen “Tex” Harris Award April 15 the association and a man for Constructive Dissent by a 12-2 p.m. who defined the term “larger SOSA AFSA/JOAQUIN Foreign Service Specialist to AFSA Governing than life.” Tex Harris, at the AFSA Awards bring the same recognition Board Meeting Tex Harris died on Feb. Ceremony on Oct. 16, 2019, at to specialists as afforded to the State Department, where 23 at a hospital in Fairfax Foreign Service officers since April 30 he received the 2019 Award for 11 a.m.-5 p.m. County, Va. He was 81. Achievement and Contributions 1968. Foreign Service Day to the Association. Over the past 50 years, Tex He was elected by the Open House at AFSA made enormous contributions AFSA membership to multiple including to AFSA and the U.S. Foreign remake AFSA as the union for terms on AFSA Governing Next Stage: “Speaking Service. After entering the For- all Foreign Service employees. Boards during the 2000s Opportunities to Share Your Expertise” eign Service in 1969, he joined He was instrumental in draft- and 2010s as Secretary and with fellow “Young Turks” Lan- ing and negotiating the core Retiree Representative—thus April 30 non Walker, Charles Bray, Her- labor-management agree- contributing to setting AFSA’s 6:30-8:30 p.m. man “Hank” Cohen and others ments in the various foreign agenda and policies for two Foreign Service Day Reception to ensure that American affairs agencies. more decades. Co-hosted by diplomats had a clear voice in He remained active in Widely referred to as AFSA & DACOR establishing the standards for AFSA battles throughout his “Mr. AFSA,” Tex remained DACOR Bacon House their profession and that AFSA distinguished 36-year For- in contact with scores of 1801 F St NW would be an institution that eign Service career, serving retired Foreign Service col- Washington, D.C. would defend both the Service two terms as AFSA president leagues—sharing information May 1 and its members. from 1993 to 1997. During and connecting them with Foreign Service Day Tex served as vice presi- his tenure as president, he other colleagues to discuss AFSA Memorial Ceremony dent for the State Depart- fought against reductions- major issues facing today’s May 15 ment constituency on the in-force at USAID, gov- Foreign Service. He was an Deadline: Nomination AFSA Governing Board from ernment shutdowns, the active member of the group for AFSA Dissent and 1973 to 1976, during which appointment of unqualified of former AFSA presidents Performance Awards time he worked with William political ambassadors and who advise AFSA and other Harrop and Thomas Boyatt to major management abuses. FS groups. May 20 12-2 p.m. In October 2019, AFSA AFSA Governing honored Tex with its award for Board Meeting AFSA Foreign Service Contributions to the Associa- tion for his decades of tireless Out of an abundance of caution over the COVID-19 Artist Showcase support for AFSA and the coronavirus, in March AFSA “Empire Half-Light” (2016), by artist career Foreign Service. During decided to postpone all and former FSO Rosemarie Forsythe, the ceremony he gave a typi- AFSA programming during was featured on the cover of the cally rousing speech, which the weeks of March 16 and March 2020 Foreign Service Journal. had the audience cheering March 23. Decisions on programs and events after Forsythe was one of four artists fea- him loudly. It was Tex at his March 30 will be made tured in the AFSA Foreign Service Art best, and the honor was well as additional information Showcase on Feb. 6 (see article and deserved. Look for an Appre- becomes available. photos on page 62). ciation in the May issue. n

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 57 STATE VP VOICE | BY TOM YAZDGERDI AFSA NEWS

Contact: [email protected] | (202) 647-8160

Giving the MSI the Attention It Deserves

Thanks to all who took part Award or Superior Honor It is a permanent step increase that has in our recent survey on the Award, where the decision is come to be known as “the gift that keeps Meritorious Service Increase made more quickly, either at on giving.” pilot program. AFSA has post or at the bureau level. decided to extend this pilot These two factors, GTM for another year and use the told us, contributed to MSI survey’s results to make the money being left on the process more efficient and table. easier to use. high accomplishment in • that the criteria for the We are currently negotiat- A Different Kind of the current position and award are clearly explained ing with our colleagues in Award rank, not to be a measure of and understood—especially the Performance Evaluation The MSI is meant to be future potential. as to how these criteria dif- division of the newly named the highest monetary award With this realization, we fer from those for an MHA Bureau of Global Talent Man- given to FS personnel. It is worked to create an MSI or SHA; agement (GTM/PE) with the different from the MHA or award process that high- • that the period in which goal of making the program SHA in terms of prestige lights the importance of nominations are submitted a more accepted part of the and financial benefit. It’s the the award but also “democ- is logical and is also clearly award nomination process. next best thing to a promo- ratizes” the process by understood; and As we do this, we wel- tion, financially speaking, opening it up to everyone, • that MSI panel decisions come your continued input. as it is a permanent step not just those who are up for are made and announced (See the article on p. 37, increase that has come to promotion. within a reasonable amount which presents the survey be known as “the gift that Now, not only can super- of time. This is impor- results and the history of keeps on giving.” visors nominate their staff, tant because some of our MSI in more detail.) Because the award is but subordinates can also members have told us that From the survey, we unique, the MSI pilot pro- nominate their supervisors, nominators often want to learned that supervisors and gram requires a separate and peers can nominate see their nominees rewarded others are just not nomi- nomination form, separate peers. The pilot program while at post, if possible. nating their staff members criteria and special MSI pan- also ensures that regardless As AFSA strives to ensure and colleagues frequently els to determine the awards. of the number of promotion that the MSI award program enough. The top reaction to Until the launch of the opportunities available, gen- stays true to the intent of our survey question “Have pilot, the vast majority of eralists and specialists are the award while being “user- you nominated someone MSIs were awarded auto- allotted MSI awards accord- friendly,” we ask all of our under the pilot program?” matically to people who were ing to their percentage in the members to take advantage was that nominations are too in the top 10 percent recom- Foreign Service. of the pilot program and burdensome. It appears that mended for promotion but submit nominations. this is due in part to the fact who did not reach the cutoff. Our Plea: Submit The one-page nomination that a separate nomination (A small number of MSIs Nominations! form is not time-consuming form needs to be filled out. were also given to bureaus AFSA is doing its part and can be submitted dur- Another reason appears to be awarded based on to make the process more ing the current open season to be the amount of time nominations.) efficient and understandable (April 15 to June 15) for the it takes to learn whether While it is certainly easier so that when an employee’s award. the nominated employee to just let the selection actions are deserving of an We can have the best pilot receives an award. We heard boards handle this, when MSI, the nominator can con- program ever, but it won’t that nominators often GTM/PE and AFSA looked at fidently choose an MSI over make any difference if nomi- choose to go with other the MSI award more care- other awards. nators, post leadership and more tried-and-true awards, fully, we realized that it was Working with GTM/PE, we bureaus do not give the MSI such as a Meritorious Honor actually meant to reward will focus on ensuring: the attention it deserves. n

58 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL USAID VP VOICE | BY JASON SINGER AFSA NEWS

Contact: [email protected] | (202) 712-5267

Labor Management Relations—A Critical Matter for All

AFSA is both the principal AFSA’s mission at both the a modern organization’s This is more than rheto- advocate for the long-term individual and policy levels. effectiveness that the Foreign ric—it is one more instance institutional well-being of the In my approximately six Service Act (my favorite act) of Congress recognizing professional career Foreign months on the job, I have has an entire chapter on the that FSOs operate in a Service and responsible for learned quite a bit, both from topic (Chapter 10). unique environment under safeguarding the interests of the AFSA LM team and also The act mandates that exceptional circumstances, AFSA members. from the many USAID col- “the unique conditions of and that the agency and For this column, I want to leagues engaged in the labor Foreign Service employment AFSA should engage accord- share a few thoughts related management area. require a distinct framework ingly. to labor management, a This is a fascinating and for the development and As AFSA VP for USAID, critical role for safeguarding specialized field, and I would implementation of modern, I am committed to doing member interests. encourage you to take a look constructive and coopera- my best to build, maintain AFSA has a strong, dedi- at AFSA’s website: afsa.org/ tive relationships between and strengthen this frame- cated Labor Management labor-management-guidance. management officials and work for the benefit of the team—an impressive cadre Labor management organizations representing agency’s mission and its of professionals who advance relations are so critical to members of the Service.” people. n

