PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN FOREIGN SERVICE ASSOCIATION MARCH 2016

WOMEN IN THE FOREIGN SERVICE: MAKING STRIDES THROUGH A HALF CENTURY

KIRBY SIMON’S LEGACY

FOREIGN March 2016 SERVICE Volume 93, No. 2

AFSA NEWS FOCUS ON WOMEN IN THE FOREIGN SERVICE Amb. Ruth Davis to Receive AFSA’s Premier Award / 64 Foreign Service Women Today: VP Voice State: Stop Calling It The Palmer Case and Beyond / 24 Maternity Leave! / 65 BY ANDREA STRANO VP Voice USAID: A Legislative North Star / 66 Federal Women’s Program for the Future / 29 VP Voice FAS: Off Balance? / 67 BY THAO ANH TRAN AND KRISTIN STEWART AFSA Welcomes Spring Semester Interns / 67 Ten Leadership Tips for Aspiring Women / 34 Governing Board Meetings / 68 BY ERIN SOTO AFSA on the Hill: The FY 2016 Consolidated Appropriations Act / 69 A Pioneer in Saudi Arabia / 38 Announcing the 2015-2016 BY ANDREA FARSAKH Financial Aid Scholars / 70 Retiree Corner / 76 On Assignment with Maxine Desilet, 1949–1955 / 41 Second Annual Book Market a Success! / 78 BY SUZANNE COFER A Conversation with Pearson Fellows / 78 Challenging Tradition / 46 Changes on the AFSA EXCERPTS FROM ELINOR CONSTABLE, PHYLLIS OAKLEY AND MARY OLMSTED Governing Board / 79 Connecting with America’s Teachers / 79 FEATURES Power in Numbers / 80 New Professional Issues Two Decades of Volunteer Support: Director at AFSA / 81 Kirby Simon’s Legacy / 50 New Retiree Counselor / 81 The J. Kirby Simon Foreign Service Trust is uniquely committed to expanding the opportunities for community service to people associated COLUMNS with U.S. embassies and consulates. President’s Views /6 Protecting the Career Path BY KATHLEEN SHEEHAN AND LIISA ECOLA BY BARBARA STEPHENSON Letter from the Editor / 9 Extending the American Revolution Overseas: No More Old Boys’ Club Foreign Aid, 1789–1850 / 54 BY SHAWN DORMAN Foreign assistance is part of America’s cultural DNA, fostered by the country’s Speaking Out / 21 revolutionary heritage of a commitment to human rights and individual liberties. More Hemingway, Less Kafka, Please BY JOHN SANBRAILO BY MATTHEW KEENE Reflections / 97 FS HERITAGE A Precarious Journey into Europe BY DANIEL MORRIS FS Personnel Evaluation, 1925–1955: A Unique View / 60 DEPARTMENTS Letters / 10 The evolution of personnel evaluations at State is reflected in the dossier of Talking Points / 17 Frances Elizabeth Willis, the first woman to make a career of the Foreign Service. In Memory / 82 BY NICHOLAS J. WILLIS Reviews / 87 Local Lens / 98

MARKETPLACE Classifieds / 90 Real Estate / 93 Index to Advertisers / 96 On the Cover: Illustration by Dan Bejar/Theispot.com; photo by Mercedes Palacios.

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 5 PRESIDENT’S VIEWS

Protecting the Career Path

BY BARBARA STEPHENSON

y last few columns have A strong, effective American foreign policy rests focused on outreach— on the shoulders of a strong Foreign Service. AFSA’s work, as the voice of Mthe Foreign Service, to refine a compelling message to convey the proud Service comprised of career professionals ever to go to college—had passed the tests story of the Foreign Service to the Ameri- who deploy abroad to protect and serve and made it into the Foreign Service. can people. That work continues and is American interests, often by making com- When I talk to some of the Service’s gaining momentum. mon cause with the people and leaders of most respected leaders, I find I am not This month, I focus on our commit- other countries. alone in this. When times get tough, part ment to work for a healthy, attractive This is, as I have acknowledged before, of what keeps us going is knowing that Foreign Service career path. I am increas- extraordinarily demanding work. It we made it through the rigorous selection ingly convinced that one of AFSA’s most requires us to move at least every three process Congress mandated in the Foreign important roles is to serve as the principal years, to cope with unhealthy and danger- Service Act. If we did not have the right advocate for the long-term health of the ous environments, to master foreign lan- stuff, we would not have been chosen. career Foreign Service. guages, cultures and political systems— As AFSA president, I am committed The Foreign Service Act of 1980— and to master the intricate interagency to protecting the Foreign Service from which begins, “The Congress finds that a dynamics of our own system. anything that erodes this unique competi- career foreign service, characterized by This extraordinarily demanding career tive advantage. We want to ensure that the excellence and professionalism, is essen- requires America’s best and brightest, and Service continues to attract a large and tial in the national interest”—provides the good news is that they are still apply- diverse pool of exceptionally qualified both the legal foundation for the Foreign ing in droves to join the Foreign Service. applicants, and ensure that those who join Service and a stirring reminder of its More than 17,000 people applied to take find a sustaining career path. importance to the well-being of the nation the Foreign Service officer test last year, Over the coming months we will be we serve. competing for a shot at the fewer than grappling with significant challenges I begin from the conviction that strong 400 entry-level officer positions available. that could, if not handled with great care, American leadership is essential, perhaps Many Foreign Service specialist tracks are undermine the long-term attractive- now more than ever, or at least since the also oversubscribed and entry is highly ness of the Foreign Service as a career defining moments following World War competitive. We must ensure that 15 years choice. These challenges vary from one II. I believe America is the indispens- from now, America’s best and brightest foreign affairs agency to another, as AFSA able nation and must remain so, even as continue to sign up in equally high num- vice presidents have explained in recent the global landscape shifts and power bers to join the Foreign Service. columns. becomes more diffuse. I believe that the rigorous and impartial As we weigh these challenges—mid- I believe just process by which we enter the Service is level shortfalls at USAID and FAS, the as deeply that a central not only to ensuring that we attract growing visa adjudicator gap at State—you strong, effective top talent, but also to sustaining esprit can count on me to use my voice to insist American foreign de corps over the long haul. I know how that we keep the long-term well-being of policy rests on much strength I have drawn over the years the career Foreign Service front and center the shoulders of from knowing that I—from a rural town in our deliberations. My voice will be a strong Foreign in Florida, the first in my extended family stronger if you join me. n

Ambassador Barbara Stephenson is the president of the American Foreign Service Association.

6 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL THE FOREIGN SERVICE ACT OF 1980 Public Law 96-465, Oct. 17, 1980

Title I—The Foreign Service of the United States mentation of policies and procedures, including affirmative Chapter 1—General Provisions action programs, which will facilitate and encourage (A) Section 101. Findings and Objectives entry into and advancement in the Foreign Service by per- sons from all segments of American society, and (B) equal (a) The Congress finds that— opportunity and fair and equitable treatment for all without (1) a career foreign service, characterized by excellence regard to political affiliation, race, color, religion, national and professionalism, is essential in the national interest to origin, sex, marital status, age, or handicapping condition; assist the President and the Secretary of State in conducting (3) providing for more efficient, economical, and equi- the foreign affairs of the United States; table personnel administration through a simplified struc- (2) the scope and complexity of the foreign affairs ture of Foreign Service personnel categories and salaries; of the Nation have heightened the need for a professional (4) establishing a statutory basis for participation by foreign service that will serve the foreign affairs interests of the members of the Foreign Service, through their elected the United States in an integrated fashion and that can pro- representatives, in the formulation of personnel policies and vide a resource of qualified personnel for the President, the procedures which affect their conditions of employment, Secretary of State, and the agencies concerned with foreign and maintaining a fair and effective system for the resolu- affairs; tion of individual grievances that will ensure the fullest mea- (3) the Foreign Service of the United States, established sure of due process for the members of the Foreign Service; under the Act of May 24, 1924 (commonly known as the Rog- (5) minimizing the impact of the hardships, disrup- ers Act), and continued by the Foreign Service Act of 1946, tions, and other unusual conditions of service abroad upon must be preserved, strengthened, and improved in order to the members of the Foreign Service, and mitigating the carry out its mission effectively in response to the complex special impact of such conditions upon their families; challenges of modern diplomacy and international relations; (6) providing salaries, allowances, and benefits that (4) the members of the Foreign Service should be rep- will permit the Foreign Service to attract and retain quali- resentative of the American people, aware of the principles fied personnel as well as a system of incentive payments and and history of the United States and informed of current awards to encourage and reward outstanding performance; concerns and trends in American life, knowledgeable of the (7) establishing a Senior Foreign Service which is affairs, cultures, and languages of other countries, and avail- characterized by strong policy formulation capabilities, out- able to serve in assignments throughout the world; and standing executive leadership qualities, and highly devel- (5) the Foreign Service should be operated on the basis oped functional, foreign language, and area expertise; of merit principles. (8) improving Foreign Service managerial flexibility and effectiveness; (b) The objective of this chapter is to strengthen and (9) increasing efficiency and economy by promoting improve the Foreign Service of the United States by— maximum compatibility among the agencies authorized by (1) assuring, in accordance with merit principles, law to utilize the Foreign Service personnel system, as well admission through impartial and rigorous examination, as compatibility between the Foreign Service personnel sys- acquisition of career status only by those who have demon- tem and other personnel systems of the Government; and strated their fitness through successful completion of proba- (10) otherwise enabling the Foreign Service to serve tionary assignments, effective career development, advance- effectively the interests of the United States and to provide ment and retention of the ablest, and separation of those the highest caliber of representation in the conduct of for- who do not meet the requisite standards of performance; eign affairs. (2) fostering the development and vigorous imple- Source: http://uscode.house.gov/statviewer.htm?volume=94&page=2074#

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 7 FOREIGN SERVICE Editor in Chief, Director of Publications Shawn Dorman: [email protected] Managing Editor www.afsa.org Susan Brady Maitra: [email protected] Associate Editor

Maria C. Livingston: [email protected] CONTACTS Editorial/Publications Specialist AFSA Headquarters: Controller VACANT (202) 338-4045; Fax (202) 338-6820 Kalpna Srimal: [email protected] State Department AFSA Office: Assistant Controller Editorial Assistant (202) 647-8160; Fax (202) 647-0265 Cory Nishi: [email protected] Shannon Mizzi: [email protected] USAID AFSA Office: Ad & Circulation Manager (202) 712-1941; Fax (202) 216-3710 LABOR MANAGEMENT Ed Miltenberger: [email protected] FCS AFSA Office: General Counsel (202) 482-9088; Fax (202) 482-9087 Sharon Papp: [email protected] Art Director Caryn Suko Smith Deputy General Counsel GOVERNING BOARD Zlatana Badrich: [email protected] Advertising Intern President Labor Management Specialist JeongEun “Jessie” Shin Hon. 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Tom Boyatt: [email protected] USAID Staff Assistant Tricia Wingerter (Governing Board Liaison) State Representatives Erika Bethmann: [email protected] Lawrence Casselle THE MAGAZINE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS Susan Danewitz MEMBER SERVICES PROFESSIONALS John Dinkelman Member Services Director The Foreign Service Journal (ISSN 0146-3543), 2101 E Eric Geelan Janet Hedrick: [email protected] Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20037-2990 is pub- John Dinkelman Membership Representative lished monthly, with combined January-February and July-August issues, by the American Foreign Service Ramón Escobar Natalie Cheung: [email protected] Association (AFSA), a private, nonprofit organization. Margaret “Nini” Hawthorne Retiree Counselor Material appearing herein represents the opinions of the Peter Neisuler Todd Thurwachter: [email protected] writers and does not necessarily represent the views of Erin O’Connor the Journal, the Editorial Board or AFSA. Writer queries Retiree Representative and submissions are invited, preferably by email. The Leah Pease Isabelle Hazel: [email protected] Journal is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, Tricia Wingerter Administrative Assistant and Office Manager photos or illustrations. Advertising inquiries are invited. USAID Representatives Ana Lopez: [email protected] All advertising is subject to the publisher’s approval. AFSA reserves the right to reject advertising that is not Jeffrey Cochrane in keeping with its standards and objectives. The appear- Lorraine Sherman COMMUNICATIONS ance of advertisements herein does not imply endorse- FCS Representative Director of Communications ment of goods or services offered. Opinions expressed in Youqing Ma Ásgeir Sigfússon: [email protected] advertisements are the views of the advertisers and do Online Communications Manager not necessarily represent AFSA views or policy. 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8 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

No More Old Boys’ Club

BY SHAWN DORMAN

couple years ago I was invited in hiring, pay and benefits have largely second-hand narrative can. to talk about women in diplo- been wiped away (thank you, Alison In “Challenging Tradition,” we offer macy with middle and high Palmer, the Women’s Action Organiza- first-person accounts—based on oral A schoolers at an all-girls school tion and other pioneers); and women are history interviews conducted by the in Manhattan during a special “women out leading teams, USAID missions and Association of Diplomatic Studies and in the world”-themed day. The more I embassies around the world. Training—of three female Foreign Ser- thought about what to say to these very Is the Foreign Service truly equal and vice officers breaking barriers from the young women—most of whom had never representative of America? Not yet. Do 1950s through the 1980s: Elinor Consta- heard of the Foreign Service—the more I problems for women persist? Absolutely. ble, Phyllis Oakley and Mary Olmsted. “leaned in” to the realization that the Are there still more men than women in And in FS Heritage, Nicholas Willis Foreign Service offers a pretty darn great top positions? Yes. traces the evolution of State personnel career for women. This month we consider women in the evaluations as reflected in the dossier of Progress over the past 50 years has Foreign Service with a look back, a look his aunt, Frances Elizabeth Willis—the been dramatic. The early decades of the ahead and a few ideas for keeping a posi- third woman to join the Foreign Service Foreign Service were very white and very tive trend going. (in 1927), the first career woman to be male, with rare exceptions. Until 1972, In “Foreign Service Women Today: appointed ambassador (1953), and the women who did make it into the Service The Palmer Case and Beyond,” former first to attain the rank of Career Minister had to resign if they married. This left few FSO Andrea Strano takes a look at the (1955) and then Career Ambassador women to climb the ranks. legacy of the women who led the charge (1962). When I joined in 1993, my A-100 class to advance the status of women, which We can’t publish this focus without of 44 included just 10 women. And yet gathered momentum during the 1970s. a nod to the American Foreign Service I didn’t perceive gender bias, neither in FSOs Thao Anh Tran and Kristin Association of today. AFSA represents— training nor out at post. I felt that oppor- Stewart at Embassy Panama City share and is the voice of—the Foreign Service. tunity and promotion were equally avail- a model for using the Federal Women’s Throughout its 92-year history, AFSA’s able to me and to my male colleagues. In Program at post for career network- membership, and leadership, has gener- fact, I found that being a woman in the ing and mentoring. And former USAID ally looked like the Foreign Service. So it Foreign Service was particularly useful in Senior Foreign Service Officer Erin Soto is worth noting that women have held the putting people at ease, encouraging them shares “Ten Leadership Tips for Aspiring post of AFSA president during five of the to speak freely. Women.” last seven years. AFSA vice presidents for Today’s gender mix in A-100 classes is We take a jump into the past with the two largest constituencies—State and much more balanced, as it is at the entry- stories of female diplomats during dif- USAID—are women: Angie Bryan and level for the other foreign affairs agencies. ferent decades. Retired FSO Andrea Sharon Wayne. State specialist entry classes do tend to Farsakh shares her experience as “A Our current president, Ambassador have more men than Pioneer in Saudi Arabia” in the 1970s Barbara Stephenson, represents the best women because Dip- and 1980s. And we travel back to the of today’s FS leaders: she’s looking out for lomatic Security and 1940s and 1950s “On Assignment with those behind her on the FS career path IT still attract more Maxine Desilet,” whose letters home and and recognizes the importance of striv- men than women. efficiency reports from Berlin, Caracas ing for a Foreign Service that looks like But gender biases and Rangoon illustrate the times as no America. n

Shawn Dorman is the editor of The Foreign Service Journal.