AFSA Governing Board Meeting, Feb. 19, 2020 Everything You Need to Know about the TSP Changes to Legal Defense Fund SOPs: The Governing Board approved the following changes to the standard operating procedures of the Legal Defense Fund: Thrift Savings Plan Train- already retired who wish to • Raise the donation amount requiring Governing Board ing and Liaison Specialist review their TSP and hear approval to $10,001 or more. Arvella Collins visited AFSA about new developments. • Allow AFSA to draw funds from the LDF if the associa- headquarters on Jan. 8 to The program included the tion needs to retain outside legal counsel to assist in a discuss “What You Need following topics: matter of institutional significance. to Know About the Thrift • First Steps: Preparing Savings Plan—2020.” The for separation • Consolidate all relevant guidance into one LDF SOP presentation included infor- • Turning Savings into document. mation on new features of Income: The TSP retirement • Allow the LDF Committee to make the final decision the TSP. income options on funding denials. The decision must be unanimous. For most federal workers, • Withdrawal Rules: Other Further, a member may appeal the committee’s denial to the TSP is a great option for considerations the Governing Board. saving for retirement. TSP • Planning Your Legacy: offers portfolio diversifica- TSP death benefits Legal Defense Fund Requests: The Governing Board tion, low management fees • Getting Help: Resources approved a payment from the Legal Defense Fund of and reallocation of contribu- for participants $2,358.18 to the attorneys of an AFSA member for tions. AFSA members may visit legal services related to the impeachment proceedings Ms. Collins, who works afsa.org/video to watch a through Dec. 31, 2019. for the Federal Retirement recording of the presenta- The Governing Board denied a Legal Defense Fund Thrift Investment Board, tion. n request from an AFSA member unrelated to the geared her talk toward pre- impeachment hearings. n retirees. But the informa- tion is also useful for those

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 59 FCS VP VOICE | BY JAY CARREIRO AFSA NEWS

Contact: [email protected]

We’ve Seen This Movie Before

Recently, I was reading significant cuts to our bud- and foreign direct invest- tive, resilient and successful through the International get—this year to the tune of ment that are so important than those that don’t. Trade Centre’s comprehen- $55 million. That translates to job creation and prosper- It’s not just the ITC saying sive Guide to Commercial into shuttering 32 com- ity—really isn’t that impor- this in a beautifully packaged Diplomacy. mercial posts abroad and 18 tant at all. At least, it isn’t report. Any commercial offi- export assistance centers important enough to spend Clearly, governments cer perusing its pages will domestically. It’s the largest any money on. That’s quite a around the world believe this instantly be familiar with single cut ever proposed, as conundrum. is the case. They support this the principles and objec- far as we can tell. So, what Indeed, the desire to cut conclusion in their own fund- tives laid out in the guide, does this mean? funding to the Commercial ing priorities. Countries with such as promoting trade and Well, first, it means the Service has always been puz- much smaller economies, investment, gathering busi- administration is saying two zling, especially when you such as the United Kingdom ness intelligence, creating very different things at once. realize the outsized return on and Germany, have more partnerships, and setting On one hand, it’s saying (in investment it generates for diplomats abroad dedicated priorities and expectations public, anyway) that your taxpayers. to commercial work than the for markets and clients. All government has to be strong The Commercial Service United States. good stuff. on trade. It needs to be out has an operating budget of And we would need sev- Here in Washington, how- there helping U.S. businesses around $340 million. That’s eral more pages to describe ever, it’s budget season again compete internationally the cost of less than three how much China invests in (I’m writing this in mid-Feb- against foreign competition F-22 fighter jets. export promotion and com- ruary). That means we have by knocking down trade And what does that mercial diplomacy. received the administration’s barriers and opening foreign relatively tiny investment get Fortunately, Congress annual proposal to slash for- markets to U.S. goods and you? It gets you jobs, eco- has traditionally recognized eign affairs and commercial services. nomic growth and security, the outsized role trade and diplomacy funding. On the other hand, it is and leads to innovation. It’s investment plays in our It has now been four saying that this work that is a simple fact that companies economy and overall secu- straight years that the so important to our eco- that export, regardless of rity. Hopefully, the adminis- administration has proposed nomic security—the exports size, tend to be more innova- tration will see that, too. n

AFSA Seeks Volunteers for Per the AFSA bylaws after their term of office. (Article VII, Section 1(b)), Interested candidates Elections Committee the committee must have should contact Director at least five members and of Programs and Member AFSA seeks candidates to fill responsibilities, including include representatives from Engagement Christine Miele vacancies on its Committee various election-related all constituencies. ([email protected]) to receive on Elections. The term runs events, are based here. Committee members a position description. State- from July 15, 2020, to July The committee oversees may not serve as chair of any ments of interest are due by 14, 2022. Ideally, prospective the biannual AFSA Govern- other AFSA committee and May 13. committee members will ing Board election process must agree to refrain from Committee appointments live in the Washington, D.C., and works with AFSA staff nominating or serving as a will be made at the May 20 area for the duration of the to ensure the integrity of the member of the AFSA Govern- AFSA Governing Board meet- term, because the position’s election and its results. ing Board for six months ing. n

60 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA ON THE HILL | BY KIM GREENPLATE AFSA NEWS

Building on Fiscal Year 2020 Gains

With passage of the Fiscal The FY 2020 NDAA also cover ways to build on these popular federal veterans’ Year 2020 National Defense includes 12 weeks of paid gains in the next fiscal year, healthcare program are Authorization Act and the final parental leave for federal FY 2021. This is especially expected to cost even more FY 2020 appropriations pack- employees, something that important given the 2020 to maintain in FY 2021. And age in December, AFSA has has been a top AFSA priority election. Election years tend these priorities will be com- much to celebrate. for decades. AFSA is work- to be the least productive for peting for the same pool of An increase of more than ing to ensure appropriate Congress. money as the International $500 million for the State implementation guidance AFSA anticipates that Affairs Budget. The small Department’s “Overseas Pro- from the Office of Personnel tough conversations will take budget cap increases, along grams” fund advanced AFSA’s Management and from human place among congressional with a proposed 22 percent initiative to see more mid-level resource offices at each of the leadership regarding nonde- cut in President Trump’s FY FSOs serving abroad for the foreign affairs agencies. fense discretionary funding 2021 budget request, create second year in a row. It is imperative that imple- in FY 2021—without dramatic unfavorable odds for even In its report about State/ mentation make sense for funding increases and within maintaining the IAB in FY USAID appropriations in the the Foreign Service as this the constraints of the 2019 2021. 2020 package, Congress was new benefit is phased in by Bipartisan Budget Act. The While focusing on the also clear that it supports an the federal government. Paid 2019 BBA has set a non- outcomes from the big wins increase in the number of For- parental leave is set to take defense discretionary fund- of FY 2020, it will be essential eign Service positions abroad. effect for births or place- ing ceiling of $626.5 billion to protect the IAB increases AFSA is keeping a close eye on ments after Oct. 1. in FY 2021, just $2.5 billion we have seen over the past the State Department’s imple- This spring, AFSA will look above the FY 2020 ceiling of few years to support our mentation of this goal and will to Congress for oversight of $624 billion. diplomats and development continue to push for a “field- these legislative accomplish- Other national priori- professionals at home and forward” Foreign Service. ments and will seek to dis- ties such as the politically overseas. n

Retirement Planning Five to 10 Years Out

AFSA Retiree Vice President John Naland led • Health insurance and life insurance his annual presentation on Retirement Plan- after retirement ning Five to 10 Years Out on Jan. 29 at AFSA • Survivor benefit options headquarters. Mr. Naland is the former director • Long-term care insurance of the Department of State’s Office of Retire- • Divorce and FS retirement benefits AFSA ment. • Credit for prior civilian or military service John Naland, Mr. Naland summarized steps that mid- and • Beneficiary designations AFSA Retiree late-career employees should take to best • S avvy financial moves during your last year VP, shares tips for retirement position themselves for life after the Foreign • F ederal reemployment after retirement planning on Service. • P rognosis on future retirement benefits Jan. 29 at AFSA Topics covered include: • R etirement planning resources headquarters. • Understanding your pension, aka annuity A video of Mr. Naland’s presentation is • FSPS annuity supplement available to AFSA members at afsa.org/video. • Social Security: When to start Also, see his article, “Retirement Planning 101” • TSP: Stocks vs. bonds on page 67. n