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 9 LETTERS

Measuring PD’s evaluating programs at Intangibles of Impact the post and bureau levels. Public Diplomacy In the Office of Policy, Plan- R/PPR believes it is I retired from the Foreign Service in ning and Resources for the essential—and possible— 1986 but have remained active in AFSA Under Secretary for Public to acquire greater insight ever since, including four years on the Diplomacy and Public Affairs, into the impact of public Governing Board. we read with interest James diplomacy programming. We When word came out back in 1999 Rider’s December Speaking have increased our audience that the U.S. Information Agency would Out, “Proving Public Diplo- research capacity, producing disappear, I was quite concerned. I felt macy Works.” Mr. Rider made some reports that provide actionable there was a significant underappreciation excellent observations about the chal- guidance on target audiences, relevant (including from many of my State col- lenges of evaluating the impact of public messages and other topics to help maxi- leagues) of what USIA was doing through- diplomacy efforts, and the necessity of so mize the effectiveness of a post’s limited out the world. doing. PD resources. I began my Foreign Service career To further the discussion, I want to A key component for the success of in 1957 as a disbursing officer in Vien- provide information about R/PPR’s work R/PPR’s efforts is training American and tiane, but I was able to pitch in with the to help PD practitioners and policymak- local staff on the importance of report- U.S. Information Service (as USIA was ers assess the impact of public diplomacy ing PD activities and demonstrating how known at overseas posts) during my free programming. they link to mission goals. Clarifying and time. At my next post, Paris, I lived a few PD practitioners have long known that articulating objectives at the outset of a meters down the street from the often- there is a dearth of data to analyze and program, initiative or policy is a core chal- overflowing USIS library. (I have never shape decision-making in public diplo- lenge that policymakers and implement- understood why those libraries were later macy, leaving practitioners to “go with ers must also address together. closed.) And I played various low-key their gut,” while providing scant evidence But creating the tools is only part of the public diplomacy roles throughout the of effectiveness. effort. The under secretary has requested rest of my career. R/PPR is working to remedy that situa- additional resources to ensure that we James Rider’s article was very enlight- tion by developing a modern suite of tools are able to undertake rigorous evalua- ening and not surprising. Are our public to create strategies, set objectives and tions of the impact of PD programs, and diplomacy programs overall doing better plan, track and evaluate public diplomacy to conduct the outreach necessary within in this post-USIA period? This is obviously programs carried out across the world. the PD profession to develop a culture that tricky to evaluate, as Mr. Rider notes. Yet This initiative includes: (1) the global understands and values evaluation. there can be no doubt of the importance rollout in FY 2016 of the Public Diplo- We heartily agree with Mr. Rider’s of such “intangibles.” macy Implementation Planning tool, recommendation to shift from focusing on All FS personnel are, in effect, or at which ties planned PD programming the quantity of programs to their quality, least should be occasional public diplo- to the Integrated Country Strategy in a conceived strategically and evaluated for macy officers, no matter their specific jobs. searchable cloud-based platform; (2) effectiveness in cultivating the relation- PD is indeed a valuable role for all of us. the October 2015 launch of the Mission ships and conditions necessary to achieve Gilbert H. Sheinbaum Activity Tracker 4.0 (MAT), with improve- American foreign policy objectives. FSO, retired ments designed to gather information on We welcome suggestions, ideas and Vienna, Virginia activities, audiences reached and notable comments from our colleagues and critics. outcomes; and (3) the expansion of Write to us at [email protected]. USAID and Operational R/PPR’s Evaluation and Measurement Elizabeth Detmeister Stress Unit to coordinate PD evaluations FSO As the authors of the report titled throughout the “R family” and prepare Acting Director, R/PPR Evaluation and “Stress and Resilience Issues Affecting research and guidance for PD practition- Measurement Unit USAID Personnel in High Operational ers to use in defining objectives and Washington, D.C. Stress Environments” (http://bit.ly/

10 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL USAIDStressResilience), we were heart- respond programmatically to a new set ened to see it covered in the FSJ’s January- of security-related foreign policy priori- February issue (Talking Points). Along ties, amplifying objectives such as crisis with the FSJ editorial staff, we believe the response and stabilization. Precipitous well-being of the frontline civilian com- shifts in budgetary imperatives and munity merits serious consideration. strategic focus have necessitated surges in However, to fully appreciate the staffing to meet urgent and often unantici- report’s findings, it is essential to under- pated needs, creating significant internal stand the wider context. It would be stress. inaccurate to find fault in any one orga- 2) Numerous mandatory regulations nization’s handling of operational and governing USAID operations are based deployment stress. on the stable-state programming assump- In a 2010 report, “Army Health Promo- tions in which traditional development tion, Risk Reduction, Suicide Prevention,” interventions thrive. While USAID staff the former vice chief of staff of the Army, have shown grit in meeting the challenges General Peter Chiarelli, went on record of the “new normal” programming in un- stating: “No one could have foreseen stable operating environments (e.g., Iraq, the impact of nine years of war on our Afghanistan, Yemen), this has taken leaders and soldiers. As a human toll. a result of the protracted 3) Other agencies and Congress and intense operational impose constraints on USAID that tempo, the Army has often inhibit effective manage- lost its former situational ment or achievement of its objec- awareness. … We now tives. Budgetary and other critical must face the unintended decisions are often made over consequences of leading which USAID has no influence or an expeditionary Army that control. Along with the massive included involuntary enlist- amounts of foreign assistance ment extensions, acceler- funding for crises and stabiliza- ated promotions, extended deployment tion operations come increased oversight rotations. … ” and political scrutiny. Yet staff comple- USAID’s workforce faces strikingly ments are not necessarily increased to similar circumstances: an unprecedented meet these operational demands; instead, expeditionary focus, intense operational personnel are asked to “step up.” tempo, accelerated promotions and mul- The crisis among frontline civilians tiple assignments in demanding environ- is real, and it has critical implications. ments. But our study shows that USAID As detailed in our report, it is part of faces another pincer arm—the post-9/11 a larger problem for all organizations difficulties that all relief and development operating in this delicate space. Solu- partner organizations are suffering. tions require sensitive and nuanced Anyone seeking to comprehend this policies on USAID’s part and thought- dual layer of strain for USAID should ful collaboration its from partners. The consider the following conditions (often agency has begun work on its share of beyond the agency’s control): that task, but the road ahead will require 1) After the 9/11 attacks, USAID has a commitment at senior levels across been tasked in unprecedented ways to government to support all those who

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 11 work on our behalf in places of conflict, A more perfect recipe to brew madness under the 1946 Foreign Service Act but crisis or instability. I cannot imagine. In my 26 years in the eliminated in 1980. Perhaps it is time to Lee R. Briggs Foreign Service, I saw five years’ worth of consider its reinstatement. Siddharth Ashvin Shah supervisors who functionally understood The department currently has dispa- Greenleaf Integrative Strategies “collegial.” They were the jewels that made rate programs that would be best unified Arlington, Virginia the rest bearable. under a single reserve corps: the Civil Ser- I see one way to fix the problem: each vice “hard to fill” program, the Overseas Toxic Workplaces morning, supervisors should look in the Development Program (for civil servants), As I read through the “Foreign Service mirror and ask, “What will I do today to limited non-career appointment (LNA) Members Weigh In” section of the Jour- show those working for me that I appreci- consular adjudicators, A-EFM consular nal’s January-February “Mental Health” ate what they do? How can I help them adjudicators, EFM professional associ- issue, I chuckled—but the mirth was achieve their goals?” ates, WAE (“While Actually Employed”) FS bitter. The level of self-examination being retirees, flyaway teams (e.g., a civil servant Throughout the litany of uncaring and what it is in the Foreign Service, I look for- who provides three weeks of press support suspicious bureaucrats, toxic workplaces ward to the Journal revisiting the problem leading up to a Secretary of State visit, or and vicious bosses, I recognized all too of mental health care in a future issue. In supports a post during a consular evacua- clearly the Foreign Service in which I— the meantime, Prozac and Johnny Walker tion) and technical experts brought from and a vast majority of my colleagues— all around. outside of the State Department to assist worked. “Stress and anxiety” were as com- Morgan Liddick in post-conflict stabilization situations. mon as breathing and about as healthy FSO, retired A revived reserve corps could be a as a winter’s worth of air in 1970s Ankara, Stuarts Draft, Virginia single cadre with a common entry pro- when the sidewalks sizzled in the dilute gram and its own esprit de corps. It would sulfuric acid falling from the sky. An FS Reserve Still Needed serve the combined goals of filling unmet The problem is that the Foreign Service Thank you for the great review of the needs in the Foreign Service and provid- seems to see itself as a collegial service Foreign Service Act of 1980 in the Septem- ing career development for qualified civil of intelligent, creative people working ber issue (“The Foreign Service Act of 1980 servants. It could incorporate all those together to advance the national interest Turns 35”). One unfortunate result of the civil servants who pass an examination and to protect our citizens. But it is noth- act was to eliminate the Foreign Service and have worldwide availability; but like ing of the sort. Most higher-ranking super- Reserve corps. current LNAs and WAEs, the appoint- visors wouldn’t recognize “collegiality” if At the time it probably made sense ments would be for a limited duration. it walked up and smacked them across the to consolidate, either allowing corps (LNAs are limited to no more than 5 years face with a mackerel. members to convert to the Foreign Service continuous overseas service.) But they—and their lower-level proper or revert to the Civil Service. At the end of this period, the employee colleagues destined to rise—would be However, practice has shown that the could compete for entry into the Foreign perfectly familiar with other interpersonal State Department cannot do without such Service officer or specialist corps, or behaviors: shameless self-promotion, employees brought into the Foreign Ser- return to the Civil Service. bootlicking, backstabbing for fun and vice for limited appointments. The Bureau The newly constituted Foreign Service profit, and whispering campaigns appro- of Consular Affairs, in particular, is leading Reserve could incorporate a registry, cre- priate to a gaggle of 15-year-old Valley the way with creative programs to fill vital ating a common pool centrally managed Girls. All of this takes place in a climate adjudicator slots that cannot all be filled by the Bureau of Human Resources, of the of frenzied competition through a lottery by incoming entry-level FSO classes. hitherto separately maintained groups. of supervisors able to write well and suf- Originally created as the Foreign Ser- The registry would include information on ficiently interested to do so, presided over vice Auxiliary during World War II to bring skills, training, language ability and medi- by a charmed circle of those with con- additional employees on board quickly cal clearance. All reservists would possess nections, family ties or education at the outside of the FS examination process, a diplomatic passport to allow travel on proper schools. the Foreign Service Reserve was codified short notice.

12 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Rather than trying to merge the Civil Services”) is a particularly timely case in ECA is also a bureau that has had only Service and Foreign Service (as was the point. political-appointee assistant secretar- goal of “Wristonization” back in the Two letters to the editor responding to ies. While they may be qualified in other 1950s) or the more recent efforts under Mr. Roeder’s views in the December issue areas, political appointees are unlikely Secretary of State Colin Powell to soften (“Civil and Foreign Service Relations” to address intra- and inter-service (Civil the distinctions between the two entities, and “Parity Is Not Equality”) reflect the Service-Foreign Service) problems about maybe we need to recognize the need for intense sentiments on the topic. As they which they themselves know little. a third path, one that helps bridge the two note, seeking parity among the services It seems ironic that a bureau dedi- services. does not make sense: we sign up from the cated to promoting mutual understand- Stuart Denyer start for different duty. Complementary, ing shows little regard for the problems FSO but different. and misunderstanding between and U.S. Embassy Algiers “One team” is the mantra. But resent- among the various parts of the bureau- ment bubbles close to the surface. In cracy. Civil servants view FSOs as arro- Mutual Understanding the Bureau of Educational and Cultural gant and shallow. They aren’t all wrong The FSJ continues to play a vital role Affairs, for example, FSOs are generally (it’s been a longtime dream that the in exploring sensitive issues that benefit seen as waltzing in for two years and A-100 orientation course would include from airing. Publishing Larry Roeder Jr.’s moving on while experienced program a segment on humility). But there is October Speaking Out column (“Seek- officers have nowhere to go—a situation another side to the story, too. ing Parity Between the Civil and Foreign that is exacerbated by a hiring freeze. This was brought home to me over

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 13 brunch with an FS friend serving in an Young at the Africa post. Before coffee was poured, I United Nations learned that at her post electricity goes Did Cecile Shea pull a punch in the out many times a day, her child’s special introduction to her FSJ interview (“The needs are getting barely adequate atten- Usefulness of Cookie-Pushing,” Decem- tion, dust storms infiltrate her home and ber) with Richard Longworth? lungs, and work duties bleed deep into Ms. Shea cited undiplomatic state- the night and all across weekends. She ments U.S. Permanent Representative to mentioned these things casually, as if the United Nations Andrew Young made she were ordering eggs over easy. before and in the first six months of his The picture could not contrast more two-year tenure. (His initial misstate- with what Civil Service colleagues ments of policy prompted Mr. Longworth count on: keeping children in excellent to write the “Primer for Diplomats.”)

Moving? local schools; swapping telework days However, Ms. Shea failed to mention to accommodate a plumber; negotiat- why Young was fired by President Jimmy ing comp time for attending anything Carter: He had met with the Palestine outside work hours; and, certainly, Liberation Organization representative to not dealing with dust storms—much the United Nations, despite the adminis- less Ebola or Beijing-style air pollu- tration’s having assured the Israelis that tion. Another challenge, maintaining a U.S. diplomats would not do so as long as spouse’s career, is also clearly easier if the PLO refused to recognize Israel. based in Washington, D.C. Richard McKee But members of the Foreign Ser- FSO, retired vice expect and accept difficulties Arlington, Virginia living abroad—pollution and disease; weeknight and weekend events (plus Hispanic Firsts the stress of being duty officer!); poor in Diplomacy schools; weak infrastructure (roads, It was interesting to see the October electricity, water); maybe a coup, attack AFSA News featuring Hispanics at State or evacuation. It is the price we pay, and in Congress. I remember John Jova, Take AFSA willingly, to live in a country and seek to who must have entered the career Foreign understand it deeply—to be good diplo- Service about the same time as my late With You! mats who build enduring ties. husband, Leon B. Poullada. Civil servants don’t sign up for this My husband was the first Hispanic Change your address online, same duty. What they do every day to career FSO to be named a U.S. ambas- support the department, largely here in sador. In fact, he was the first resident visit us at www.afsa.org/ Washington, is irreplaceable. We bring American ambassador to the Republic of address different experience and different exper- Togo from 1961 to 1964, when he retired. Or tise to the work of the State Department. Born in New Mexico in 1913, Leon Send changes to: And we sign up for different systems and Poullada grew up in Los Angeles. He rules. joined the Foreign Service in 1948 after AFSA Membership Instead of parity, let’s focus on commissioned U.S. Army service, includ- Department complementarity. ing as a lawyer in the war crimes trials 2101 E Street NW Kit Norland following the end of World War II. Washington, DC 20037 FSO, retired Quite a few fellow officers with Arlington, Virginia small-town backgrounds joined the

14 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Service soon after the war, thus changing tive Gerry Connolly (R-Va.) in response Further, I was told that if federal its stereotypical east coast, Ivy League to my inquiry: “Since you have received employees or retirees are experienc- demographics. a notification, you are automatically ing “real” problems with this contrac- On a different note, I am glad the covered by identity theft insurance and tor or not receiving needed coverage, Journal continues to speak out, recog- restoration services. No additional action they should contact their congressional nize dissent and raise issues such as the is needed unless you want to also enroll representative. OPM has set up a private militarization of our foreign affairs since yourself and your family for additional “Hill” hot line to assist legislators with 1945, which has so limited the anticipated services.” constituent issues on the data breach. effectiveness of the United Nations. In a follow-up conversation with his I hope this added information is Leila D.J. Poullada district director in the Annandale office, I helpful. Foreign Service family member was given additional confirmation that no James Meenan St. Paul, Minnesota further actions are required to get cover- FSO, retired age under the OPM/ID Experts contract. Fairfax, Virginia OPM Data Breach If you go to the OPM Cybersecurity We are all highly concerned about the Internet site and complete the My ID Care Remembering Basil Office of Personnel Management data registration, you are only confirming to Wentworth breach and want to know more about ID OPM that you received their notification. Recently reading through January’s Experts services. Though a bit confusing, that is the way DACOR Bulletin, I read the obituary I recently heard this from Representa- OPM is managing this effort. of John “Basil” Wentworth, and was