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 61 AFSA NEWS

Foreign Service Artists Featured at AFSA Showcase

On Feb. 6 AFSA hosted its mica chips and handmade first-ever Foreign Service paper to render symbols, Artists Showcase, an art math/physics equations, exhibit featuring works by algorithms and intellectual former FSOs Ambassador puzzles in jewel-like paint- (ret.) David Pearce, Rosema- ings. Her style mixes matte rie Forsythe, Cynthia Farrell gem tones with metallics to Johnson and Judy Buelow. achieve a look reminiscent of Along with the exhibition Byzantine icons or 15th-cen- of their works, many of which tury illuminated manuscripts. were for sale, the artists In the course of her made brief remarks about past careers as a diplomat, the influence of the Foreign policymaker and interna- Service on their art. tional business executive, Inspired by living and Ms. Forsythe lived in seven AFSA/CAMERON WOODWORTH AFSA/CAMERON working around the world, countries and visited more Judy Buelow discusses her art at the AFSA Foreign Service Art Showcase Rosemarie Forsythe’s paint- than 60 countries. Each of on Feb. 6. ings celebrate the power of those careers, she explained, ideas that have influenced allowed her to see the world the course of history or in different ways and to be New York and the Washing- forsythe.com. changed the way we think exposed to many different ton, D.C., area. She is a juried Cynthia Farrell Johnson’s about the world. cultures and types of art. member of the Reston Art paintings have been exhib- She uses acrylics, Her works have appeared Gallery in Virginia. Her web- ited in cultural centers and gouache, Flashe, gold leaf, in solo and group shows in site is www.rosemarie galleries in Africa and Latin America. As a participant in the Department of State’s Art in Embassies program, Ms. Johnson has placed her work in U.S. ambassadorial resi- dences in Niger, Nicaragua, Serbia, Ecuador, El Salvador and Panama. A fan of vibrant colors, Ms. Johnson works in gouache, acrylic and mixed media. Her paintings are inspired by the people she met and places where she lived during a 25-year career as a diplomat. Ms. Johnson lives in Silver Spring, Md., and says she draws much of her inspira- tion for themes and color schemes from the Wash- ington, D.C., region’s rich AFSA/CAMERON WOODWORTH AFSA/CAMERON Cynthia Farrell Johnson’s paintings have been exhibited in cultural centers and galleries in Africa and Latin cultural diversity. She is a America. member of Pyramid Atlantic

62 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS

1985, focusing on Latin Service in 2016 after serving America and Africa. nearly 35 years in 11 posts “Whenever I traveled to a overseas. new country, I painted scenes An avid student of Greek, from the everyday life of Roman and Islamic history, my new community, always art and literature, Amb. focusing on the people in Pearce is a self-taught artist. all their diversity, beauty His travels nourished a life- and expressiveness,” she long habit of drawing, but he explained. “In each painting, I began to paint actively only would try to capture a special in Algiers in 2008. He served moment and convey a unique as ambassador to Greece sense of the place, while also and Algeria. AFSA/CAMERON WOODWORTH AFSA/CAMERON portraying something of the His medium of choice is Rosemarie Forsythe (foreground) Art Center in Hyattsville, Md., universal human experience.” watercolor, because he likes at the AFSA Foreign Service where she also has her art David Pearce, who was the degree of difficulty and Art Showcase. Her painting, “Half-Light,” was selected to be studio. Visit her website at unable to attend the show- the constant challenge, as the cover image of the March issue cfjfinearts.com. case, but whose art was dis- he puts it, of turning sudden of The Foreign Service Journal. Judy Buelow began her played, is a native of Maine. developments into unex- Foreign Service career in He retired from the Foreign pected territory. n

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 63 AFSA NEWS

AFSA Welcomes Incoming Classes

On Feb. 7 AFSA welcomed 81 States to appearing on Jeop- members of the 155th spe- ardy!, performing as a dancer cialist class to its headquar- at the Kennedy Center, living ters in Washington, D.C., for a and working in Antarctica, lunch and overview of AFSA’s working for NASA, climbing role in supporting the Foreign Mount Fuji and commuting to Service. work by horseback. The 155th class features Other accomplishments four construction engineers, cited by these new FSOs five diplomatic couriers, include becoming engaged three facility managers, on top of Machu Picchu, two financial management spending a night in every officers, three general service state in the Union, play- FOREIGN SERVICE INSTITUTE SERVICE FOREIGN officers, 17 information ing professional basketball Members of the 155th specialist class. management specialists, two in Bolivia, being bitten by Foreign Service medical pro- a poisonous centipede, viders, 19 office management winning the 2000 National specialists, 22 special agent Geographic Bee, memorizing candidates, two security the opening lines of Beowulf engineering officers and two in Old English and success- security technical specialists. fully intervening in a robbery Almost half of this group in Geneva. of specialists have previ- Almost 60 percent of the ously worked for the State new officers have prior State Department as eligible family Department experience. And members, interns, contrac- some have had other federal tors or in other roles. government work experience AFSA President Eric Rubin as civil servants and contrac- hosted the luncheon. Nearly tors. The class also includes AFSA/CAMERON WOODWORTH AFSA/CAMERON 65 percent of the attendees a number of veterans of the AFSA Director of Professional Policy Issues Julie Nutter, at left, speaks with chose to join AFSA at the U.S. armed forces. members of the 201st A-100 class on Feb. 12 at AFSA headquarters. event. In the private sector, On Feb. 12, AFSA again members of the 201st have opened its doors for a lun- worked as developers, ana- cheon to welcome 69 (out lysts, attorneys, reporters, of 85) members of the 201st researchers, teachers and A-100 class. interpreters. More than 70 Before joining the For- percent of class members eign Service, members of have post-graduate degrees, the 201st had engaged in a and many have worked, stud- wide variety of interesting ied or volunteered abroad. activities, from fishing for Ambassador Rubin hosted piranha in Venezuela, running the luncheon. Eighty-three a company that made fake percent of the attendees meat and participating in the joined AFSA. FOREIGN SERVICE INSTITUTE SERVICE FOREIGN highest-elevation sprint- Welcome to the U.S. For- Members of the 201st A-100 class celebrate Flag Day on Feb. 19 at the length triathlon in the United eign Service! n Foreign Service Institute.

64 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS

Call for Nominations: 2020 Exemplary Performance Awards

One of the highlights of being a member of a highly skilled and dedicated workforce is the pleasure of seeing colleagues perform at the highest level, delivering wins for their office, post, bureau and agency. We all see such performance every day, no matter where we may be posted. AFSA takes great pleasure in being able to single out these top performers and give them a deserved moment in the spotlight. AFSA is now accepting nominations for our annual awards for exemplary performance. The recipient of each of these awards is invited to attend AFSA’s annual award ceremony, where their family, friends and colleagues can celebrate their accomplishments, and the Foreign Service community can thank them for a job well done. Nominations for these awards are due on May 15, 2020. • The Nelson B. Delavan Award recognizes a Foreign Service office management specialist (OMS) who has made a significant contribution to post or office effectiveness and morale, both within as well as beyond the framework of their job responsibilities. • The M. Juanita Guess Award recognizes a Community Liaison Office coordinator (CLO) who has demonstrated outstanding leadership, dedication, initiative or imagination in assisting the families of Americans serving at an overseas post. • The Avis Bohlen Award honors a Foreign Service family member whose volunteer work with the American and foreign communities at post has resulted in advancing the interests of the United States. • The Mark Palmer Award for the Advancement of Democracy is bestowed on a member of the Foreign Service from any of the foreign affairs agencies, especially those at the early- to mid-career level, who are serving domestically or overseas. The award recognizes the promotion of Ameri- can policies to advance democracy, freedom and governance through bold, exemplary, imaginative and effective efforts during one or more assignments. Neither nominators nor nominees need be members of AFSA. Any member of the Foreign Service at any agency (State, USAID, FCS, FAS, APHIS or USAGM) is eligible. For additional information and nomination forms, please visit afsa.org/performance or contact AFSA Awards and Scholarships Manager Theo Horn at [email protected] or (202) 719-9705. n

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 65 AFSA NEWS

AFSA Outreach Campaign Highlights the Foreign Service as the First Line of Defense