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 15 reminded of what happened to him, on again and slowly recovered. able as Leave. (Note that Bowe Berghdal, and the impact it had on my own career He was put on Sick Leave until that the soldier who may be charged with and views of how the Service cares for its ran out, then on Annual Leave until that desertion in Afghanistan, was promoted members. The story helps illustrate some ran out and then—wait for it—on Leave to sergeant during his absence. I assume of my concerns about how we “profes- Without Pay! The department finally he got all that back pay.) sionals” look out for our people. brought him home, and sent a car to I ran all around, naively trying to cor- In 1958, I was a new FS-8 on assign- bring him into the E Bureau every day, rect what I was convinced was an over- ment in the Economic Bureau when I where he sat hunched over a desk for a sight or an error, only to learn the terrible met Wentworth and learned his story. few hours so they could pay him. Now truth. That was—and maybe still is—how On Cyprus the year before, in the garden that is truly compassionate care and we dealt with those kinds of issues, with his daughter, he had opened the concern for your people. including cases of FS members contract- gate when the bell rang, and a Greek Wentworth told me he had met a Navy ing a serious disease while serving in an terrorist put four bullets and five holes in pilot in the hospital who had suffered a area where it is endemic. him. He was rushed to a Defense Depart- compound leg fracture skiing in Ger- Ed Peck ment hospital in Greece and operated on; many, and when he got out would get 30 Ambassador, retired he developed peritonitis, was operated days of Convalescent Leave—not charge- Chevy Chase, Maryland

Longest-Serving U.S. Facebook Feedback Ambassador to Israel I greatly enjoyed reading Yoav A few of the Facebook postings in response to “A Foreign Service Officer’s Tenembaum’s article about Sam Lewis’ Alzheimer’s Journey,” by John Collinge (January-February FSJ) tenure as the U.S. ambassador to Israel in the January-February Journal (“Samuel From the AFSA Facebook page— Lewis in Israel, 1977-1985”). For the record, however, I would note Mari Dietrich Tolliver: Grateful to Mr. Collinge for sharing his and his that Sam Lewis was not the longest- wife’s story—his grace and love for his wife are in every line, as is his generosity in sharing lessons learned with the rest of us. serving U.S. diplomatic representative to Israel. That distinction belongs to Gloria Nelli Lloyd: Such a very heartbreaking, compassionate and, the career FSO, Ambassador Walworth finally, practical article. I’m keeping this one in our own files, should the Barbour, who served some 12 years time ever come when one of us needs the guidance offered here. under Presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Roger Moran: A sad but informative account. I have watched my Nixon (1961-1973). On my first tour I mother, father-in-law and mother-in-law as Alzheimer’s gradually was fortunate to serve as Amb. Barbour’s overtook them. aide for 18 months—a truly memorable experience. From the FSJ Facebook page— Edward Gibson Lanpher Ambassador, retired Kim Kelly: This is a heartbreaking story but so very informative. Thank you for sharing your story. Washington, D.C.

Eileen Malloy: Zandra was a valued colleague of mine in our work for Correction the inspector general. She is very lucky to have had the support of her Our apologies to Yoav Tenembaum loving husband, and we are indebted to him for sharing his insights. and thanks to Amb. Lanpher for correct- Cathy Hurst: I had no idea the wonderful, vibrant Zandra was ill. Thanks ing the record. We regret the inadvertent for posting this. omission of the qualifier: Lewis was the second-longest-serving U.S. envoy to Tel Aviv. n

16 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL TALKING POINTS

Climate Breakthrough billion annually for adaptation and American Hostages in Paris resilience measures and to help reduce Held in Iran Finally fter more than two decades of emissions in developing countries. Compensated Aon-again, off-again negotiations, The ultimate goal is to limit the ifty-two American Foreign Service and failed treaties and international discord, amount of greenhouse gases emitted by Fmilitary personnel were taken hos- the world witnessed the near-impossible human activity to the same levels that tage at Embassy Tehran on Nov. 4, 1979, become reality on Dec. 12. The United trees, soil and oceans can absorb natu- and were not released until Jan. 20, 1981. States and 194 other countries reached rally, hopefully by some time between Now, 35 years later, Congress has finally the first-ever deal on a way forward for 2050 and 2100. approved compensation for the physi- limiting global warming. While there is much to pick apart in cal and psychological hardships they Most scientists agree that warming the fine print of this agreement (e.g., endured during those 444 days. beyond 2 degrees Celsius will result in provisions for voluntary withdrawal of Their reparation was included as a catastrophic weather events such as parties, no legal requirements for caps on line item in the Consolidated Appropria- droughts, floods, heat waves and sea emissions, etc.), it’s hard to dispute the tions Act, Fiscal Year 2016, under the Vic- level rises, causing irreversible damage. significance of this diplomatic achieve- tims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund. With the world already nearly halfway ment. Secretary of State John Kerry called For decades, many of the former toward that 2-degree mark, negotiators it “a remarkable global commitment”; hostages had pursued legal proceedings representing all 195 countries descended The Guardian deemed it “the world’s to secure collective compensation from on Paris in December for the United greatest diplomatic success.” the U.S. or Iranian government. Much of Nation’s 21st Conference of the Parties— The Paris Agreement will enter into their case emphasized adverse effects on a two-week session that many believed force after 55 countries accounting for their post-crisis quality of life: some of would be the last real opportunity to at least 55 percent of global emissions the hostages have experienced post-trau- tackle climate change at the international ratify it. matic stress disorder and psychological level. —Maria C. Livingston, disturbances leading, in some cases, to Prior to the COP, countries submitted Associate Editor suicide, substance abuse, mental illness individual pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions—known as intended nation- ally determined contributions (INDCs)— but only enough to limit warming to 2.7 Contemporary Quote degrees Celsius, at best. Nonetheless, I’ve always felt that we are better off trying diplomacy first, and if we these INDCs are a critical starting point don’t succeed we can always resort, if necessary, to the use of force. It toward an agreement that represents a will not be easy for [Iran] to cheat and trim on this deal—they may try, but the truly global pact. world is going to be watching as they do that. We’re going to have the sup- For the first time, parts of the pact are port of our European allies, of the Russians and Chinese, of most of the Arab legally binding, including a requirement countries. that countries come together every five But the problem we are going to have is that when we implement the years to set more ambitious targets as nuclear deal we’re also going to have to contend with a very aggressive, very dictated by science. Experts believe that negative Iran in the region. … I think that Secretary Kerry has been right to the roadmap adopted in Paris may limit say, ‘Look, we’ll challenge Iran to work more productively and constructively the increase in global temperatures to 1.5 on the Syrian civil war or on Yemen, but we’ll have our guard up to defend degrees Celsius. against Iran in the region.’ I think that’s the only proper thing for the Countries also agreed to report to U.S. to do. each other and the public on how well —Former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns, now a professor they are doing to implement the targets of diplomacy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, in a Jan. 18 interview with in their respective INDCs. Developed Robin Burr on “Here & Now,” a program on WBUR, Boston’s NPR station. countries pledged to mobilize $100

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 17 and family break-ups. When civil litigation failed, the hos- family members of Americans killed in the In the mid-1980s, each hostage tages appealed to Congress. Both the August 1998 embassy bombings in Nairobi received $22,000 from the U.S. govern- 107th and 111th Congresses attempted and Dar es Salaam. ment, or roughly $50 per day of captivity, unsuccessfully to enact legislation that Reflecting on the new law, Iran expert per contemporary Civil Service regula- would repeal the Algiers Accords. Ambassador John Limbert—a former tions. These figures were not consistent The new legislation will award up to Iran hostage himself and current AFSA with what journalists and other non-fed- $4.4 million, or about $10,000 per day of Governing Board member—offers the fol- eral American employees who had been captivity (an amount in line with what lowing comment: taken hostage by foreign powers received other hostages and victims of state- “The appalling episode of 1979-1981 for their ordeals. sponsored terrorism have received from remains one of the ‘ghosts of history’ that The Algiers Accords, negotiated in 1981 the U.S. government). Funding will come haunt U.S.-Iranian relations. As an unre- to free the hostages, proved to be one of mainly from financial penalties paid to solved grievance, it still casts its shadow the main barriers to winning compen- settle violations of international sanctions. over efforts to change 35 years of Iranian- sation directly from the government of Only 38 of the 53 original hostages are still American futility into something more Iran because it expressly forbade law- alive. productive for both sides. suits against Iran as a condition for their The new law will also compensate “Anyone who doubted the power of release. other victims of terrorist attacks, including this particular ghost had only to listen to

50 Years Ago

Searching for Gold in Them goal, find that the point of diminishing returns Consular Hills is reached after four to six months. tatutory consular work is substantive in Pressure to turn out more and more Snature. It requires an extraordinarily high “cases” in less and less time virtually degree of intelligence, resourcefulness, persis- eliminates any meaningful person-to-person tence, imagination, compassion and sheer hard contact between the consular officer and his work. This is a specialty requiring every bit as clients. The standardized interviews neces- much general ability and technical competence sary for efficient operation limit one’s use of as political or economic reporting. … But few, the local language to a few key sentences, very, very few officers join the Foreign Service endlessly repeated. Despite these pres- with the goal of doing visa, citizenship or protection work. sures, most officers at the working level would willingly The overwhelming majority of newly appointed FSOs sacrifice production figures to obtain political or eco- have for years come in with the clear expectation of forg- nomic intelligence. … ing a career in political work, interrupted only by occa- Most officers in the senior and upper-middle grades, sional broadening in an economic section. Thus, assign- when asked to expound on the value of consular experi- ment to a consular section carries with it from the very ence to a political (or economic) career, respond firmly, beginning an aura of exile. affirmatively and automatically, rather as if they were The new FSO, by and large, accepts the consular reciting the creed at High Mass. But ask any established assignment as a necessary evil and, for a while at least, political officer how many consular assignments he wants is willing to believe that “there is gold to be mined in the in the coming years. Without exception they feel they consular hills.” Some few find the discretionary powers have “served their time,” gained their experience and have of a consular officer much to their liking and encounter nothing more to learn in a consular job. true and lasting satisfaction with reasonableness and —John J. St. John, from his article, “The Consular prudence. Most, however, looking toward their ultimate Assignment: A Minority View,” in the March 1966 FSJ.

18 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL the recent American debate over the Iran approximately 30- to 35-percent politi- nuclear deal—a debate in which speak- cal and 65- to 70-percent career Foreign ers ignored the actual agreement and Service. preferred to make brave proclamations Political appointees are often painted of indignation about the few virtues and with the same broad brush—bundlers many vices of the Islamic Republic. and political hacks lacking relevant expe- “This compensation provision will not rience and competence for the job. This end the mistrust and hostility. For me per- isn’t necessarily always the case. sonally, it will not open that long-sought We thought it might be interesting to ‘road back to Tehran’ on which we one look at President Barack Obama’s list of day hope to take our grandchildren for a political-appointee ambassadors and voyage of self-discovery. For our shrink- their backgrounds. By the end of 2015, the ing group of former hostages, however, it president had appointed 135 individuals was definitely good news and a huge step from outside the career Foreign Service to forward after decades of frustration, losing chief-of-mission spots—representing 32.4 court battles and stubborn opposition.” percent of all his ambassadorial nomina- —Shannon Mizzi, tions since 2009. Editorial Assistant To compare their backgrounds, we divided them into seven distinct catego- Political Appointee ries: law, finance/business/consulting, Ambassadors: Where government, entertainment, military, Do They Come From? politics and other. That last category ongtime readers know that AFSA encompasses a variety of experiences, L remains concerned about the high including academia, advocacy, educa- number of political-appointee ambas- tion, engineering, journalism, fashion and sadors. For close to 50 years, the balance professional sports. in our ambassadorial ranks has been The range of backgrounds is note- worthy: one is a former longtime senator from Montana (Max Baucus, China); another is a former producer of the tele- vision series “Alias” (Crystal Nix-Hines, UNESCO); a third is a former profes- sional baseball player (Mark Gilbert, New Zealand and Samoa); and yet another is a former associate justice on California’s Supreme Court (Carlos Moreno, Belize). We also have the daughter of a president (Caroline Kennedy, Japan) and—notoriously—a producer of the long-running soap opera “The Bold and the Beautiful” (Colleen Bell, Hungary). And where do these individuals serve? Fifteen serve in Western Europe; 14 in international organizations; four in East Asia; three each in the Middle East and

AFSA /JEFF L AU North/Central America; two each in East-

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 19 ern Europe, Africa, South/Central Asia Europe, two each to the Caribbean and CFR Compares and the Caribbean; and one individual international organizations, and one to Candidates on each in Oceania and South America. Latin America. Foreign Policy At the end of 2015, eight political Not a bad job if you can get it. he Council on Foreign Relations has appointees were awaiting confirmation —Devon Fitzgerald, Tadded a valuable new section to its by the Senate—three headed for Western Communications Intern website: “Campaign 2016: The Candi- dates & The World.” Its stated goal is to provide the public with a comprehensive SITE OF THE MONTH: Extreme Possibilities: USAID Stories (https://stories.usaid.gov) guide to the foreign policy views of the men and women currently vying for the presidency—a place where voters can ith personal stories, photos. Each track and compare where the candidates Wwe gain insight and story shows stand. connection. We step out how USAID has In organizing the information, CFR of our own shoes and, for been help- first identified the foreign policy issues just a moment, experi- ing through with the most potential to decide can- ence what it would be like programs and didates’ electoral fates: China, Cuba, to be someone else. By advocacy. defense policy, energy and climate contrast with much news Visitors to change, immigration, Iran, the Islamic coverage, where surface the site may State, national security, North Korea, facts and events are often view stories Russia and trade. skimmed, personal sto- by country There is a page for each issue contain- ries show how individuals, or program ing a collection of useful background through their own words, “priorities” (e.g., materials and interactive presentations are affected. Power Africa, Let Girls Learn, Feed created by CFR experts that readers can The U.S. Agency for Interna- the Future). An interactive map helps use to develop their own opinions before tional Development’s new website, browsers visualize USAID’s reach, moving on to the candidates’ views. Extreme Possibilities: USAID Stories, offering the option to click on colorful The China page, for example, contains uses the personal testimony of pins to read a personal story. In addi- primers on the Chinese Communist those from whom we seldom hear— tion, the map illustrates examples Party, religious freedom, media censor- project beneficiaries—to inspire of quantifiable results stemming ship and maritime disputes. Candidates’ support for the critical work that the from USAID’s work. For example, one views on each issue are presented with- aid agency performs. “results” pin highlights the fact that out commentary. From fighting against stigmati- USAID has helped improve the diag- In addition to the Campaign 2016 site, zation of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, nostic performance of 70 percent of CFR offers a handy election guide, “Can- transgender and intersex (LGBTI) Ukraine’s tuberculosis labs. didates In Their Own Words”—a regularly community in Colombia, to prevent- Extreme Possibilities offers a visu- updated repository of transcripts of ing sexual violence against young ally compelling way to become more each presidential candidate’s speeches, girls and assisting survivors of sex- informed about the extreme poverty interviews and op-eds on foreign affairs ual violence against women in the issues that affect so many. The new topics. Full transcripts of each televised Democratic Republic of the Congo, site is eye-catching and easy to use, presidential debate are also available. n the site tells the stories of incredibly which will surely result in readers —Shannon Mizzi, Editorial Assistant brave individuals across the planet. who are more aware and empathetic. Their words are accompanied by a —Dastan Sadykov, background narrative and stunning Editorial Intern

20 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL SPEAKING OUT

More Hemingway, Less Kafka, Please

BY MATTHEW KEENE

ast November, the blogger known Most of the frustration leveled at HR over as “Diplopundit” published a story about the assignment of a assignments reflects the fact that so few Lwell-connected FS-1 as princi- members of the Foreign Service know who pal officer in a European Bureau post, a in HR is responsible for doing what. Senior Foreign Service position. Since the candidate was below grade for the position, this was a “stretch assignment,” which requires the divi- on who you know than what. through the bidding process. Once you’ve sion in the Bureau of Human Resources Indeed, if you are fortunate enough to secured a handshake on a position, your responsible for the career development breathe the rarefied air in the front office CDO hands you off to an assignments and assignment of officers who are FS-1 of a highly regarded assistant secretary officer (AO) in HR/CDA/AD. This indi- or higher (HR/CDA/SL) to cede the or another sixth- or seventh-floor deni- vidual works with your losing and gaining position to the division responsible for zen, there is almost no position to which posts and bureaus to resolve any timing mid-level officers (HR/CDA/ML) after you cannot aspire. issues, arranges any needed training and canvassing its clients to gauge interest brings your assignment to panel. Once in the position by currently unassigned FS Assignments 101 you are paneled and your Assignment officers. I had two stints in the Bureau of Notification (TM-1) goes out, your assign- That no qualified Senior FSO bid on a Human Resources in recent years: first ments technician deals with the logistics: position as prominent as this one frankly as a special assistant in HR/CDA (the orders, allowances and so on. strains credulity. The episode under- front office) and then as an assignments The biggest takeaway from my time scores a serious perception problem officer in HR/CDA/AD (the Assignments in HR/CDA (under different Directors when it comes to Foreign Service assign- Division). I find that most of the frustra- General) is this: Despite all the grum- ments. For all the State Department’s tion leveled at HR over assignments bling I routinely hear about unrespon- carefully crafted standard operating reflects the fact that so few members of sive CDOs and AOs and all the kvetching procedures, as well as the Foreign Affairs the Foreign Service know who in HR is about the perceived inflexibility of the Manual and Foreign Affairs Handbook responsible for doing what. So here is a system and HR’s dogged adherence to guidance—to say nothing of the atten- quick guide to the process. regulation—which often makes it seem tion paid to precedent and the needs of If you’re a mid-level officer, your unreasonable—the vast majority of HR the Service—when push comes to shove, career development officer (CDO) employees at State are hard-working, getting the best jobs depends far more provides guidance on your career and well-meaning and determined to keep the system transparent, fair and equi- Matthew Keene joined the Foreign Service in 1999 as a consular-coned officer, and table. They work to meet the needs of the is currently in Arabic-language training in preparation for a tour as deputy politi- Service, and their individual clients, as cal counselor in Baghdad. His previous overseas assignments include Sofia, Dubai, fully as possible. Jerusalem and, most recently, Cairo, where he was deputy consul general. He has Now, you may snicker at my naiveté. also worked in the Office of Career Development and Assignments in the Bureau of But the tenacity with which many CDOs Human Resources as a special assistant and an assignments officer, and as deputy director of the and AOs argue at panel on behalf of their Office of Maghreb Affairs in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. clients and their bureaus was a pleasant

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 21 revelation to me. These people care about and senior citizens, all the victories to you and the organization, and they are establish equality for minorities—all of fiercely protective of the integrity of the it goes out the window if you are caught assignments process. cheating on your wife. So how do ridiculous stretch assign- Explaining the Inexplicable ments happen, then? Why do positions So when a story emerges about the mysteriously vanish off one bid list only stretch assignment of a below-grade to reappear days later on the list of a officer to a coveted position, implying a future cycle—or on the now list? Why are degree of elasticity at which even Mr. Fan- inquiries on jobs that are ostensibly open tastic would marvel, it disturbs the rank in FS Bid dismissed or unanswered? Why and file in HR. was some employee allowed to extend First of all, it is entirely possible that for a fourth year in a non-differential the officer in question was the best- post when no one else was permitted to qualified bidder, his lack of seniority do the same? And how on earth did that notwithstanding. But even if that was not officer get a language waiver, when the the case, we should bear in mind that the FS is filled with officers who speak that assignment was probably jammed down language? the bureau’s throat after someone on the These anomalies are more likely to seventh floor spoke to the Director Gen- happen when HR is run by senior officers eral and said, “Make this happen.” insufficiently committed to oversee- So the panel either holds its nose and ing a system that is fair, just and above votes to approve the assignment, or it reproach. The fact is that far too often, stands on principle and then watches those in the most important positions, helplessly as the decision is overturned the gatekeepers, aren’t serving out of by the DG’s office. any great love of personnel management HR types often complain that only the work. Some are serving a domestic tour bad-news stories ever get publicity, while while awaiting a plum overseas deputy the solid work HR does on behalf of its chief of mission or principal officer gig. clients day in and day out garners scant Others find themselves serving domesti- attention. Aware that that is largely true, cally for personal reasons, and believe HR the current DG has rightly focused on provides a convenient landing spot. strategic communication, informing the Foreign Service about the work HR does, Restoring Faith what it is accomplishing and how it is in the System addressing current staffing challenges. I Fortunately, there are those who enjoy think that is commendable. the work and are committed to it. But for The problem, though, is this: In any some, the bureaucratically dense nature endeavor, no matter how much you have of the work, sometimes coupled with accomplished, no matter how much good a deep frustration over not being able you have done, it only takes one mistake, to make everything happen that every- one indiscretion, one bad call to destroy one wants—due to pesky devotion to it. Politicians know better than anyone precedent, past practice and established how fragile image and perception are. All procedures by subordinates who can’t the fantastic legislation you passed, all seem to see the “big picture”—makes the assistance you secured for veterans dealing with Foreign Service assignments

22 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL and HR policy maddening. A few can’t be bothered to develop even a modicum of mastery over it. Draft a recommendation denying an absurd request from a regional bureau asking for a stretch assignment to a negotiated tour of duty, and you may not just be overruled. You might be asked to draft a revised memo recommending approval, because senior management needs a fig leaf to justify giving a department princi- pal what he or she wants. Ironically, HR has always done a ter- rible job of attracting bidders to its own ranks. HR should make a concerted effort to explain just how useful a tour in the bureau can be to rising FSOs. It should explain how working in HR makes one a stronger and more well-rounded officer and leader. In fact, no officer should be able to serve as a deputy chief of mission or prin- cipal officer without having served in HR, if you ask me. That might also help obvi- ate the problem of unrealistic expecta- tions among senior officers about staffing options that are permissible under the relevant regulations. HR must do a far better job of recruit- ing senior leaders uncompromising in their commitment to an FS assignments system that sets an example for the rest of the Service in terms of integrity and transparency, that meets the needs of the Service, and that upholds core values even when it is uncomfortable or may disappoint someone further up the food chain. When assignments officers do their job right, operating a process that is transparent and equitable, and meets the challenges of an increasingly complicated world by placing the right officers in the right positions, telling the story of the great work HR does will become much easier—and more convincing. n

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 23 FOCUS WOMEN IN THE FOREIGN SERVICE

Foreign Service Women Today: The Palmer Case and Beyond

Women have made great strides, but more effort is needed to fulfill the legal mandate for a Foreign Service that is “truly representative of the American people throughout all levels.”

BY ANDREA STRANO

he struggle for equality of opportunity hiring, pay, promotion and other personnel policies has been for Foreign Service women has been overturned. long and lively. Ignited by legal chal- Yet there remains a lingering bias against women that is more lenges by Alison Palmer in 1968, it subtle, more difficult to get at. Often reported anecdotally, that continues today. bias is also concretely reflected in such metrics as the male- Tremendous progress has been female gender breakdown by rank—as ranks increase, female made. Fifty years after the first female representation decreases. And though 40 percent of FSOs are member of the Foreign Service, Lucile women, they hold only one-third of the chief-of-mission posi- Atcherson, was admitted in 1922, tions, for example. women still made up less than 10 percent of the diplomatic The Foreign Service Act of 1980 mandates a diplomatic Tcorps and faced systematic discrimination at the State Depart- service that is “truly representative of the American people ment. Today, women comprise 35 percent of the overall Foreign throughout all levels of the Foreign Service.” State Department Service (including officers and specialists) at all foreign affairs leadership has acknowledged the benefits of a diverse workforce agencies and 40 percent of the Foreign Service officer corps. and demonstrating U.S. values to other countries through its Starting with the requirement for female FSOs to resign when people. However, true representation remains elusive, including they get married, most of the institutionalized discrimination in for women. The result is a Foreign Service that is not yet benefiting from Andrea Strano retired on disability from the Foreign Service the full strength of the country that it represents. in 2015. Before becoming an FSO in 2004, she worked for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Red Standard Bearer and Firebrand Cross in New York and Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., Alison Palmer, who joined the State Department in 1955, and Geneva, Switzerland. She lives with her husband in Nutley, New launched the legal battle for female equality at the State Depart- Jersey, where she writes, works as a voiceover artist and does volunteer ment in 1968 with the first equal employment opportunity (EEO) work. She can be reached at [email protected]. complaint ever heard from the Foreign Service. She followed

24 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL her 1971 victory in that case with a class-action suit on behalf of ity. After hearings in the summer of 1971, the board decided in all women in the U.S. Foreign Service in 1976. Today’s impartial her favor. She received the promotion and retroactive pay, which entrance criteria, evaluation and promotion policies, and assign- she used to fund the class-action lawsuit she filed in 1976. ments processes all stem in large part from “the Palmer Case,” which was fought in various phases over more than 30 years. Parallel Strides During the same period, Palmer’s spiritual journey led to her Meanwhile, Palmer and other members of an “ad hoc com- collaboration with other women to enter the Episcopal Church mittee to improve the status of women” (which would later priesthood, and she was “irregularly” ordained in 1975. When become the Women’s Action Organization) continued to work she retired in 1981, after a 26-year career in the Foreign Service, separately and together for Foreign Service equality on a number Palmer was an FS-3. In her autobiography, Diplomat and Priest: of fronts. One Woman’s Challenge to State and Church (CreateSpace, 2015) In 1968 the ad hoc committee demanded that State appoint and in a series of interviews with the author, Palmer describes a women’s coordinator to monitor and implement the Federal her experience. Women’s Program the After three written rejec- Johnson administration tions from ambassadors in had established to promote Africa, Palmer, an African Implicit and explicit female employment in the affairs specialist, had tried federal government. The for a position in Addis bias in the performance department complied, nam- Ababa in 1966. As she put it evaluation and promotion ing Elizabeth Harper as a in the interview, her assign- part-time coordinator and ments officer wrote the system was one of WAO’s establishing an official com- ambassador that, though primary targets. mittee that included Jean he might be “surprised that Joyce, a founder of the WAO; we would consider sending Alison Palmer; and Barbara a girl to Addis,” he could Good, an American Foreign be assured that “given her superb record and qualifications, we Service Association board member and a founder and presi- believe she will fill the job splendidly.” The ambassador permit- dent of the WAO. “The timing of this mandated program greatly ted Palmer a position at post in Ethiopia—as social secretary to facilitated WAO’s effort to press for change,” Good wrote in the his wife. January 1981 Foreign Service Journal (“Women in the Foreign Two years later, Palmer showed up for her first day in an FS-4 Service: A Quiet Revolution”). position in Washington, D.C., only to be told she would instead At its official formation in 1970, WAO resolved to be an assume a position two grades lower because a lower-ranking independent, voluntary organization that would work, in the male colleague needed the position as a path to promotion. “I words of Good, “not by confrontation or militancy, but by used to tell women to not join the Foreign Service because their dealing directly with management to bring about reform” that talents wouldn’t be used,” Palmer says. would serve all categories of women in the three foreign affairs Palmer’s 1968 EEO complaint charged the three ambassadors agencies—State, USAID and the U.S. Information Agency. The with discrimination, yet the four-page memo submitted by the organization worked closely with AFSA to eliminate the policy State Department investigator did not name them. In 1969, the banning married women from the Foreign Service and secure State Department found in her favor, but Palmer demanded reappointment for those who had resigned—a goal that was a change in personnel policies, a retroactive promotion and a achieved in 1971. review of State’s EEO Office. According to Good, WAO members disagreed with Palmer’s With the help of the American Federation of Government “militant” approach. After her EEO victory in 1971, which ben- Employees, Palmer appealed to the board of the Civil Service efited all Foreign Service women, the group split over support Commission, the federal employment entity that was later for the class-action suit. “After long discussion,” Good notes in replaced by the Office of Personnel Management, the Merit Sys- her FSJ article, WAO became “a somewhat silent partner” in that tems Protection Board and the Federal Labor Relations Author- suit and, at the same time, continued to work “within the system,

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 25 using sustained pressure to achieve our aims.” Implicit and explicit bias in the performance evaluation and promotion system was one of WAO’s primary targets. In 1980, Women at Work the group circulated Lois W. Roth’s research paper, “Nice Girl or Pushy Bitch: Two Roads to Nonpromotion,” charging that per- Women comprise: formance ratings often institutionalized discrimination against 50.8% of the U.S. population women and remained crucial obstacles to equal opportunity 47% of the U.S. workforce and promotion. It is necessary to “help men understand,” Roth 40% of Foreign Service officers states, “that their ‘kind and supportive’ remarks about women 35% of Foreign Service members, including officers officers often perpetuate myths and values that get read in the and specialists at all Foreign Service agencies promotion process as weakness, and that in calling us ‘pushy’ 33% of U.S. ambassadors or ‘abrasive’ when we are properly ambitious, they are using a 31% of senior State Department positions double standard that does us great disservice and, ultimately, Sources: U.S. Census, 2010; Department of Labor, 2010; does them dishonor.” Department of State, Office of the Director General. WAO achievements include a reduction in the inequity in overseas living arrangements, increased recruitment of women into the Foreign Service, increased representation of women process in 2002. Of those who participated, 11 were admitted on promotion boards, elimination of references to gender and to the Foreign Service with back pay plus interest and credited marital status in performance evaluations and establishment years of service toward retirement. of the spouses’ “skills bank”—the precursor of today’s Family Through the 1990s and 2000s, State worked to improve Liaison Office. personnel procedures and processes as mandated by the court. In 2007, the court ordered State and Palmer to begin to settle The Palmer Case Makes Progress the suit, which was finally dismissed in 2010—34 years after it In 1985, the U.S. District Court decided the class-action suit in had been filed and 42 years after Palmer’s first EEO complaint. favor of the State Department, but two years later the U.S. Court In the end, State had either ceased the unfair practice or made of Appeals overturned that decision in favor of the plaintiffs. progress on such problems as unfair out-of-cone and initial cone Having been found to have discriminatory personnel practices assignments and underassigning of women to stretch and DCM (e.g., women were assigned more often to consular work than assignments; disproportionate promotions; discriminatory hir- political; women were disproportionately refused assignment as ing practices and processes; and reclassification of awards. State deputy chief of mission; and women’s nominations for “supe- also introduced an improved performance evaluation form and rior” awards were downgraded to “meritorious” awards), State instituted a high-level Council for Equality in the Workplace, agreed to make changes. which is now the Secretary’s Office of Civil Rights. Foreign Service hiring practices had yet to be examined, None of those named in the case, nor anyone in a leadership however, and in 1989 the Foreign Service entrance examination position at the State Department, was ever held accountable for process came under scrutiny. In a court order that year the U.S. the systematic discrimination the court found. District Court found that “the Department of State had discrimi- nated against women in the administration of a written exami- The Scant 33 Percent nation that applicants for positions in the Foreign Service were In September 2015, Foreign Service Director General Arnold obliged to take.” The court mandated that State not use Foreign Chacón trumpeted on his Twitter feed that one in three chiefs of Service Officer Test results from 1985 to 1987. State was ordered mission is a woman. The figure shows progress from the past, no to grade the 1988 exams to eliminate discrimination against doubt, but is less impressive in light of the fact that 40 percent of women, and the 1989 exam was canceled. Foreign Service officers are women. The current cohort of female In 1991, the same court again found discrimination in the ambassadors also includes a large number of political appoin- FSOT. As restitution, 390 women who had the highest non-pass- tees, rather than women promoted from within the Foreign ing scores for the 1991–1994 Foreign Service written examination Service. were invited to participate in the oral phase of the application “Currently EW@S’s challenge is to demonstrate to State