The primary goal of AFSA’s Diplomacy Works” campaign outreach is to tell the story successfully highlighted the of the U.S. Foreign Service. work the Foreign Service Many of our important does to promote American stakeholders inside the Belt- prosperity. way understand the work This year’s campaign, “U.S. and value of the Foreign Foreign Service: The First Line Service. But to the general of Defense,” aims to convey public, the work of Ameri- to the American public the can diplomats may seem role our Foreign Service plays removed from their day-to- in keeping various threats at day reality. bay and dealing with knotty To address this distance, challenges. AFSA/CAMERON WOODWORTH AFSA/CAMERON AFSA has partnered with the Throughout this cam- Nadja Ruzica, AFSA’s new strategic messaging coordinator. Una Chapman Cox Founda- paign, our goal is to highlight tion for the past two years the many and critical ways cans at home. To help guide one who does—please let us to develop public outreach in which members of the this year-long effort, AFSA has know and join us in spreading messaging to help draw the Foreign Service are protecting brought on board a strategic the message. connections, showing how and advancing our national messaging coordinator, Nadja We have developed com- the work of members of security, preventing threats of Ruzica. munications materials that the Foreign Service affects all kinds—including economic, We are looking at new you can find on our website, Americans at home. political, climate, disease and channels and new audiences afsa.org, and we regularly Last year’s “Economic cyber—to safeguard Ameri- for this message. One of update our calendar of events. our major campaign initia- You might want to familiar- tives this year is focusing on ize yourself with this year’s community colleges, which central message by watching AFSA Hosts Breakfast are found in most cities AFSA’s new video that shows for Ambassadors throughout the United States. how the Foreign Service helps Community colleges offer an keep threats at bay. This video opportunity to engage with is tailored for general audi- students and faculty on the ences that are not yet familiar work of the Foreign Service, with the work of the Foreign and also to reach the broader Service. The video can be community. found at afsa.org/video. We encourage all AFSA We look forward to your members to get involved in energy, ideas and involvement this year’s campaign, whether in AFSA’s outreach cam- by being active in the Speak- paign. If you would like more ers Bureau, contributing sto- information on how you can ries and examples of how the help us spread the First Line Foreign Service acts as our of Defense message, please country’s first line of defense, contact [email protected]. or sharing messages on social You can also learn more at AFSA President Eric Rubin speaks to U.S. chiefs of mission on Feb. 25 at media (or all of the above!). the AFSA Foreign Service Day AFSA headquarters. The ambassadors were in Washington, D.C., for the State Department’s Chief of Missions Conference. If you teach at a commu- Open House at AFSA head- nity college—or know some- quarters on April 30. n

66 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL RETIREMENT SUPPLEMENT

Retirement Planning 101

It may be years away, but the sooner you think about and plan for your retirement, the better it will be.

BY JOHN K. NALAND

ho in their late 20s annuitant’s death, the employee’s annuity to early 50s, preoc- is reduced by 10 percent to $35,100. cupied with the Social Security. FSPS members demands of work, pay into Social Security throughout our family and daily life, careers and thus qualify for Social Secu- Whas time to plan for a retirement that rity benefits, beginning as early as age 62 is many years away? The answer is that for those willing to take reduced monthly we all had better give retirement some payments in return for a longer benefit advance thought if we wish to be well period. Because most Foreign Service positioned to enjoy life after the Foreign members qualify to retire before age 62, Service. I know you’re busy, so here is a federal law affords us an FSPS annuity quick guide for employees who realize supplement until age 62. This supplement

that retirement planning is important but ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/ARKIRA is an additional payment that is essen- have not yet gotten started. tially what Social Security would pay if three” salary is calculated by adding our it could pay before age 62. The annuity Show Me the Money average basic pay for our three highest- supplement ends at age 62 when the Many Foreign Service members have paid consecutive years and then dividing annuitant is eligible to apply for Social only a vague idea of what makes up their by three. Basic pay includes regular pay, Security. It ends even if the annuitant retirement package. That, obviously, domestic locality pay and overseas virtual does not apply for Social Security then. makes it impossible to do even basic locality pay, but excludes allowances, dif- Thrift Savings Plan. No matter how planning. So here is an overview focused ferentials and overtime. This “high three” many years you serve, your FSPS annuity on those of us who joined after 1983 and salary is then multiplied by 1.7 percent for plus Social Security will not come close are thus in the Foreign Service Pension each of the first 20 years of service, plus to replacing your pre-retirement income. System. Once FSPS participants reach 1 percent for each additional year. For Thus, the Thrift Savings Plan must be a the age and years of service required to example, an employee retiring with 25 key part of your retirement planning. qualify for an immediate retirement, here years of service and a “high three” salary Contribute 5 percent of your salary and is what we receive: of $100,000 would qualify for an annual Uncle Sam will match it—“free” money Pension. Our monthly annuity check annuity of $39,000. If the employee elects that no one should pass up. To position is based on our “high three” average to provide annuity and health insurance yourself well for retirement, you should salary and years of service. The “high benefits to a surviving spouse after that contribute as close as possible to the

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 67 RETIREMENT SUPPLEMENT ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/ARKIRA annual maximum ($19,500 in 2020) and ment lifestyle and continuing financial petitive than your peers. So as you enter take advantage of post-age 50 “make-up” commitments, such as children’s college the middle years of your career, think contributions (up to $6,500 in 2020). expenses. carefully about decisions that might affect Health Insurance. One of our best You can judge your financial trajectory your career longevity—for example, when retirement benefits is the ability to retain for retirement by estimating your annuity, to open your six-year promotion window Federal Employees Health Benefits Social Security and TSP income as of a to the senior ranks if you are a Foreign coverage as a retiree. And the government target retirement date. State Department Service officer. continues to pay its majority share of the employees can estimate their annuity and Also out of our control is the stock premium, just as it does while you are annuity supplement using the Employee market. A market plunge a few years employed. Retirement Portal on Open Net. Any- before or after retirement subjects us one can estimate their Social Security to something called sequencing risk. Reality Check payments by registering for a My Social For example, someone who retired in How much money will you need Security account on www.ssa.gov. And December 2008 with $500,000 in the C to retire comfortably? Experts say that the TSP website at www.tsp.gov has cal- Fund and then withdrew 4 percent a year most people can continue their current culators that generate estimates of your would have had a balance five years later lifestyles into retirement on 85 percent TSP account growth and post-retirement of approximately $735,000. But if the of their pre-retirement gross income. withdrawals under different scenarios. same person retired in December 2007 One reason for that reduced need is that Unfortunately, there are several and then withdrew 4 percent a year, they deductions for Social Security, Medicare, “known unknowns” that could disrupt would have a balance five years later of TSP and FSPS contributions can consume our retirement plans. First, in our up-or- just $405,000. The difference is that, in the at least 15 percent of pre-retirement gross out personnel system, retirement can be second scenario, the retiree’s retirement income. Those deductions end at retire- forced on us before we want it, reduc- savings were hit by the 2008 stock market ment, thereby reducing the drop in “take ing both our lifetime earnings and our crash. So carefully consider your TSP home” income. Of course, your retire- pension. Promotion rates could slow, or withdrawal strategy, especially during ment income needs may be higher or your assignment pattern could be viewed your first years of retirement. lower, depending on your desired retire- by selection boards as being less com- Finally, Congress could cut federal