26 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Department leaders—many of whom are female political women can “have it all” or whether they should “lean in” at stra- appointees—that there is a problem,” wrote Executive Women @ tegic times of life. Though these debates among women about State’s Susan Stevenson in the June 2015 Foreign Service Journal. their own life choices and paths are separate from the particular During an October 2015 open forum that Secretary of State John questions of hiring and promotion, they are relevant to attracting Kerry cohosted with EW@S and S/OCS, the Secretary promised and retaining a diverse Foreign Service. exit interviews, to begin early this year, as a means to understand reasons for separation. The Great Promotion Taper According to the Office of the Director General, State bureaus In a 2010 study, the organization Women in International and other Foreign Service agencies will ask all Foreign Service Security found “a pronounced and persistent gender gap in the and limited non-career appointment employees to complete Senior Foreign Service.” While some statistics indicate improve- the exit survey as part of the check-out process. Those who leave ment in women’s representation in higher-ranking roles, others State’s Civil Service will be interviewed, as well. show otherwise. While important to In a study of the data track, women’s rate of attri- from 1994 to 2014, State’s tion—their departure from While important to track, Bureau of Human Resources the Service—will not fully found that women’s promo- explain the lower number of women’s rate of attrition— tion has been proportionate female leaders. According their departure from to their percentage when to the Office of the Director they entered the Foreign General, men and women the Service—will not fully Service. “Female cohorts are both leave at a rate of 3.5 moving from entry level to percent, “as has been the explain the lower number senior level in proportion to case for many years.” of female leaders. their hiring,” the HR report Attention has turned to states. “The senior level of promotion biases, the topic today is the entry level of 20 of a series of focus groups S/OCS conducted in 2015. There, the years ago.” majority of more than 60 participants reported that caregiver However, according to a more detailed breakdown of promo- bias still affects female advancement. Women asked for more tion statistics for 2014, confirmed by the Office of the Director flexibility from promotion deadlines, known colloquially as “up General, the disparity in the rate of promotion in the higher or out.” ranks was significant. Of the women who competed for promo- Senior Foreign Service Officer Margot Carrington, who tion from Counselor (FE-OC) to Minister Counselor (FE-MC) examined both female retention and promotion during her that year, 23.9 percent were promoted. Of the men who were Una Chapman Cox Foundation fellowship from 2010 to 2011, eligible for the same rank, 30.3 percent were promoted. As the reviewed private-sector solutions to problems in these areas (see rank increases, the proportion of eligible women who compete her “How Are FS Women at State Faring?” in the May 2013 FSJ.) decreases: Of the 379 officers who competed for promotion from One company’s assumption, that women left the firm during FS-1 to FE-OC, 33.5 percent (127) were women; of the 161 who caregiving years to work part-time or not at all, was upended competed for FE-MC to Career Minister (FE-CM), 27.3 percent when research showed that women were, in fact, continuing (44) were women. their careers; but they were doing so elsewhere, where they Are fewer women promoted to leadership roles because they found more flexible work situations. The company then changed choose not to compete for higher rank, or are additional training its promotion model and successfully retained more of its talent. and professional development required to aid in their quest? Carrington recommends examination of the “up or out” dead- Additional research can help to answer that question. lines, and asks whether the series of linear and progressively Ambassador Jennifer Zimdahl Galt, who has served in Asia, more challenging positions is ultimately discriminating against South Asia, Europe and Washington, D.C., beats the drum for family caregivers, no matter the gender. women stepping up for senior promotion. “When women put Recently, high-profile opinions have surfaced about whether themselves forward, they compete well at all ranks of the Foreign

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 27 Service,” Galt said in an interview. “I would like to see more dren, whether they attend school and, finally, whether they walk senior women mentoring younger female officers and guiding to school. “That one answer tells me something about security them to bid on senior positions.” At an open forum in October, on the ground,” she says. “If it’s safe, the kids can walk to school.” DG Arnold Chacón announced his approval of a Cox Founda- At times, this subject has led to more pointed intelligence: “I’ve tion study to identify gaps in, and make recommendations for, been told, ‘We don’t like the kids walking past that house over mentoring opportunities at the department. Also, senior-ranked there because there are these strange guys who moved in last women plan to discuss ways to promote women’s mentorship month.’ And suddenly, we would have new suspicious actors to at the March Chiefs of Mission conference, but on the margins watch.” rather than as part of the main agenda. Joanne Cummings, who served as the first Foreign Service Not all embrace mentoring. Palmer, for instance, stated refugee coordinator in Iraq in 2004, makes a similar point, citing during an interview that she believes mentoring programs are a her meetings with displaced families. One group of men asked means to cope with and, in effect, enable inherent problems in her for a generator, but the women indicated they needed a an organization. “If you have to mentor a group, it means they’re water tank: The girls of the village had been attacked while walk- already not getting fair treatment. They’re the result of a poor ing miles to the nearest water source. When told of the men’s personnel system that is not based on merit.” request for a generator, she says, “The women started laughing. ‘Oh, they want to watch TV!’” Cummings adds: “Now, if I’d been Situational Sexism a well-prepared male FSO, I would’ve provided the generator. There is another phenomenon within the Foreign Service that And I would have been doing my job. But how often have we got- can perhaps best be described as situational sexism, in which ten things seriously wrong because we’ve restricted ourselves to circumstances are sometimes used to justify biases against talking to half the people in a country to get the whole picture?” women in the name of cultural sensitivity and practicality. The societal gender restrictions of the Middle East and parts of South Representative Representation Asia have offered a particularly fertile environment for this phe- Many have observed that a Foreign Service that better rep- nomenon historically. resents the United States will improve policymaking, reporting Admittedly, along with the Bureau of African Affairs, the and analysis. Contributions that women bring to senior ranks Bureaus of Near Eastern Affairs and South and Central Asian are informed by diverse experiences that men do not share. The Affairs have the highest percentages of female leaders in examples from posts in the Middle East support this claim. Washington and at posts today. Department leadership in In a November 2014 interview for the Public Broadcasting both bureaus is 28 percent and 33 percent female, respectively, System’s “To the Contrary,” Assistant Secretary for African Affairs including both assistant secretaries. Female chiefs of mission Linda Thomas-Greenfield said, “It is important for the world to lead 33 percent of the NEA posts and 44 percent of SCA posts. see the face of America. They need to understand that we are a Yet in reaching out to 15 female FSOs who have worked in diverse society and that diversity is our strength.” these regions, six mentioned that they’ve seen some male col- The exit interviews that Secretary Kerry promised may help leagues slip into discrimination once they are surrounded by a identify lingering barriers. There has long been a need to hear sexist culture, in the name of working effectively in the country. from female FSOs on their way out the door, but no one asked. Ironically, as the women point out, they are, in fact, accepted Those women who remain in the Foreign Service—officers and by local male leaders as “a diplomat” or “a third gender” and specialists from State and the other foreign affairs agencies— can therefore meet and report as successfully as men. “We can should all continue to be tapped for more data, as well. meet with the local men in their majlis (meeting rooms) and the Continued investigation is needed to make appropriate, women in their own groups,” says one female FSO, who prefers relevant personnel policy adjustments. “When the final settle- to remain anonymous. She voices frustration with what she calls ment was made in 2010, I felt glad that I had accomplished the current practice of treating women as a specialty population something,” Palmer writes in her autobiography. “But I knew full to consider solely for women’s issues reporting. well that many more decades would pass before women FSOs When officers meet with women, she says, they can provide achieved the equality that is required by law.” fuller reports of the political, economic and security situation. With shrewd effort, today’s discussions can turn good inten- She routinely asks, for instance, about the welfare of the chil- tions into constructive action. n

28 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL FOCUS WOMEN IN THE FOREIGN SERVICE

Federal Women’s Program for the Future

Foreign Service women in Panama are rejuvenating the Federal Women’s Program as a platform for career development.

BY THAO ANH TRAN AND KRISTIN STEWART

On International Day of the Girl last October, Thao Anh Tran (front, second from right) visited the Instituto Nuestra Señora de la Merced high school to highlight the importance of adolescent girls’ education and empowerment in shaping a stronger Panamanian society. COURTESY OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS/U.S. EMBASSY IN PANAMA

hen the Federal Women’s and an innovative assignment resulted. The second-tour officer Program coordinator was appointed as the official FWP coordinator, with specific vacancy was advertised this mentoring and support offered by more senior officers to bolster past fall in Panama, three the program. women applied: a second- The result has been a robust interagency effort that may serve tour officer, an FS-2 and as a model for the kind of infrastructure needed to help support an FS-1. The management female members of the Foreign Service in pursuing successful counselor, also a woman, careers. consulted the applicants, Seizing the Opportunity WThao Anh Tran (at left) is a political officer, and The FWP’s roots go back to 1961 when President John F. Ken- Kristin Stewart is the public affairs counselor at nedy created the Commission on the Status of Women to exam- Embassy Panama City. The views expressed in ine barriers facing women in the federal government and to this article are entirely those of the authors and enhance employment opportunities for women in every area of do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Department of State. federal service. In 1967, President Lyndon Johnson established

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 29 Our group has found that there is a unique synergy created when senior women share their experiences with those just starting out. COURTESY OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS/U.S. EMBASSY IN PANAMA Kristin Stewart, second from left, engages with Panamanian leaders during the political counselor’s welcome reception in October. From left, activist Irasema de Ahumada; Ileana Molo, former IVLP grantee and president of Afro-Panameña Soy; Paliwitur Sapibe, director of indigenous affairs; and Gladys de Fossati, director of the Panamanian Institute of Labor Studies. the FWP, based on the commission’s (1) providing women at post a safe recommendation to make the status forum in which to express their of women an integral part of the Ultimately, the FWP career concerns and goals, and larger equal employment opportu- is what you make of it bring related issues to the attention nity (EEO) effort. He also signed an of the front office, as necessary; (2) executive order prohibiting discrim- at the post level. mentoring women starting out in ination on the basis of gender. federal government service; and At the State Department, the (3) reaching beyond post, when FWP helps ensure that women receive equal opportunity in possible, to serve girls and women in the local Panamanian recruitment, selection, training and advancement in the Foreign community. and Civil Services. Posts with six or more female U.S. citizen employees are required to designate a coordinator and notify the Issues to Address Office of Civil Rights (S/OCR). Embassy Panama City currently has female section heads for Yet very few posts seem to be aware of the program, much the consular, management, public affairs, regional affairs, Trans- less use it as an empowerment platform for women. When the portation Security Agency, Customs and Border Protection, department sent out a cable asking FWP coordinators to sign up and Peace Corps offices. Until recently, the political counselor for a website containing resources to use at post and a space to and Department of Justice attaché were also female. While it is share best practices, advice and concerns with other coordina- encouraging to have seven senior females at post, this represen- tors and with S/OCR, for example, Ms. Tran found that she was tation falls well below the ideal 50 percent, given that Panama, as the sole coordinator to have done so! a regional hub, has 28 different sections and agencies repre- The FWP initiative in Panama includes personnel from many sented on the country team. different agencies at post, as well as eligible family members Furthermore, this summer’s transfer cycle will replace the (EFMs)—many of whom are potential future members of the management and public affairs heads with male officers, leaving Foreign Service. The group meets monthly for the purposes of: only four women on the country team, two of whom travel exten-

30 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL sively due to regional responsibilities. Newer female officers and EFMs have expressed concern about such a sharp decline in female leadership at post. For State Department FSOs, this will leave only one female section head as an adviser. To address these and other issues, FWP Coordinator Tran began a series of informal monthly meetings in Panama that rotate between the offices of the senior female section heads. This allows newer employees, particularly EFMs, to learn about the functions of a variety of sections and agencies at post. It also helps integrate the interagency team and keeps everyone informed of management issues, career opportunities and other trends. Recently, the group held an informational brown-bag lunch with the visiting EEO trainer from State’s Office of Civil Rights. We also organized a women’s career panel at a local high school in honor of the International Day of the Girl Child in October 2015. Yes, when needed, we share tips on the best electric breast pump for return to work. But, more importantly, we share advice and strategies for everything from completing office tasks and navigating the Foreign Affairs Manual to bidding for onward assignments.

Mentoring One potential best-practice that stemmed from rejuvena- tion of the FWP in Panama is the establishment of a mentoring program at post. Ms. Tran and Ms. Stewart, for example, have formed a formal mentee-mentor relationship. In addition, they help pair other mentees and mentors who request support at post. While men are encouraged to serve as career mentors, our group has found that there is a unique synergy created when senior women share their experiences with those just starting out. There are, of course, other formal mentoring programs avail- able for FSOs, but they generally entail a long-distance relation- ship and are designed to match like-coned FSOs. By contrast, we have found it very beneficial for mentees to be able to reach out to a more senior officer at post for real-time advice and guidance, without having to explain the context of the country, culture or post. In the overseas context, it is also important to take advantage of the interagency team and learn from female role models in the military, the Department of Homeland Security and other fed- eral government agencies. These women have much to share in terms of balancing family and work, career advancement, time management strategies and more. According to the 2014 Foreign Service promotion statistics— the latest statistics available with a breakdown by gender—only

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 31 We share advice and strategies for everything from completing office tasks to navigating the FAM to bidding for onward assignments.

three women were promoted from FE-MC to FE-CM, 21 from FE-OC to FE-MC and 37 from FS-1 to FE-OC. Given the dearth of female leadership at the highest levels of the Foreign Service, it is essential that we do all we can to recruit and retain female officers and specialists at the entry- and mid-levels to ensure there is a critical mass of women who are eligible to compete for promotions in the Senior Foreign Service.

A Good Starting Point Based on our experience in successfully rejuvenating the FWP in Mission Panama—a medium-sized post with a relatively small Department of State presence—we would like to encour- age other posts to take advantage of this valuable resource for active engagement with and direct advocacy for female officers, specialists and EFMs with the front office and the department. When coupled with other initiatives, the FWP can serve as a good starting point. Other posts will, of course, face different challenges and opportunities, but we hope these simple tips will help other posts seeking to replicate our effort: • Assign an entry-level officer to serve as the FWP coordi- nator, but appoint more senior officers to serve as advisers to the FWP coordinator. This arrangement enables the entry-level officer to acquire managerial and leadership experience that she can use in her future assignments while the more senior officers, with more knowledge of departmental and Foreign Service regu- lations, can provide appropriate guidance and mentor the entry- level officer throughout their tenure as members of the FWP. • Organize regular meetings with female officers, specialists and EFMs at post. Since our first meeting as a group in the fall, the Panama FWP has held monthly meetings focused on con- cerns highlighted by our members during the initial gathering. Senior female officers take turns hosting and facilitating the ses- sions. By regularizing our schedule, the group has slowly attracted

32 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL COURTESY OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS/U.S. EMBASSY IN PANAMA In September, Thao Anh Tran, third from right, joined young Panamanian leaders from varied backgrounds who are members of the embassy’s Youth Advisory Council to celebrate U.S. Hispanic Heritage Month. the attendance of more women at post, and the increased mem- Panama, we have been fortunate in this regard because the more bership has enabled us to expand our goals and initiatives. senior members of the FWP have been active in bringing our • Document meetings and ensure follow-up prior to the collective concerns to the attention of the front office, whose next meeting. One way to ensure we hold ourselves accountable occupant has been responsive to the group’s needs. For example, as a group is by taking notes and assigning ourselves tasks at the following our request for establishment of a mentoring program, end of each meeting. Before each upcoming meeting, we remind our chargé immediately expressed his support and asked how ourselves of items still pending on the agenda. the front office could be of assistance. Currently, formal training • Create and maintain an updated listserv to facilitate com- is available only for EEO counselors at post. This is helpful, but munication and to disseminate information and opportunities is limited to resolving problem situations for female employees that benefit group members. The FWP has brought together and does nothing to mentor, equip and empower the next gen- women from diverse backgrounds, offices and agencies within eration of females for leadership. Mission Panama who otherwise would not have the opportunity to interact and exchange their knowledge and expertise with one It’s Up to You another. Our listserv has given us an effective means to share and Ultimately, the FWP is what you make of it at the post level. distribute information such as employment opportunities and has Until Foreign Service demographics more closely match the helped create a cohesive network of women within the mission. gender makeup of the U.S. population, there will continue to • Look for opportunities to facilitate meetings between be a distinct need for initiatives such as the Federal Women’s FWP and State Department visitors. Whether it is the attorney Program. By creating a local embassy-level forum for women adviser from the Office of Civil Rights or an office director, the to communicate their needs and goals, we can more effectively FWP takes advantage of every opportunity to ensure our visitors communicate and plan with the front office to support them. get a chance to hear directly from our officers, specialists and Our hope is that more posts will adopt similar models of a EFMs regarding their concerns. Through these interactions, group robust FWP working group, the front offices at other embassies members are able to obtain accurate information first-hand while will encourage and support the FWP and the State Department our Washington visitors can take note of issues at post. will consider hosting either regional or global conferences for • Solicit support for the FWP from the front office. In FWP coordinators to share best practices. n

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 33 FOCUS WOMEN IN THE FOREIGN SERVICE

Ten Leadership Tips for Aspiring Women

Here is a set of practical recommendations drawn from the experience of an accomplished USAID Senior Foreign Service officer.

BY ERIN SOTO

our out of every 10 first-time executives or Assert your expectations. Leaders communicate executives in new positions fail or drop out 1. with intent. It is important to let the system and the within the first 18 months. In the For- people in the system know what your career expectations are. eign Service, there is no one clear path to Let your supervisors, their supervisors, the personnel system, leadership success. In this article I offer my the promotion boards and those around you know what you top 10 recommendations for professional want, your career ambitions and your expectations. How else advancement. While they are not only for would they know? Occasionally, as a junior officer, I would ask Foreign Service women, I offer them with to meet with senior officers to seek career advice. I would use FS women in mind, and with the hope that those meetings to communicate my desire for a particular posi- sharing practical suggestions based on what I’ve learned about tion, post or assignment. I also used the personal statement Fleadership during the course of a Foreign Service career and in the annual performance evaluation to let the system know beyond will help set you on the path of a rewarding life and I desired more responsibility. Once your supervisors and the successful career. system understand your expectations, your ambitions and how The Foreign Service is a great place for women to become you think of yourself, they respond accordingly with sugges- leaders. Here’s how. tions, assignments and opportunities.

Erin Soto is a former USAID Senior Foreign Service officer, Know your job and exceed performance expec- who served in Latin America, Africa and Asia during a 2. tations. Expressions of ambition must be accompa- 30-year career. She is the owner of TLC Solutions and the nied by a track record of exceeding work performance expecta- author of Sharing Secrets: A Conversation on the Counter- tions and progressive achievement. The higher one ascends, intuitive Nature of Executive Leadership (2014). She can be reached at the more one focuses on systems alignment and intractable [email protected]. issues and their long-term consequences. If you aren’t crystal

34 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL clear about what is and isn’t your responsibility, you may Embrace vulnerability and master emotional feel like you need to do everything, meet with everyone, read 4. control. First, vulnerability is not the same as everything and know everything to do a good job. This is not “being emotional,” which connotes a lack of emotional control. the case. It leads inevitably to burnout. Exhibiting controlled emotions can be an invaluable asset in Define excellence and demonstrating the kind establish performance of vulnerability all great expectations with your In daily decisions about leaders possess. Sociolo- supervisor, and then focus gist Brene Brown explains: on achieving those expec- how to spend my time, “We need to feel trust to be tations. Being clear about whether to attend a meeting vulnerable, and we need to what your job is and how be vulnerable in order to you should spend your time or review a document, I trust.” You may associate will help you weed out the compared the relevance of the being vulnerable with show- less important from the ing weakness; but, in fact, most important because, task to my work objectives. it is a strength that leads to of course, everything is greater trust. Women tend important. In terms of per- to possess this strength. formance, I posted my three work objectives and corresponding Building trust requires a level of maturity and experience that performance measures next to my computer. This served as a often means putting others before yourself. Trust conveys “I reminder of my priorities. In daily decisions about how to spend care about you” and “I am here for you.” Trust is the founda- my time, whether to attend a meeting or review a document, I tion of everything an effective leader does, and it is an aspect of compared the relevance of the task to my work objectives. If the leadership that most women are particularly good at express- task didn’t get me closer to my objectives, I didn’t give it priority. ing. So embrace your vulnerability, master emotional control The exception to this rule of thumb is when the task was a and express it in the workplace. time-sensitive contribution to a high-priority institutional goal. In demarking these higher priority institutional goals, one is Open a “trust account” and make daily depos- able to demonstrate the flexibility to respond to unforeseen or 5. its. Establishing trust is critical to creating an ideal emergent challenges that executive leaders regularly confront. workplace environment. It is absolutely essential to the devel- This simple method kept me focused on exceeding my work opment of your team and to obtaining your unit’s goals. Many objectives. struggle to earn, build and maintain trust with their staff, their supervisors or with interagency collaborators. Believe me, I’ve Reframe the “no.” If I listened to everyone who been there. It takes time to build trust because it happens in 3. told me “no” in my career and my life, I probably small, often intimate moments—the kind women are particu- wouldn’t have made it to the Senior Foreign Service, written larly attuned to. Here is the thing: your performance depends on and published a book, or started and led a business. People your ability to gain the confidence and respect of all with whom may tell you, “you aren’t ready” or “it’s not a good match” or you must collaborate as part of your job. It is the key to building “you lack (fill in the blank).” Everyone experiences these kinds a strong high-performing team and having a comfortable work of nos. It is easy to get discouraged, internalize the no and environment. You are responsible for building trust and maintain- allow self-doubt to seep in. I’ve seen this self-doubt inhibit ing it. You can’t skip it. Everything else relies upon it—communi- women more than men. You can choose to listen to people who cation, change, alignment, decisions and execution. If your foun- tell you “no” or you can reframe it as one step closer to “yes.” dation is shaky, then everything built on top of it is also unstable. You can view the no as a single person’s opinion. You can learn from it, adjust and move on. Whatever you do, don’t eliminate Master the process of change. Bringing about yourself from contention by not applying for the position you 6. change—which has five critical elements: new want. Figure out what you want to do, make a plan to do it and policies, new systems, new approaches, new procedures and execute it by making tactical shifts as needed. reorganizations—will be a significant part of your job as a

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 35 leader. Your efforts will be more successful if you understand Be yourself. There is no mold one must fit to be a how staff members react to change and the reasons for the 8. good leader. Leaders come in all varieties. Pretend- typically high rates of failure. Change initiatives have derailed ing to be someone you aren’t, however, can be off-putting to many accomplished officers, and are perhaps the most difficult others and exhausting for you. Leaders who act differently at part of a leader’s job. They work than they do at home require: (1) knowledge are disingenuous and will and understanding of the It takes time to build trust quickly turn people off. It is change process and the key taxing to stay in character role of trust as a catalyst because it happens in small, and be constantly on guard for change; (2) awareness often intimate moments—the for fear of exposing your of the emotional impact of weaknesses or doubts. It is change on staff and an abil- kind women are particularly a lot easier and more effec- ity to communicate to the attuned to. tive to simply be yourself. different emotional stages Embrace your strengths as staff members accept and weaknesses, hopes and and implement the change. fears, triumphs and failures. Women seem to be able do to this easily; and, (3) awareness We all have them. If you accept yourself, so will your staff and of the five elements of successful change. Missing any one of your stakeholders. You will be more effective if you expose your these will leave you short of the change you hope to achieve whole self, and through this kind of vulnerability you will gain and, therefore, short of your vision and goals. the trust so essential to being a great leader. The bottom line is, if you do nothing else, be yourself. Strike a work-life balance. Balance between your 7. work priorities and ambition and your personal life Don’t be so hard on yourself. Resilience is a and happiness is possible. It is a matter of knowing your job, 9. byproduct of learning. It allows you to get back up creating boundaries and executing. It sounds simple, but it is and lead and perform when you have been knocked down. not. Women tend to be very conscientious. Conscientiousness Everyone, without exception, gets knocked down, suffers set- is usually a good thing, but too much of a good thing can be backs and is disappointed as a leader. I don’t know anyone who detrimental. How much you work is your choice. hasn’t felt beaten up by the system, the people in the system or The key to work-life balance is an ability to prioritize and say those around them at one time or another. You are not alone! “no” to everything else. We all know people who can’t say “no.” Disappointments and missteps can come in many forms (a less They may view it as a sign of weakness. They may be afraid that than stellar performance evaluation, a home-life setback, or if they say “no” to a request, they are saying “no” to the next even a harsh reaction from the boss). I’ve seen women allow a promotion or opportunity for advancement. Others may not cross word or blunt comment from a supervisor to visibly upset even see no as an option. The people who can’t say “no” are them. Most people don’t talk about these episodes because often the people who have a disproportionate amount of work. it’s risky: it can hurt your image or reputation, your promotion They fall into what Marshall Goldsmith calls the “overcommit- potential or your employability. When a misstep happens, good ment trap”—trying to do too many things and, as a result, not leaders don’t beat themselves up. Instead they have an honest doing any as well as they could. conversation with themselves, acknowledge that improvement People who do a few things well are not only happier and is needed and learn to do better. They don’t just bounce back; have more balance, but they tend to get promoted sooner than they bounce forward. It’s not that they sweep their failures or the “utility infielders” who take everything that comes their missteps under the carpet, but they have an ability to learn way. Those who are likely to get promoted are those with the from mistakes and summon the self-confidence to lead again. highest-quality work, not those with the largest quantity of work. Saying “no” and setting clear boundaries not only helps Invest in your staff.A delayed return on invest- with establishing a balance, but it better positions you for 10. ment, coupled with the relatively short tenure of promotions. Foreign Service tours, can cause staff development to fall to the

36 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL bottom of your priority list. But developing “your people” is Go out of your way to look for qualified women to usher your responsibility, and without such investment truly impres- up the career ladder. In all likelihood, someone helped you. I sive institutional results will not be achieved. In addition, worked with women who believed in me, who gave me a chance perhaps the best recruiting tactic is your leadership practice, to prove myself and guided me through stretch assignments. how you lead. Word gets out. The best way to say thank If you are known as a leader you is to help open doors who develops and invests Conscientiousness is for other women. Give in staff, provides opportuni- them the benefit of the ties for growth and allows usually a good thing, doubt. Encourage them to people space to create, you but too much of a good advance. Share your secrets will attract followers. If you of success. Tell them how consciously create a work thing can be detrimental. smart and strong they are. environment that values Offer them opportunities both work-life balance and or assignments to learn and teamwork, these elements grow. And when they say will be powerful recruitment tools. People yearn to work for thank you, ask these women to repay you by investing in other good leaders. Your leadership and investment in staff will be women. important factors in both recruiting and retaining talent you’ll There you have it. These are my top 10 recommendations for need as you rise. advancing your career and balancing it with a rewarding life. n

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THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 37 FOCUS WOMEN IN THE FOREIGN SERVICE

A Pioneer in Saudi Arabia In the Middle East, one female officer found embassy management a greater obstacle than the conservative local culture.

BY ANDREA FARSAKH

n December 1978, I found myself back in Dhahran, Saudi Would the Saudis Accept Me? Arabia. My Arabic-language ability did the trick, neutralizing the Bored with the circumscribed life on a Saudi university negative of my gender with Saudi officialdom. The fact that I was campus where my husband taught from 1972 to 1975, married to a Palestinian-American, had spent time in the region I had discovered that the nearby consulate general was and was familiar with the culture, was of considerable help, as offering the Foreign Service written exam in December well, easing my relationships with Saudis. I was able to visit just 1974. I took the test and passed. With the enthusiastic about every prison in the Eastern Province, which were filled with support and encouragement of my husband, I joined the American citizens who worked for ARAMCO and other U.S. com- Foreign Service in July 1976. panies. Most had been involved in graft, drugs, pornography and, After a tour in Washington, D.C., I found that there were only by far the most common “crime” of all, alcohol offenses. Ia couple of off-cycle job openings: general services officer in While everyone was hyperaware of Saudi laws against posses- Damascus and consular officer in Dhahran. The latter offered job sion and sale of alcohol, the desire for it was unquenchable. One possibilities for my husband and boarding school for our son, as poignant example of the alcohol ban involved the case of a young well as schooling at post for our daughter. man in his late teens caught with a bottle of cough medicine There was just one wrinkle: the consul general did not want a bought legally in a Saudi pharmacy—but it contained alcohol! female officer. Fortune smiled, however; he was curtailed (nothing He had the misfortune of being the first U.S. citizen sentenced to to do with me), and the new CG, Ralph Lindstrom, and Ambas- be flogged in the Kingdom. One small comfort: the flogging was sador John West enthusiastically welcomed my assignment. But done in the prison courtyard and not in public. The ambassador would the Saudis accept me? That was another question. was naturally deeply concerned; but nothing could be done, and the sentence was carried out—an unfortunate precedent thereaf- Andrea Morel Farsakh joined the Foreign Service in 1976. ter regularly imposed on American citizens there. After an assignment in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, The prison commanders were always extremely polite and she was posted to Dhahran, Jeddah, Abu Dhabi, Alexan- cooperative with me. While I flattered myself that it was my lan- dria and Tunis. In addition, she served in Washington, guage ability that eased my path, my husband theorized that their D.C., in the bureaus of International Organizations, Intelligence and courtliness and seeming cooperativeness were only tactics to get Research and Human Resources, and the Office of the Inspector General. rid of me more quickly! She did a second tour in NEA. She retired in 2001 and has since worked My gender and language skills gave me entrée into the strictly as a rehired annuitant on the Future of Iraq Project, in the Office of Ara- segregated world of Saudi women, which provided an oppor- bian Peninsula Affairs and on the Iraq desk in NEA, and on the Afghan tunity for me to do political reporting on female life behind the desk in the Bureau of South Asian Affairs. walls. I was encouraged by the consul general to do this, drawing

38 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL kudos from male colleagues in the Kingdom and in other Persian to return to Jeddah because Secretary of State George Shultz and Gulf countries. I visited homes and female institutions, and called Ambassador Philip Habib were coming to see the king to discuss on women who were much less likely than men to speak English. the civil war in Lebanon. I was to be a “site officer” (a sort of I developed a friendly relationship with the emir of the Eastern visit monitor in the royal palace). However, when I got back to Province, Abd al-Muhsin Bin Jiluwi, whose father had helped Jeddah, I was informed that embassy management did not think King Abd al-Aziz conquer Riyadh in the early 20th century. The it proper for a female officer to be in the palace. So after crossing emir spoke no English, but because I was able to converse with the country to be Mrs. Shultz’s control officer, I found that my him, he always received me sole duty was to escort her to most graciously and even her hotel room. invited me to lunch with On another occasion, as him a few times. Our cordial So after crossing the control officer for a congres- relationship motivated him sional delegation in Riyadh, to arrange for me to call on country to be Mrs. Shultz’s I was instructed to arrange a his wife, which I did. The control officer, I found that luncheon at the Equestrian emir liked to talk about space Club. I dealt directly with the travel! I also met with the my sole duty was to escort prince in charge of the visit, emir of Al Hasa Province her to her hotel room. who emphasized that while a few times and lunched spouses were not invited, with him. One time we were I was definitely on the regaled with Bedouin poetry guest list. A couple of hours by an authentic Bedouin—I did not understand a word, but nei- before the event, however, I was advised that I was not to attend ther did my Saudi colleague from the consulate. because, once again, embassy management deemed it improper. A male officer went in my place. I briefly considered protesting, Management’s View of Propriety but the event was imminent, and I felt that creating an incident Meanwhile, my husband had found a job with ARAMCO and would not benefit anyone. did not want to move when my assignment was over in summer Given all the restrictions on women in the Kingdom, and 1981. So to stay fairly close to Dhahran I bid on a new position: aware of my very unusual—and pioneering—position, I believed political officer in Abu Dhabi. Again my gender became an that I had mostly succeeded in doing the job to which I had been issue—the ambassador and deputy chief of mission did not want assigned. The support that I received from the ambassador, the a female officer. And again, luck smiled on me. The embassy, then DCM in my first year, my boss and most of my colleagues made in Jeddah, asked me to bid, and I was assigned as an external rela- up for the occasional slights that occurred. tions political officer there. My portfolio signified that most of my business was with the Foreign Ministry. The Saudis who worked A Seat at the Table there had served abroad and were cosmopolitan in their outlook, My tour in Jeddah had a pleasant conclusion in the summer so I was always treated with great courtesy. of 1983. Ambassador Richard Murphy’s tour was ending, and I was the only female political officer in Jeddah, but was the Saudi Foreign Ministry was giving him a farewell dinner. fortunate to have a most supportive and wonderful boss, David The deputy chief of protocol, with whom I had dealt frequently, Newton, and a great deputy chief of mission, Jim Placke. And all made sure that all female officers in the embassy (economic, of my international colleagues were most welcoming. I was, of budget & fiscal and personnel, as well as myself) received invi- course, the only one in the group who was not allowed to drive, tations and insisted that we attend. So on my last night in Jed- so after our monthly evening meetings they always made sure dah, I went to the ambassador’s dinner, and then to the airport. my transportation needs were met without having to call—and My onward assignment was as a political officer in Abu Dhabi, wait for—an embassy driver. where there was a new ambassador and DCM. Problems sometimes arose with embassy management, all Abu Dhabi seemed wildly free after Saudi Arabia. I could call the same. On one occasion during my second year, I was visiting on and attend meetings with virtually any official—with one my husband in Dhahran when the political counselor asked me exception. I was informed that UAE President Shaykh Zayed