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RETIREMENT SUPPLEMENT

retirement benefits. While it seems Foreign Service Pre-Retirement Checklist unlikely that they would cut the pensions • Beneficiary designations: Ensure they are up-to-date: DS-5002 (FS of current retirees or of employees near- retirement benefit), SF-1152 (unpaid compensation), SF-2823 (FEGLI), and ing retirement, Congress could reduce TSP-3 (TSP). Reference: ALDAC 19 State 35376 of April 9, 2019 “Retirement the government’s share of health insur- Planning One Year Out” ance premiums. Or they could increase • Retirement planning seminars: Take RV105 (2-day, mid-career), RV101 income tax rates, thereby reducing our (4-day, late career), RV103 (1-day, finances/estates), RV104 (1-day, net income after pension, Social Security annuity/TSP/Social Security/Medicare). Reference: FSI intranet and TSP payments. So, at retirement, • Understand your benefits: Pension, annuity supplement, Social Security, please maintain your AFSA membership TSP, FEHB. References: ALDAC 19 State 35376 of April 9, 2019 “Retirement to support the association’s efforts to Planning One Year Out”; FSI seminars, Employee Retirement Portal online protect your hard-earned Foreign Service seminars (State), HR/RET counselor retirement benefits from potential future • FEHB health and FEGLI life insurance: Maintain coverage during last cuts. five years of service. Reference: ALDAC 15 State 35130 of April 1, 2015 If reality does interfere with your “Retirement Planning Five Years Out” retirement plans, you may need to adjust. • Retirement eligibility: Confirm your retirement Service Computation For example, deciding not to retire at your Date. Reference: ALDAC 17 State 100146 of Sept 30, 2017 “Retirement first eligibility will increase your annu- Planning and EBIS” ity by raising the multiplication factor • Prior service (if applicable): Buy back military/other service; deposits/ for years of service and the “high three” redeposits. Reference: ALDAC 15 State 44466 of April 20, 2015 “Retirement average salary. Post-retirement employ- Credit for Prior Service” ment is an option exercised by many FS • Divorce decree (if applicable): Have divorce documentation reviewed. retirees, including as a Re-Employed References: ALDAC 14 State 126786 of Oct 28, 2014 “Divorce and FS Annuitant (REA, formally known as Retirement Benefits”; ALDAC 19 State 35376 of April 9, 2019 “Retirement WAE). Other options are to invest more of Planning One Year Out” your take-home pay in the stock market, • TSP: Ensure your portfolio meets your long-term needs and risk tolerance. rental property or an Individual Retire- References: www.tsp.gov under “Planning & Tools”, ERP online seminars ment Account. (State) • Long-term care insurance: Consider getting it. References: www.ltcfeds. Feathering Your Nest com, FSI retirement planning seminars As you plan your future finances, there • Social Security: Understand pros and cons of various starting ages are several things to keep in mind to best between 62 and 70. References: www.ssa.gov, FSI retirement planning position yourself for retirement: seminars, ERP online seminars (State) Risk vs. Reward. How you manage • Medicare Part B: Understand pros and cons of getting it at age 65. your TSP savings will have a major effect Reference: “AFSA Presents: The Coordination of FEHB and Medicare 2018” on your retirement finances. Because on YouTube many current employees will need to • Survivor benefits: Understand options and deadlines. draw on their TSP savings 30, 40 or even Reference: FSI retirement planning seminars 50 years from now, most experts recom- • FEGLI: Understand post-retirement options and costs. Reference: mend investing in funds with relatively FSI retirement planning seminars, ERP online seminars (State) high average rates of return (the C, S, I • AFSA: Review retiree resources on AFSA website; sign up for AFSA and the long-range L funds) to increase retiree membership. References: www.afsa.org/retirement-services the chances that your TSP savings will be and www.afsa.org/retired-membership around as long as you are. Conversely, —John K. Naland keeping all your money in bond funds (the G and F funds) may not generate

70 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL RETIREMENT SUPPLEMENT

gains in the coming decades that outpace do not. Thus, retiring to certain states can processing go smoothly. These include inflation. raise your after-tax income. For a state- “buying back” any prior federal civil- Save, Save, Save. While saving for by-state analysis, see the AFSA Tax Guide ian or military service to increase your retirement is vital, doing so can be dif- published each year in the January/ FSPS pension, and sending the Office of ficult depending on your cash flow situ- February edition of The Foreign Service Retirement your divorce documentation ation. Most experts endorse the tactic of Journal and posted at www.afsa.org/fsj. (if applicable) to determine how it affects “pay yourself first”: sign up for a large TSP the division of your pension. payroll deduction so those funds never Take Charge of your During your career, find time to take enter your take-home pay for discretion- Retirement the Foreign Service Institute’s excellent ary spending. If you receive a hardship With luck, you will spend longer in retirement planning courses: the two-day differential or an inheritance, consider retirement than you spent in your work- Early/Mid-Career Retirement Planning investing a chunk of it in retirement sav- ing career. To prepare for that crucial Seminar (RV105) when you are more than ings. transition, do your homework by review- 10 years from retirement eligibility, and Location, Location, Location. ing online guidance, such as the Office the four-day Retirement Planning Semi- Where you retire can affect your net of Retirement’s website at https://RNet. nar (RV101) within 10 years of retirement. income. The Internal Revenue Service state.gov. Pay special attention to steps to At retirement, take the two-month Job taxes annuity payments, TSP withdraw- take between one and five years before Search/Transition Program (RV102). als and Social Security, but some states retirement to make your final retirement By your mid-50s, seriously evalu-

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THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 71 RETIREMENT SUPPLEMENT

ate whether to apply for long-term care to AFSA. Even if you have been a member component of retirement preparations insurance. Entering your 60s, think about for decades while on active duty, you should be to take care of your health. when you want to apply for Social Secu- must sign up again as an annuitant to Obviously, little can be done about rity benefits, and learn about the pros and continue to support AFSA as it champi- genetics or bad luck with accidents and cons of signing up for Medicare Part B at ons the career Foreign Service, advocates diseases, but steps such as maintaining age 65. for funding for diplomacy and devel- a healthy weight, eating well, keeping fit Throughout your working and retired opment, and lobbies to maintain your and not smoking are certainly beneficial. years keep your beneficiary designations earned retirement benefits. Here’s wishing you a happy retire- updated for life insurance, TSP and pen- ment. n sion. Obtain estate planning documents Live Long and Prosper such as a will, trust, power of attorney This article has focused on the finan- John K. Naland served in and/or medical directive, and consider cial aspects of retirement because that is the Foreign Service for 29 getting them updated if you move to a dif- what most pre-retirees consider to be the years, including as director ferent state. From time to time, review the key to a happy retirement. Interestingly, of the Office of Retirement. risk-versus-reward balance in your TSP surveys of current retirees show that they He twice served as AFSA fund allocations to make sure that it is still consider health to be the most important president. He is currently AFSA Retiree appropriate to your specific situation. factor. After all, having lots of money can Vice President and president of the Foreign At retirement, maintain your AFSA only do so much for someone who is in Service Youth Foundation (covering both membership by submitting an SF-1187a chronically poor health. Therefore, a vital ends of the age spectrum).

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AFSA Membership in Retirement What’s in It for You?

Besides camaraderie, there are paths to engagement and advocacy, access to unique practical information and assistance—and it’s a good deal!

BY DOLORES BROWN

knew when I retired in 2018 that I wanted to stay in touch with my Reopening Windows, Providing Opportunities profession. For the camaraderie When I left the Foreign Service to move to a farm in rural Maine, I canceled my alone, I didn’t think twice about re- AFSA membership. Life has a way of changing plans, and when I resumed my upping my AFSA membership. But I AFSA membership I found that it reopened windows into a valued community Ifound there is a lot more to be gained than of friends and former colleagues. Writing has been a part of my life, and AFSA professional ties. provides opportunities for authors to showcase their own work and to learn I am now your retirement benefits about the work of others. counselor, so am unabashedly writing —Louis Sell, Maine from an insider’s perch. But I’m also still far enough into my first years as a retiree ing-diplomacy), which is a sharing space ing, AFSA sponsored events on careers to look dispassionately at the reasons to for teaching resources. And we hosted a in private industry, writing and security— remain in AFSA. Perhaps it’s best to start networking event for practitioners and all featuring your peers offering invaluable by relaying to you what we’ve been work- aspirants to meet, and a panel featuring insights into how to make the transition ing on lately, all of which came about with your colleagues who have made a success- from government. input from you. ful transition to teaching. Why should our On another note, after receiving many We heard, for example, from recent members start from scratch when such a calls requesting information on basic retirees embarking on teaching careers rich brain trust exists? retirement issues, we realized we could about what a heavy lift it is to put together This idea morphed into a broad AFSA fill the gap for members who have lost new curricula. In response, AFSA programmatic series, “Next Stage,” which access to their agencies’ intranets by established a Teaching Diplomacy (and focuses on follow-on careers for the For- broadening AFSA’s online retirement associated topics) page (afsa.org/teach- eign Service. Besides the panel on teach- services to include a one-stop shop