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 39 wanted to work on Israel-Palestine issues, so at one point I bid on a political position in Amman. I later heard from a friend that the DCM there declared in a staff meeting that he did not want a woman with a Palestinian husband in the political section. In 1992, I was assigned to Tunis as political counselor. At that time, U.S. officials were not permitted to have any substantive contact with Palestine Liberation Organiza- tion officials then based in Tunis. With the signing of the Oslo Agreements in September 1993, everything changed: Embassy Tunis was instructed to initiate significant relation- ships with key officials, including PLO leader

COURTESY OF ANDREA FARSAKH ANDREA OF COURTESY Yasser Arafat. This was the pinnacle of my FS In Tunis, after the signing of the Oslo Agreements in Septmber 1993, FSO Andrea career. My deep familiarity with the issues Farsakh was the designated embassy contact with the Palestine Liberation Organization. Here she greets Yasser Arafat. and Arabic-language capability made me the designated principal embassy contact with the PLO. While Oslo ultimately was a failure, Al-Nahayyan loved to tell off-color jokes, so my presence in his at the time the agreements seemed full of promise. I helped company—and comprehension of Arabic—would be embarrass- arrange and participated in the first meeting between a U.S. Sec- ing! Ambassador Quincey Lumsden and DCM David Ransom retary of State—Warren Christopher—and Yasser Arafat. were 100-percent supportive of my work. On Reflection The economic officer and My gender and language During my career I had I traveled to all the emirates, the good fortune to serve called on rulers and key skills gave me entree into in the most conservative people, drank camel’s milk the strictly segregated Middle Eastern country for and had a great time. Iranair women, Saudi Arabia, and had two flights a week to world of Saudi women. in the most progressive one, Dubai, and with the bloody Tunisia, and I have wit- Iran-Iraq war in full swing, nessed significant change. the first stop for many Iranians was the U.S. consulate general. By now, every country in the Arab world except Saudi Arabia Many Iranians had relatives in the United States, and parents has had a female U.S. ambassador. Female officers are accepted were fearful of their sons being drafted into fighting in a brutal everywhere, and that is a real victory for women in the U.S. war. The junior consular officer there, Michael Matera, and I Foreign Service. decided to question successful visa applicants to try to find out In reflecting on my experience, two thoughts come to mind. what was happening inside Iran, as the department at that time First, I would very much like to see a career woman—with Arabic had very little information. The Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs ability—nominated as U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia. At this was so pleased with our initiative that they sent a cable with the time of great ferment in the Arab and Islamic world, such a move questions we should ask. We sent in a series of reports that were would serve as a beacon to all progressives in the region. very gratefully received. Second, as my career experience illustrates, language capa- As the years passed, and increasing numbers of female bility is extremely important, indeed critical. Without this, the officers joined the Service, the problems that I had experienced officer walks in a bubble, restricted to English-speaking elites diminished. However, one issue still dogged me. I had always and cut off from the society in which she is trying to function. n

40 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL FOCUS WOMEN IN THE FOREIGN SERVICE On Assignment with Maxine Desilet, 1949-1955

Maxine Desilet’s letters home, accented by excerpts from her efficiency reports, paint a vivid picture of life in the postwar Foreign Service.

BY SUZANNE COFER

axine Desilet (1918-2000) applied for the U.S. Foreign Service in August 1945. For various reasons, including hiring freezes, it was four years before she joined. She applied in Philadelphia, where she had been working during World War II as an administra- tive assistant with the U.S. Signal Corps. After the war, she returned home to Lewiston, Idaho. MOn Feb. 16, 1949, Desilet received a telegram from the Foreign Service offering her a stenographer position. She was reminded that she would need to meet standards in clerical tests when she arrived in Washington, D.C. She would have to demonstrate a shorthand speed of 100 words per minute and a typing speed of at least 50 words per minute. After resigning her existing position and attending to per- sonal affairs, she reported to Washington, D.C., on April 1, 1949. She considered herself lucky, because during the postwar years thousands were applying to join the U.S. Foreign Service. Her first posting was to Berlin. What follows are excerpts from her letters home and her efficiency reports. Maxine Desilet in Berlin, 1949.

Suzanne Cofer is a retired public school teacher and a former local elected official who lives in Lacey, Washington, with her hus- band. Since her 2010 retirement, she has undertaken various writing projects. Maxine Desilet Dickerson, who served in the Foreign Service from 1949 to 1955, was Cofer’s godmother and paternal aunt. As a young woman, Cofer discovered a collection of her aunt’s letters from 1936 to 1956 stored in a large box at her grandmother’s home. The story the letters told inspired Cofer to accept a teach- ing position in Australia and see the world. Dickerson’s son Jeff gave the letters to Cofer, knowing she loved them and would help share them with a wider audience. Photos and images are courtesy of Suzanne Cofer.

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 41 Assignment Berlin: 1949-1951 Secretary to the consul general I’ve heard enough about it,

May 5 and May 8, 1949, aboard the Queen Mary but it still was a shock to We have a beautiful stateroom. It all reminds me of a first fly over the city and see class hotel…you can hardly tell we’re on the ocean—so smooth. The dining room is luxurious and we just finished a huge lunch. the mass of ruins. It’s very I know now what happens to the gowns and fur stoles and large and extends as far as I capes in Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue. I feel adequately dressed during daytime, but egad—at night it’s nothing to see ermine, could see on all sides. mink and sable wraps over original creations, which are gor- geous. The evening dress is really breathtaking. Last night we danced uphill then downhill as the ship rocked. May 14, 1949 We drove down and around Saturday to the Brandenburg Gate, And so here I am in Berlin [the Berlin Airlift crisis has just been which is one of the boundaries into the Russian Zone. Past the huge resolved]. … I arrived via bucket seat from Frankfurt. … I’ve heard buildings of the German government, the Chancellery, the embas- enough about it, but it still was a shock to fly over the city and see sies of foreign governments, all of which are now just shells. the mass of ruins. It’s very large and extends as far as I could see It must be a dreadful feeling to these people who’ve lived here on all sides. … Everyone here is jubilant, and also everyone here is always to see their city like this, as it is so bad in the central part of gone! At long last they are now able to leave the city and most every- the town, I don’t see how it can ever be repaired. We also walked one took advantage of this one great weekend to get out of town. down part of the shopping district where the streets were packed May 18, 1949 as Saturday displayed the first shipments of all kinds of food, etc., Today is my first day at work. I will be the secretary to the they haven’t had since before the blockade. Consul General. … The building itself is a big white place with There were queues of people lined up in front of the fish stores, marble stairs and three floors. My office looks out across the street and crowds gathered in front of the pastries shops, all of them just to endless gardens. We can walk through them during lunch hour. looking. They look so poor and are wearing pre-war clothes that … Berlin is, or rather, was, a beautiful city. It must be huge as the are patched and worn away. … I didn’t see one decently dressed only part we see is the American sector. … woman. We felt quite self-conscious wearing our stateside outfits and received many stares.

July 12, 1949 Last week I was invited over for lunch at the home of the United States Political Adviser for Germany [James W. Riddle- berger]. He and his wife had six of us over to greet us to Berlin. It was very cozy, and we chatted and ate a fancy lunch with wine and had demi tasse in the library after- wards. I am beginning to get used to the high standard of living over here now, and don’t jump when a maid shoves a platter of food over my left shoulder. My boss’s cocktail party for the elite was carried off to a fine finish on Saturday. After much telephoning and writing invites, etc., Maxine Desilet with her mother, Irene, during a home visit in the early 1950s. he invited me to attend and asked me to

42 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL EFFICIENCY REPORT: July 22, 1949 Miss Desilet dresses well and always pres- come over early to help with any last minute details ents a neat appearance. She has a pleasing as he doesn’t have a wife. and cheerful personality. —Marshall M. Vance, SupervisingGeneral, Consul Berlin I stood at the door and received while he ran around the guests and kept an eye on the canapés platters and glasses to see that everyone was well taken care of. The house itself is a huge place and very lovely. … Some of the windows are stained glass, the walls are tapestried, and I lost count of the rooms. About 200 were present from all the foreign missions, and I understand it is the party of the year. Even the Russian consul and vice consul showed up, even though they hadn’t sense enough to acknowledge the invitation. Assignment Caracas: 1952-1954 Secretary to the chiefs of the political section and petroleum section, then secretary to the counselor for economic affairs

March 4, 1954 The city here is in the throes of the big conference [the Tenth Inter-American Conference of the Organization of American States]. … I will be able to go over this afternoon to hear [Sec- retary of State John Foster] Dulles give his speech. We also can listen to other international delegates speak with earphones, which is fascinating. Interpreters sit in booths above the speaker and each booth is marked “English-2,” “French-3” so if you want English you turn a little knob in the arm of the chair EFFICIENCY REPORT: Jan 9, 1950 to No. 2 and presto, you get it in English! The interpreters listen Miss Desilet has an average build, with pleasant facial characteristics. She dresses with earphones and speak at the same time into microphones in the language of their country, and I still don’t see how they do it. neatly and appropriately at all times, and pres- ents a general cheerful attitude about the office.

—Frances Lane, American Consul

March 22, 1954 Friday night the ambassador had a reception for the delegates to the conference. They expect to be finished the end of the week. They have all decided, except Guatemala, that communism does not pay and to gang up together to be rid of it. People in these parts think little or nothing of McCarthy— what is the general idea in Idaho? We think he is carrying the thing just quite a bit too far, and the propaganda in other countries makes us look as though we hadn’t a thought for many serious things, but the worry of communism.

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 43 July 7, 1954 Was I ever flabbergasted. … They have in mind transfer- ring me after home leave to Rangoon, Burma. I’ve read the post report, and it sounds fascinating. The thought of a trip halfway around the world is stimulating as hell after three years waiting for it! There are three girls stationed here now who have been to Bangkok, and loved it and say they’d give anything for my assignment. Naturally, I’ve never even given Burma the slightest thought before, so it is all new to me.

Assignment Rangoon: 1955 EFFICIENCY REPORT: December 1, 1952 Secretary to the ambassador The conduct and deportment of this employee is outstanding and fully representative of the highest January 19, 1955 standards of the Foreign Service. She represents the I don’t think I’d be able to ever keep a job in an office like best type of American young lady: sensible, stable, some people do for years and years as the only thing that cheerful and loyal. Her devotion and dependability to keeps me interested in working is the traveling around to her job is one of the strongest supports to her superior. different spots. … … I do have the sweetest boss [Ambassador Joseph C. Miss Desilet could fill any position of a secretarial Satterthwaite] right now—he looks like Mr. Peepers on nature or as a competent assistant to an officer at any TV—and it is always a pleasure to work for someone with post. She has initiative, judgment and foresight of a brains—so many have none. high degree, which enables her to adapt herself intel- ligently to any problem. … She is mature, competent February 25, 1955 in her work, stable and devoted. Her conduct within [Secretary] Dulles arrives tomorrow and I’m on duty all day. and outside the embassy shows her to be a young lady Have to go out to the plane to meet him and record all his pearls of fine background, high moral standards and sound of wisdom. Then press conference. I have an engraved invitation character. Her constant cheerfulness and good humor, from the President of Burma to a Garden Party also. My first even under trying conditions, makes it a pleasure to work with her and to have to depend upon. She would do well in a secretarial position requiring a high degree I find that people who of competence, loyalty and understanding of the basic ideals of the Foreign Service. travel around a lot— —Franklin W. Wolf, Economic Counselor, and this has helped me Embassy Caracas considerably—can take Chief of State invite. All is bedlam here in preparedness. On top people as they come and of that [Member of Congress] Chester Bowles is here and Senator appreciate the good things Margaret Chase Smith arrives Monday. [From April 14, 2000, Cofer interview with Desilet] I went in them instead of always with other embassy officials to the airport to greet Dulles. He tearing them apart and descended the stairs of the plane with 7 or 8 men, and “they were all drunk.” He brought his own secretary, Phyllis. Dulles held a being critical. press conference. During that time, his secretary informed me she was in Burma as a tourist. I had no previous experience of taking

44 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL notation at meetings of this level, but me and another secretary at the embassy who had worked at an international confer- Dulles wanted to take ence in Geneva agreed to work together to handle whatever was required, without Phyllis. the typed notes with him to It was 100 degrees outside. The meetings began with Dulles the president’s reception. I and President Ba U and many other officials set up in a large school auditorium somewhere in Rangoon. There was no air- finally told Dulles we could conditioning. I took notes with a pencil and remember the sweat type a lot faster if he would running off my hand. At the conclusion of the meeting, we went to the embassy to type our notes. Dulles came to the embassy as stop interrupting. well and was walking up and down near my desk, asking about every five minutes, “Are you finished yet, girls?” Dulles wanted to take the typed notes with him to the presi- dent’s reception. I finally told Dulles we could type a lot faster if has been done to aid the blind in Burma, and after her scold- he would stop interrupting. I told him I would bring the typed ing, [Prime Minister] U Nu invited her to stay in his guest house, notes to him at the reception. So Dulles left. We managed to finish which they are doing, with the rented air-conditioner breaking the typing and, after freshening ourselves, we went to the recep- down every three hours or so. tion to present the notes to Dulles. He reviewed them, nodded his approval with a smile, and shared a copy with the international June 2, 1955 press corps waiting nearby. I have found a very interesting male companion—newspaper- man from Nevada—who will only be here a short time [Denver May 17, 1955 Dickerson, her future husband]. He’s going back home and run Last night I went to a reception and saw Helen Keller. It was for the Senate! His father used to be governor of the state. We play quite a moving incident, and we were all thrilled to finally see a lot of Scrabble, and I must say I’m no match and must pick up someone we’d heard about all of our lives. She sat on the stage on my vocabulary immediately. with her companion, Miss Thomson, and gave a speech. Her voice is clear enough if you were talking with her alone, but over September 26, 1955 the mike it is not effective, so Miss Thomson repeated after her. I find that people who travel around a lot—and this has Miss Thomson herself is a wonder, and how they do it is beyond helped me considerably—can take people as they come and me. They both looked quite trim, and while the mayor gave a wel- appreciate the good things in them instead of always tear- coming speech, Miss Thomson gave it to Miss Keller by tapping ing them apart and being critical. Everyone doesn’t have to be her hand. It was really a moving sight to see them, and Keller told American, a Democrat, or Catholic, just because we are. the government people here that it was appalling the little that Resignation from the Foreign Service In late 1955 Maxine Desilet resigned from the Foreign Service and returned to America via India, Egypt, the Holy Land, Italy and France, and then on to New York City and Washington, D.C., before arriving at her parents’ home in Lewiston, Idaho. In 1956 she married Denver Dickerson. n

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 45 FOCUS WOMEN IN THE FOREIGN SERVICE

Challenging Tradition Female members of the Foreign Service of the 1950s through the 1990s break through barriers at the Department of State.

his selection of excerpts from the oral tor’s office in the Economic Bureau. The executive director in histories of three retired female Foreign those days was a legendary figure by the name of Frances Wil- Service officers—Elinor Constable, Phyllis son. We were all terrified of Frances, but she congratulated me Oakley and Mary Olmsted—brings to life on my engagement, and I was touched. My goodness, how nice. the atmosphere of the Foreign Service in And then she said, “When do you plan to resign, Miss Greer?” the second half of the 20th century. These And I said, “I don’t plan to resign.” … No woman had ever are but a few voices from that era, but done this in the history of the Foreign Service. I said, “You can’t they convey the spirit and determina- force me to resign. If you want me out, you have to fire me.” tion of the generation that witnessed and She said, “Miss Greer, you are required to resign.” helped open the way for women in the career Foreign Service. I said, “Show me the regulation. Show me the law. Where is it?” TWe are indebted to the oral history collection developed Well, there wasn’t one. This came as a shock. I was quite and maintained by the Association for Diplomatic Studies and prepared for her to pull out a book, and show me some regula- Training (www.adst.org). tion, and at that point I would fight it as far as I could. —The Editors There was none! It was custom, plain old custom, buttressed by two practical limitations. One, you did not have to grant maternity leave to women in those days. … And second, there ‘Show Me the Law…!’ was a restriction on the books about family members work- ELINOR CONSTABLE ing together at the same post. But we were in Washington, and I said, “This makes no sense. I am not going to be a different had no particular career ambitions. My idea was to work at person after I am married. Nothing is going to change. And I something that was interesting and fun. I didn’t want to be am going to continue to do this job.” I a secretary. That was the other thing women were supposed We started our family right away and there was no such to be [in the 1950s]. … And the notion that this was what every thing as maternity leave, so at that point I did resign. … woman was destined to be, was nuts. I passed the written exam [Some years later, in 1973], we returned to D.C. and I went with flying colors. … I would describe the process as extremely back to work. … Peter came home with a pink copy of a mes- patronizing, particularly towards a woman, and subjective. … sage describing the new policy about women in the Foreign A month or so before we were married [her fiancé was also Service, inviting women who had been forced out to reapply. … in the Foreign Service], I was summoned to the executive direc- When I rejoined the Foreign Service, I had been in the Civil