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I Look Forward to the Daily News Briefs I have found the daily news briefs from AFSA something I look forward to read- ing every day. The issues continue to interest me and the compilation of news about the administration, and State in particular, from a variety of sources is very well presented. I appreciate the services AFSA offers to retirees to assist with general and individual questions concerning benefits such as health insur- ance. Knowing we have someone to reach out to who understands these things is a huge relief. —Barbara Simpson, Florida

(afsa.org/retirement-services). The page associations where you can meet with includes ALDACs from State on retire- your colleagues. Finally, you can attend ment issues and other basic information. events virtually through videos or at AFSA We also redesigned the annual Directory headquarters, including a host of events of Retired Members to include a front sec- around Foreign Service Day. tion with answers to the “top hits” among • AFSA helps you stay engaged and questions we receive, so this information advocating. You, too, are the Voice of will now be at your fingertips. the Foreign Service. You can join AFSA’s And if all else fails, you can always call Speakers Bureau or do local outreach to AFSA when you run into a systemic prob- amplify the story of the Foreign Service lem or need individualized assistance: this in your community, and AFSA will arm is the heart of AFSA’s retirement services. you with up-to-date talking points, short Over recent months, for instance, AFSA explainer videos and other material. heard from members recounting their Remaining in AFSA also supports AFSA’s difficulty in escorting family members advocacy on the Hill to support the into the service areas at the Department of Foreign Service and protect our earned State, something they had been able to do benefits. for at least the last 20 years. AFSA brought • AFSA helps you stay smart. Our this to Diplomatic Security, which quickly Federal Benefits series, for example, is confirmed the policy and instructed its particularly helpful because many finan- guards accordingly. We also regularly help cial advisers beyond the Beltway are not those who run into difficulty getting timely familiar with federal benefits, much less answers to complex retirement issues, and those applicable to the Foreign Service. we often provide support to the families And in addition to the one-stop shop, of deceased FS members who don’t know AFSA’s bimonthly Retirement Newsletter who to call about annuity and life insur- rounds out AFSA’s special offerings. ance issues. • And, AFSA’s a great deal: Depend- To give you a sense of the full scope of ing on the grade at which you retire, your our activities, here is a quick rundown of AFSA dues will decrease by around one- other benefits: third to one-half. n • AFSA helps you to stay plugged into your unique past, profession and pals. Dolores Brown, a retired The Foreign Service Journal and the Daily FSO, is AFSA’s retirement Media Digest are two curated tools to benefits counselor. keep you abreast of FS news. AFSA also keeps members plugged into 18 local

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Life after the Foreign Service

The Theater and Policy Salon BY MICHAEL FELDMAN

hile getting ready to retire from the Foreign Service, I came to realize that I wanted to make my Wlong-term avocation—theater and the arts—into my vocation while continuing my policy work as a supporting element. The “profit center” part of my post– Foreign Service work involves providing strategic partnership and cultural diplo- macy advice to local arts organizations and foreign cultural institutions through my company Transitions International. The “cost center” part of my post-FS VISUAL ARTIST THOM GOERTEL THOM ARTIST VISUAL work—what is euphemistically termed a The author moderates a salon discussion of “People Respect Me Now,” directed by passion project—is dedicated to advanc- Paula Stenström Öhman, at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. ing policy through theater. In 2018 I co-founded the Theater the messages coming from the stage, with policy conversations with experts and Policy Salon, which works with we seek to inspire individual action on and practitioners. In addition, I develop D.C.-area theaters to curate policy real-world issues by pinpointing prag- policy-related programming as part of conversations around several plays matic, nonpartisan policy responses. Mosaic Theater Company’s Public Pro- during a full theater season. Amplifying The salon pairs socially conscious plays gramming Committee.

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 75 RETIREMENT SUPPLEMENT NJ MITCHELL, THEATER AND POLICY SALON Panelists from the Delegation of the European Union to the United States, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense Fund and Human Rights Watch in front of the set of “Twelve Angry Men” at Ford’s Theatre in early 2019. Set design by Stephanie Kerley Schwartz.

Staying connected to our broader ater and arts sector. Working at an arts Service Committee and the Jamestown community of diplomats led directly to policy think-tank, Createquity, allowed Foundation, along with local experts the launch of the salon. Thanks to the me to use the analytical, drafting and including a local police executive in encouragement, advice and support of the quantitative chops from the Foreign Ser- charge of recruitment and doctrine. Swedish cultural counselor, herself a prac- vice—on top of the more obvious public In fact, successfully transitioning to ticing theater director, the salon launched diplomacy skills—to publish and speak both the arts and policy practice and my its “Who Gets to Feel Safe?” season in on arts policy issues. Transitions International work paralleled July 2018 at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Finding common ground with practi- the familiar Foreign Service experience Company with a play reading and panel tioners in the arts world served as another of arriving at a new post and establishing discussion featuring a Swedish playwright. point of entry. I connected with the Forum oneself as an effective interlocutor and During the rest of the 2018-2019 Theatre’s community engagement coordi- influential voice. season, we partnered with Ford’s nator over a shared background in global In my new role, I set about establish- Theatre, Mosaic Theater Company, the development in 2016. Our shared experi- ing my profile and building my networks Delegation of the European Union to the ence in foreign policy and American arts in the arts policy and theater world in United States and the New York Univer- policy enabled me to design and launch Washington following retirement. In sity Washington, D.C., campus to host the Talk Tank series to explore policy addition to working a lot of rooms, I dialogues on inequality and criminal issues underpinning Forum’s productions. published articles, spoke at symposia justice, as well as the role of story, music The Talk Tank program served as a and nurtured my social media presence and culture in resilience. beta version of Theater and Policy Salon. (follow me @artsconnectedDC). Making this transformation happen I partnered on policy discussions with Our 2019-2020 Theater and Policy required mapping my Foreign Service the Center for American Progress, the Salon season is focused on two themes: skills and Washington policymaking Brookings Institution, the NAACP Legal resilience in struggling U.S. communi- experience onto the U.S. domestic the- Defense Fund, the American Friends ties, and migrants and refugees. The first

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In fact, successfully transitioning to both the arts and policy practice and my Transitions International work paralleled the familiar Foreign Service experience of arriving at a new post ...

fall salon looked at resilience, in part- Mexican Cultural Institute and NYU making contacts while serving as a U.S. nership with NYU Washington, Shake- Washington to focus on Arena Stage and government representative abroad. n speare Theatre Company and Ford’s the InSeries productions dealing with Theatre. We continued with a salon at migration and resilience. Michael Feldman is principal at Transi- Studio Theatre on migration issues cen- One benchmark of success came tions International and the co-founder of the tered on a Thai-Australian playwright’s when one of my arts and theater col- Theater and Policy Salon in Washington, D.C. work, in partnership with the Australian laborators playfully accused me of “being A retired FSO, he served in Italy, the Czech embassy. everywhere and knowing everyone.” Republic, the Democratic Republic of the In early 2020 we held discussions Future retirees should know that building Congo and Germany, along with assignments hosted by Theater J, Mosaic Theater a network and reputation when repre- at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Company and Studio Theatre. And senting only oneself will be both harder, the U.S. Senate, the Office of the U.S. Global this spring we are partnering with the and potentially more satisfying, than AIDS Coordinator and the State Department.

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The Inn by the Lake

BY DAVID SUMMERS

oon after my retirement, Despite the gentle remon- my family was mysti- strations of those dear to me fied when I declared my (“But Bea, they have rocking intent to buy a bed-and- chairs on the front porch, breakfast in a far corner of and when we’re old, we can SIdaho. They still remembered my adverse have our whole family around reaction to our one-and-only stay at a us.” “David, there are rock- bed-and-breakfast farmhouse in Penn- ing chairs on our front porch sylvania Dutch country where I declined, now, and our whole family is on behalf of all of us, the invitation to around us.”), I soon became rise before dawn and watch cows being the owner of the Old Northern milked. That had been much of my Ken- Inn on Priest Lake. COURTESY OF DAVID SUMMERS tucky childhood, which had then fueled The six-room hostelry David Summers at the entrance to the inn. my ambition to join the Foreign Service. had been built in 1900 from

rough-hewn logs by a guy who mistak- enly thought a railroad was coming. A history of the lake reveals that he soon went bankrupt, and over time the build- ing transitioned to a brothel, an old folks’ home, a liquor store, a Mexican restau- rant, an empty hulk and, finally, a bed- and-breakfast. I had stumbled on Priest Lake in 2003, at the start of a summer camping trip to the three states I had never visited— Idaho, Montana and North Dakota. With no particular plan, my son and I pitched our tent there on a deserted island where by day, the water was so clear that pad- dling a canoe felt like flying and by night, stars spangled the ponderosa pines like Christmas lights. That experience stayed with me, and after returning home, I telephoned a realtor to ask about buying a little cabin on the lake. I learned that the little cabins COURTESY OF DAVID SUMMERS The view of the deck and Priest Lake from the upstairs balcony of the Old Northern were leased by the state, and that the Inn. only lakefront place for sale was the bed-

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The timeless beauty of Priest Lake has brought me back again and again. I hadn’t given much thought to the hospitality business, but it soon became as important a pull as the place itself. and-breakfast. I calculated that we could afford that with the income generated by the inn. I decided to “follow my bliss,” as Joseph Campbell summed things up in a 1985 interview with Bill Moyers. Every year when it’s time to return to open for the season, I anticipate how the air will taste when I step out of the car. Every year it is sweeter and fresher than I imagined. Sometimes, a hummingbird will appear, as if to say, “Where have you been? The feeders aren’t up yet.” The timeless beauty of Priest Lake has brought me back again and again. I hadn’t given much thought to the hospitality business, but it soon became as important a pull as the place itself. COURTESY OF DAVID SUMMERS The guests turned out to be engaging and A family reunion at Priest Lake. Back row: David Summers and Beatrice Camp. Front row enlightening. (from left to right): Son Daniel with his wife, Ana; son Will with his wife, Megan, and their son, Charlie. For instance, on our opening night we sat by the fire until midnight chatting about Bangkok. We had lived there in the keep an eye out for the Old Northern Inn But that was never the main point: our 1980s, and coincidentally, our guest had when it is closed for the winter, deciding whole family did gather on the front porch been a Navy wife there in the 1960s. When when snow needs to be shoveled from with the rocking chairs. It happened, with we finally went to bed, my wife threw her the roof and noting when there are new the arrival of our newest family member, head against the pillows and exclaimed, footprints in the snow. a grandson. And the Navy wife who had “I never thought I’d be doing this!” Running the inn turned out to be lived in Bangkok? A new friend, she made “Bea, it’s just like having company. It’s more work than I thought. Managing a quilt for that baby. like having our family over.” reservations, meals, staff and repairs is “Yes,” she answered, “but the guests a continuous and overlapping responsi- David Summers was born in Kentucky in are more polite.” bility, causing one workday to blend into 1949. He joined the Foreign Service after I also didn’t expect how much the the next. college, and had overseas postings to Kra- little community of Coolin, Idaho, would We had an accurate picture that we kow, Warsaw, Beijing, Bangkok, Stockholm come to mean to me. Every Memorial could cover these operating expenses and Budapest. He took a leave of absence Day, the members of the Coolin Civic with the revenue from running the inn, from 1979 to 1981 to direct the Thomas J. Association pull together the Spring Fes- but we made a mistaken assumption Watson Foundation. After retirement in tival featuring a parade, bake sale, crafts that the property value would appreciate 1999, he accompanied his wife, FSO Bea- fair and quilt show. the way real estate has inside the Belt- trice Camp, to her postings in Chiang Mai Every September, a potluck supper is way. We won’t realize a windfall when and Shanghai. David and Bea have two held at the Old Northern Inn. Neighbors we sell the place. married sons and a grandson.

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Try the Smaller Pond

BY JANICE WEINER

o I miss the Foreign Service? Yes. Is there life after the Foreign Ser- vice? Unequivocally. It is whatever you choose it Dto be, because we all have an incredible stockpile of transferable skills. I moved back almost five years ago to where I grew up—Iowa City, Iowa. It’s a university town with all the amenities COURTESY OF JANICE WEINER that a large city brings, but on a much Right: Running a 525-person smaller scale. I can get anywhere in 10-15 precinct caucus in a high school minutes. Really. The cost of living is lower, gym, Feb. 3, 2020. Above: Happy

graduate and mom, May 2018. COURTESY OF JANICE WEINER and I got a lot more house for my money. Why did I move back to what many sworn in as a member of the consider “flyover country”? First, to Iowa City City Council, part of make sure my younger daughter made it the first-ever female-majority through high school, which I was pretty council (five out of seven). certain would not have happened in Fair- I’m also on the county, fax County. It did here, thanks to teachers district and state boards for the and counselors and family friends—and Democratic Party. In Febru- her own efforts. For that alone, it was ary, I ran a 525-person precinct worth the move back. caucus. What do I do with my time? For one, And, oh yes, I am now the I’m on the board of my synagogue and legal guardian of my 2-year- on the program committee of our local old granddaughter, who has foreign relations council. already met more presidential

I’ve been on the board of Shelter COURTESY OF TOM JACOBS candidates than most Ameri- House, a nongovernmental organization The author marches with county Democrats in a cans ever will. And I had their that helps those experiencing homeless- Fourth of July parade in Coralville, Iowa, with grand- ear when I needed to push daughter on back. ness, and so much more. In fact, one sensible foreign policy, as well year ago, we opened the first permanent We’re participating in a new joint as mental health and addiction policies. supportive housing complex in the state; county-cities venture, an access center Try being a bigger fish in a smaller it now houses 24 persons who otherwise where those in the midst of a mental pond. You can really make an impact. n would never have been housed. health crisis or needing help with addic- We are on the front lines of rapid re- tion can go to keep themselves out of jails Janice Weiner served in the Foreign Service housing, an approach where we quickly and hospital ERs. It will help people and from 1987 to 2013, in East Berlin, Brussels, create the stability needed for a person to save tax dollars. Ankara (twice), Warsaw, Toronto, Mexico be able to move on with other aspects of I stepped down from the Shelter House City and Düsseldorf, as well as in Washing- his or her life. board in December, just before being ton, D.C. She now lives in Iowa City, Iowa.

80 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL

BOOKS

Diplomats Aid in ican Development Bank, ambassador Castro Cuban National Movement and Solving the Crime to the United States. Letelier was well Michael Townley, an American citizen suited to the job. resident in Chile, who built the bomb. Ghosts of Sheridan Circle: How a As Allende’s grip on power weakened, In classic fashion, luck and a tip led Washington Assassination Brought however, he called Letelier home to serve investigators to Townley, who took a Pinochet’s Terror State to Justice in the Cabinet. At the time of the coup, plea bargain with witness protection Alan McPherson, University of North Letelier was Chile’s minister of defense, and flipped on his co-conspirators. Carolina Press, 2019, $34.95/hardcover, a post he had held for less than three Townley’s testimony was the break the $26.99/Kindle, 392 pages. weeks. He was arrested at the ministry by FBI needed. his nominal subordinate, The government of Reviewed by Harry Kopp General Augusto Pino- Chile threw up legal chet, who led the coup obstacles and diplomatic “Justice delayed,” say the lawyers, and would rule Chile for resistance to block inves- “is justice denied.” Theologians have the next 17 years. tigators at every turn, but a different view: “The arc of the moral Pinochet had Letelier Letelier’s widow, Isabel, universe is long, but it bends toward imprisoned, then exiled, was a constant, emotion- justice.” Georgetown Professor Charles then stripped of his ally powerful force that King writes, “American history does not citizenship and killed. kept the case alive in both so much arc toward justice as oscillate Proof of the general’s countries. in its general vicinity.” role in the murder took Important as she was, Justice, and the many obstacles to a quarter-century to however, the major share its attainment, is the unstated theme of establish. of the credit for the even- Alan McPherson’s Ghosts of Sheridan The U.S. government tual indictments, arrests Circle, a history of a great political crime harbored deep hostility and convictions must go and its aftermath. The crime, described toward Salvador Allende and relished to nonpolitical, midlevel in horrifying detail, is the 1976 assassi- his overthrow. Letelier was Allende’s American government employees—the nation in Washington, D.C., of Orlando most prominent supporter, and had his prosecutors, special agents and diplo- Letelier, blown apart by a bomb planted killing occurred in Santiago, or Caracas, mats who persevered, did their jobs, in his car as he drove to work. An aide, or even Amsterdam—all cities Letelier solved the crime and held the perpetra- Ronni Moffitt, also died in the attack. knew well—U.S. authorities would have tors to account. At the time, Letelier was an paid little notice. To tell this story, Alan McPherson, employee of the Institute for Policy But his assassination in Washington, director of the Center for the Study of Studies, a left-wing foreign-affairs think- D.C., was a federal crime, an affront Force and Diplomacy at Temple Univer- tank with offices on Dupont Circle. to U.S. sovereignty that set the gears sity, has tempered the dry precision of He had been a supporter of Salvador of American justice into motion. The academic history with stylistic elements Allende, the Marxist president of Chile Federal Bureau of Investigation and the borrowed from the true-crime genre: elected in 1970 and ousted three years office of the U.S. Attorney for the Dis- nonfiction storytelling that generates later in a military coup. trict of Columbia took up the case, with horror, sympathy and suspense. Letelier had met Allende, then a help from the embassy in Santiago. The He offers psychological portraits senator, during his university days in White House offered no encouragement of many of the key figures in the story, the early 1950s: It was acolyte and guru but did not interfere. based on American and Chilean docu- at first sight. When Allende squeaked The assassins were a group assembled ments on the record or brought into the into the presidency (with 37 percent of by Chile’s National Intelligence Direc- public domain through the Freedom of the vote, in a three-way race), he made torate (known by its Spanish acronym, Information Act, including FBI tran- Letelier, already established in Wash- DINA) that included Chilean army offi- scripts, court proceedings, oral histories ington as an official at the Inter-Amer- cers, U.S.-resident members of the anti- and his own interviews.