46 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Service at the GS-13 level, which in those days translated to ble. She rejoined the Foreign Service and served not only as ambas- FS-4. I was brought back as an FSR-5, and I complained about sador to Kenya (1986-1989) but also as the first female principal it. Not because I expected a 4, but because I’m not a doormat. deputy assistant secretary of the Economic Bureau and as assistant I wrote a memo to the director of personnel and said, “I don’t secretary in the Bureau of Oceans, International Environmental think it’s appropriate; I should be a 4.” and Scientific Affairs. She retired in 1993. These excerpts are taken He was furious, and was reliably quoted as saying ‘If she from interviews by Charles Stuart Kennedy beginning in 1996. didn’t want the 5, why the hell did she come back in?’ ... The first thing I did when I came back was sit on the files project. And one of the things I did on the files project was It Was the Early 1970s, check the files of anyone who had come in laterally. And guess and America Was Changing what? The men came in at 4 if they had been a GS-13, and I PHYLLIS OAKLEY came in as a 5. … When the women sued the State Department back in the e had decided to get married [in 1957], and it was mid-70s—this is a hard story for me to tell, but let’s be truth- a very complicated situation. I knew that I had to ful for history. I don’t believe in suing the State Department. Wresign. I must say that at the time my conscious- I didn’t like the style of the people who were in charge of the ness was very low. Women in the Foreign Service knew that if suit. … There is a statistical pattern of discrimination which is, they married they would have to resign, and we accepted that I think, clear and well established. And I think, by and large, it discrimination without batting an eyelash. is not just unconscious, but maybe even subconscious. And we At the time, there weren’t many vacancies for junior offi- need to work on it. But I don’t like the suits. cers; if the department had offered me something potentially My husband urged me interesting and challeng- to join it. … As a whole the ing, I might have felt differ- department was doing what ently about resignation. My was comfortable. It was Officials were striving decision to get married was because these women had undoubtedly greeted by the taken risks. You shouldn’t to advance women and to Personnel Office with relief just leave them out there demonstrate that they were because it was just one less to take all the flak. It was person it had to place. … a class action suit which moving with the times. I never asked to see the was filed by female Foreign —Phyllis Oakley regulations about married Service officers led by Alison women; I did not object or Palmer and others. The demand a job when I got to claim in the suit was that the Khartoum. I just accepted department had discriminated against women in hiring, assign- life as it was generally lived. In fact, the department operated ing, promoting, giving incentive awards, every step of the way. ... by custom, and not because of legal limitations; but no woman I was promoted as fast as anybody in the Foreign Service. I thought of challenging those customs—our consciousness was became an ambassador, I became an assistant secretary. I was very low indeed. … I was deeply in love, ready for marriage. the first woman to be a principal deputy assistant secretary in I did not see myself as a victim in marrying Bob; it was the EB. I was the first woman to run the international finance and beginning of a new phase in my life. development portfolio in the EB. So for me to argue that the Sometime during our tour in Beirut [1974], we began to department was discriminating against me as an individual was hear that the State Department was changing in regard to ridiculous. … [Constable did join the suit, but was not eligible for women. The issue of married women in the Foreign Service the remedies the department was ultimately required to offer.] had been revisited, and policies were changing—for example, women were no longer required to resign when they married. Elinor Constable joined the State Department Foreign Service in So I went to see the embassy’s personnel officer and told her 1957 and resigned in 1959, after her marriage to FSO Peter Consta- that in light of the policy changes being implemented and in

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 47 Until the 1970s, the evaluations for male FSOs included an assessment of their wives’ involvement in representational activities and general comportment. On Jan. 22, 1972, in response to growing protest, the Department of State sent an airgram clarifying that participation by a Foreign Service spouse in the work of a post is a voluntary act and “not a legal obligation which can be imposed by any Foreign Service official or his wife.”

the required social life was a full-time job. … So I didn’t reenter the workforce because I looked down on the role of a Foreign Service wife. … It was the early 1970s, and America was changing. There was a sexual revolution, a feminist revolution and a political revolution—thanks to Vietnam. Even the State Department changed. I found it a great advantage to be a woman at that time. Officials were striving to advance women and to demonstrate that they were mov- ing with the times. I became the first female staff assistant on the seventh floor, where the highest-level State officials work. I was the first spouse permitted to work in her husband’s embassy (in Kinshasa), and the first spokeswoman in the State Depart- ment. It was a rewarding path—pro- the likely event of a next assignment to Washington, D.C., I viding both time for my children when they were young and a would want to apply for a return to the Foreign Service. … fulfilling career. At this point, I felt I could do it—our daughter was going to I hope young officers starting careers today will remem- enter high school and our son was going into junior high, and ber that most of the changes for women at the State Depart- we would probably be in Washington for a while. So the timing ment would not have come about without lawsuits and a fair for reentry was quite propitious, and soon after our return to amount of pushing. And both men and women in the Foreign Washington, I “came back in.” Service today should know that the tension between career I should say one other thing about my decision. I have and parenthood still exists, especially for women. never denigrated the role of women in the Foreign Service; Would I recommend the Foreign Service career to young I was “wife of” for 16 years and know how difficult it is to women today? You bet I would. In spite of the danger, sharp manage a family under very trying circumstances and many shards left in the breached glass ceiling and complexities of moves. The management of children and a household and family life, I still see the Foreign Service as the most interest-

48 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL ing and worthwhile career storm. The desk thought in the world. The government of it was nonsense to send a woman to Papua New Phyllis Oakley joined the Papua New Guinea, the Guinea. … That point was Foreign Service in 1957 and made very clear, and in resigned one year later to people who were running the writing, and when I got marry FSO Robert Oakley. country were very puzzled that memo I had to laugh a In 1974, she rejoined the little bit. I said they won’t Foreign Service and rose when the United States sent dare cancel this assignment through the ranks quickly, a woman there as their first now that there is written beginning in the Bureau evidence that cancellation of International Orga- representative; they didn’t would be on the basis of nizations. She retired in know how to take it. discrimination. … 1999, having served as the I learned consider- assistant secretary for intel- —Mary Olmsted ably later, toward the end ligence and research. These of my tour there, that the excerpts are taken from government of Papua New interviews by Charles Stuart Guinea, the people who Kennedy between 2000 and 2004 and from her essay, “Paving were running the country, were very puzzled when the United the Way for Women” (Inside a U.S. Embassy, Second Edition, States sent a woman there as their first representative, and 2005). they didn’t know how to take it until the United States named Anne Armstrong as ambassador to the United Kingdom. They read about that in Time magazine, and they thought, “Well, the United States sent a woman to London, and they sent one to A Female Ambassador: Port Moresby.” And they felt that kind of put them in the same What Could This Mean? league as the United Kingdom, and they felt very pleased. MARY OLMSTED Then they began to say, “We, too, should have women who are able to take high positions in our government. We should had been in Washington for a long time and I was looking train them and bring them along and give them appoint- for an onward assignment and was getting nowhere with ments.” And I think my appointment there had something to I it when one day [in 1974] there crossed my desk a big fat do with improving the status of women in Papua New Guinea. memorandum asking for permission to open a new post in Port Their ambassador here [in 2004] was a woman. Moresby, Papua New Guinea. As I thumbed through the memo I thought to myself, “I wonder what poor devil we will send to the Mary Olmsted joined the Foreign Service in 1945 and was jungles of New Guinea?” But somehow it stuck in my mind. … I posted to Consulate General Montreal as a junior economic began to think, “Wouldn’t it be fun to open up a new post?” analyst. During a more than 30-year career she also served in So I wrote a memorandum to the Director General and sent Amsterdam, Reykjavik, Vienna and New Delhi, as well as in copies of it to the director of personnel, the head of assign- Washington, D.C. She was assigned as the first consul general to ments, and everybody else I could think of, and said I would Papua New Guinea in early 1975 and was promoted to become like to be considered to open the post, which would open as a the first U.S. ambassador to the country after its independence consulate general in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Well, from Australia in September 1975. Ms. Olmsted was the first dead silence ensued. And several days later the Director Gen- president of the Women’s Action Organization and the 1972 eral came into my office with my memo in hand, and he said, winner of AFSA’s Christian Herter Award for intellectual cour- “You really mean this?” And I said, “Yes, I do.” age and constructive dissent. She retired in 1979. These excerpts So indeed he delivered. There was some protest from the are taken from interviews conducted by Ann Miller Morin in desk level in the geographic bureau, but I weathered that 1985 and Charles Stuart Kennedy in 1992. n

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 49 FEATURE

Two Decades of Volunteer Support: Kirby Simon’s Legacy

The J. Kirby Simon Foreign Service Trust is uniquely committed to expanding the opportunities for community service to people associated with U.S. embassies and consulates.

BY KATHLEEN SHEEHAN AND LIISA ECOLA

ow far can $4,395 go toward helping in 2012, the children in the orphanage weathered the storm in a others? At an orphanage in Haiti, it literal sense, taking shelter in the newly constructed rooms. They saved lives. all survived in the midst of terrible destruction. Over the past two decades, the The application was submitted by an Embassy Port-au-Prince J. Kirby Simon Foreign Service Trust team of nine people, led by a husband and wife, Cecilia and has given out small but valuable Jerome Oetgen, who volunteered at the orphanage, teaching the grants for projects all over the world. children and sponsoring Christmas parties. Even though the The Haitian grant, made in 2009, Oetgens were no longer at post by this point, their impact lived helped enclose and waterproof on. two rooms of an orphanage, and build a third. The two existing Stories like this—not all so dramatic, but all meaningful— Hrooms had been open to the elements, and heavy rains made are why the J. Kirby Simon Trust persists in its mission: issuing them useless as classrooms. When Hurricane Sandy struck Haiti grants to members of the extended Foreign Service community so they can give back to the places where they serve. Nobody Liisa Ecola (at left) and Kathleen Sheehan else does what we do. are former FSOs who served with Kirby Simon at the American Institute in Taiwan. What Is the J. Kirby Simon Trust? Ms. Ecola’s first tour was in Warsaw from The J. Kirby Simon Foreign Service Trust was started by John 1992 to 1994. She currently lives in Washington, D.C., where she works and Claire Simon in 1996 as a memorial to their son (see sidebar). at a public policy research institute. Ms. Sheehan left the State Depart- Kirby Simon, a first-tour FSO, died of accidental carbon monoxide ment in 2007 after tours in three bureaus: East Asia and Pacific Affairs, poisoning while serving at the American Institute in Taiwan in European Affairs, and Population, Refugees, and Migration. She cur- 1995. He was only 33. Anyone who knew him remembers that he rently lives in Washington, D.C. Both are board members of the J. Kirby had a quick wit, was wise beyond his years and had an immense Simon Trust. interest in the demands and challenges of being an FSO.

50 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Each year, the trust puts out a call for applications from members of the Foreign Service community who are volunteer- ing overseas and who could use a small grant to bolster their efforts. Ten trustees meet annually to review the grant applica- tions. Almost all of us knew Kirby Simon personally; some of us worked with him overseas, while others knew him through John and Claire. We all have some personal appreciation for what it is to serve as a diplomat overseas. Serving on the board of trustees is truly a labor of love; we have no full-time staff and rely entirely on donations. Dan Morris, a trustee, explains our commitment this way: “A bit of idealism, a service orientation, and a desire to make a dif- ference in people’s lives are big motivations for most of us join- ing the Foreign Service. Often that attitude is hard to maintain as one faces the magnitude and reality of the problems we’re presented and the difficulty of addressing them. Kirby embod- ied the best of that idealism and joy of life in serving others, and it is fitting that the trust in his name has been able to do so much for so many.” In any given year, we receive from 35 to 100 applications, and fund between one-half to two-thirds of them. We look for people who are committed to their projects through volunteer- ing on their own time, not simply raising funds. We focus on projects that would be difficult to fund any other way—too large for the applicant to pay for themselves, but too small for most established charities.

What Has It Done? PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHN AND CLAIRE SIMON Since making our first grants in 1997, we have disbursed $1.4 Kirby Simon in Paris in 1981. million to 666 projects in countries around the world. Success- ful applicants usually request small amounts, typically under $4,500. Some grants are for as little as $500. During those 19 years, the trust has funded a wide variety Each year, the trust puts of projects. In just one year, we provided computers for a soup kitchen in Argentina, greenhouses for a war-torn village in out a call for applications Bosnia, wells for a village hit hard by a cyclone in Myanmar from members of the (Burma), personal hygiene supplies for a homeless shelter in China and lighting for a youth basketball program in Cote Foreign Service community d’Ivoire. And that’s just A through C. who are volunteering The authors of this piece have reviewed many hundreds of applications. Some are from groups of embassy or consulate overseas and who could staff members who want to conduct a medical outreach event, use a small grant to bolster build a house or install new equipment at an orphanage where they volunteer. Other individuals use their unique talents to their efforts. make a difference coaching a sports team or giving music lessons, or fill a specific need such as providing coats to the

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 51 ON THE INSPIRATION FOR THE TRUST

irby started the thinking that ultimately led the board until his death in May 2015), offered to help to the creation of the J. Kirby Simon Foreign us explore the problem. Herb, who had served as legal KService Trust. During his last holiday at home adviser to the State Department, was then a senior part- in late 1994, Kirby, who had taught English as a second ner in the Washington, D.C., law firm of Jones Day, which language in Spain after graduating from college, told us has a distinguished international practice. Herb and his about the pro bono English-language class he was offer- wife Jeanne invited us to dinner with some of their close ing employees of the American Institute in Taiwan. friends—all retired ambassadors and their spouses—to One day he casually mentioned that the students discuss the great need for help in so many areas abroad, might find a tape recorder helpful. At the next session, and the endless pitfalls for the inexperienced and igno- each of his six students brought one. Kirby had been rant in the effort to give such help. surprised and delighted by the response, because, as he The takeaway from their very candid views was clear: explained, tape recorders made language teaching both corruption in many of the neediest countries was hard easier and more effective. for “do-gooders” to avoid. The pitfalls and possibilities He pointed out, however, that Taiwan was a devel- for missteps were as likely as a pessimistic imagination oped country. In other parts of the world even simple would suggest. gadgets, no matter how worthwhile, would be out of But Herb’s guests also spoke with admiration of the reach. Although we didn’t know it at the time, that con- volunteer activities performed by many at post. Those versation was the spark for the idea that small dona- people spoke the language of the country and knew tions could make a difference. the turf. Obviously, they didn’t give their time to causes We had hoped that a memorial to Kirby would have unless they believed in them. They might not be able to an international dimension. He loved foreign languages cure river blindness or malaria, but they could improve and travel, and almost any engagement with the wider the local school, clinic, women’s shelter, orphanage or world. But without the resources of a large foundation, playground. what could we do? That became our answer, as well. Help to the helpers! A dear friend, Herbert Hansell (who would serve on —John and Claire Simon

elderly. We have conferred awards on ambassadors and entry- important parts of my experience in Abuja. Serving at a high- level officers, specialists and nurses, employees and spouses, threat post can be difficult, and our time away from the office American and local employees. can be rather monotonous. Getting off compound and working These grants have helped both our applicants and, more with people far outside the social classes I typically interacted importantly, the groups with which they work. One of our 2015 with at work made a huge difference in giving my experience in grants funded an embassy group in Abuja, composed