82 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL The major share of the credit for the eventual indictments, arrests and convictions must go to nonpolitical, midlevel American government employees—the prosecutors, special agents and diplomats who persevered, did their jobs, solved the crime and held the perpetrators to account.

He takes the reader through legal In Chile, the case strengthened the and diplomatic battles over letters roga- judiciary, contributed to the end of the tory, extraditions, Chile’s amnesty law, Pinochet regime and broke the impu- the U.S. Foreign Sovereign Immunities nity conferred by the amnesty law. Act, the testimony of false or unreliable In the United States, it raised coun- witnesses, and the constant looming terterrorism to an area of special inter- challenge of statutes of limitation. And est and expertise in the FBI, and led to as in any crime story, sudden break- new judicial powers to act against inter- throughs time and again run up against national terrorism, including through new barricades. civil as well as criminal actions. The investigatory and legal dramas of In diplomacy, said Chilean Ambas- the case played out against the back- sador Juan Gabriel Valdés, the case drop of Chilean politics. With the end elevated human rights to “an area of of Pinochet’s dictatorship in 1990, the international politics that you had to conditions for closure seemed to arrive take into consideration, [one] not to be at last—but even then, the mills of God taken lightly.” ground slowly. McPherson concludes that the Lete- In 1992 the United States and Chile lier case “provided hope that ordinary used provisions of a 1914 bilateral treaty people—survivors of terror, mourning to negotiate a financial award, payable family members, investigators, lawyers, to the families of Orlando Letelier and diplomats and their allies in nongov- Ronni Moffitt. Despite Chile’s amnesty ernmental organizations—could obtain law, enacted in 1978 to protect military justice against tyrants and terrorists personnel from civilian prosecution, even when their own governments were Chilean courts tried and convicted less than forthcoming.” members of DINA, including its leader, Did justice at last prevail? Metaphys- General Manuel Contreras, whose last ical questions have no clear answers, appeal was denied in 1995. (When Con- but this statement comes pretty close to treras died in 2015, he was serving 28 an unhedged yes. n sentences totaling more than 300 years.) Pinochet himself was indicted in Former Foreign Service Officer Harry Kopp 2000 on 177 counts of torture, murder is a frequent contributor to The Foreign and other crimes. He died in a military Service Journal and a member of its edito- hospital in 2006, 30 years after the death rial board. of Letelier, without a verdict having been rendered. He was 91 years old. McPherson offers some thoughts about the legacy of the Letelier affair.

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 83 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS

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86 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 87 REAL ESTATE & PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

88 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL REFLECTIONS

On the Road from Sibiu

BY JONATHAN B. RICKERT

n 1974 my wife, Gerd, and I were sta- A young man in work clothes happened by tioned at the U.S. embassy in Bucha- and asked what the problem was. Fortunately, rest. After having spent the Christmas Iholidays out of the country, we found we were fluent in Romanian—thanks to ourselves headed “home” in our Volvo, Mr. Chiacu and FSI. driving on a two-lane rural road about 25 kilometers south of Sibiu, Romania. As we arrived midday in the vicinity of a small settlement called Riu Vadului, the The young man replied that a tractor Driving southward, we had interesting car’s engine began to overheat terribly. repair station associated with the area’s conversations with our passengers about Being very unmechanical, I stopped forest industry was just up the road, and their working conditions, village life and the car, raised the hood and stood there he was sure that the mechanics there the like. scratching my head. How were we going could help. We slowly drove with him to I recall asking how hitchhiking func- to get our vehicle fixed and get ourselves the station, where the people he spoke tioned in Romania (we often saw people back to Bucharest from this mountainous with immediately agreed to undertake waiting at the side of the road, moving wilderness? the necessary repairs. one hand up and down as they looked After a short while, a young man in For the next few hours, the mechan- for rides). They explained that everyone work clothes happened by and asked ics dropped everything to attend to our knew how much it cost to travel by public what the problem was. Fortunately, we Volvo. They not only patched the hole in transportation (usually a bus), and hitch- were fluent in Romanian—thanks to Mr. the radiator, but also reconstructed the hikers were expected to pay that amount Chiacu and FSI. So when he asked what badly damaged fan. By late afternoon, the to anyone who gave them a lift. the problem was, I immediately replied, car was back in working order. When we were about to let them off “Nu stiu” (I don’t know). He smiled, and We were immensely grateful. Unfor- at their village, our passengers reached then offered to take a look. He quickly tunately, we had no Romanian currency for their wallets. Surprised, we said that discovered that the fan had come loose with us (it was illegal to take lei into or no payment was necessary, that we were and had punched a hole in the radiator, out of the country), and paying them in happy to give them a ride. They appar- causing the coolant to drain out and the dollars was not permitted. Although our ently thought that I had asked about engine to overheat. benefactors insisted on no payment of hitchhiking to discover how much to get What can we do, I asked, to get the car any kind, we gave them some cigarettes paid, while in fact I had been motivated going again? (which served as a sort of alternative by simple curiosity. Expressing their currency in Romania in those days) and thanks, they happily put their wallets Austrian cookies that we happened to away and trudged off to their homes. Retired Senior Foreign have with us in the car. At that time, remember, of course, Service Officer Jonathan B. Also, it being Saturday, the end of Romania was a communist country and Rickert spent the majority of the six-day work week, we offered a ride Warsaw Pact member. This experience his 35-year career in or deal- to anyone who needed to travel to the only typified, however, the extraordi- ing with Central and Eastern south. It turned out many forest workers nary kindness and generosity ordinary Europe. His final two overseas posts were and mechanics spent the week at the job Romanians showed us during our stay in as deputy chief of mission in Sofia and then site and returned to their villages only for their country—as well as the benefits of Bucharest. A native of Washington, D.C., their free day, Sunday. Two of the men fluency in their language.n he still resides in the district. gratefully accepted our offer.

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2020 89 LOCAL LENS BY KEVIN KEEN n CESSY, FRANCE

ne weekend every five to six years, the public can visit the underground Please submit your favorite, recent photograph to be considered for laboratories and particle accelerators at the European Organization for Local Lens. Images must be high Nuclear Research (CERN), near Geneva, Switzerland (where, among other resolution (at least 300 dpi at 8” things, the World Wide Web was born in 1989). At CERN, physicists and x 10”, or 1 MB or larger) and must O not be in print elsewhere. Include engineers use massive and sophisticated scientific instruments to study matter. In a short description of the scene/ September 2019, I jumped at the chance to tour parts of the deep underground instal- event, as well as your name, brief lations. Shown here is a view of the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment, dedicated to biodata and the type of camera the search for extra dimensions and particles that could make up dark matter. n used. Send to [email protected].

Kevin Keen is a Foreign Service spouse with the Department of State. He’s lived in Argentina, Ecuador and Switzerland. Mongolia is his family’s current posting. This photo was shot with a Canon EOS 80D.

90 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL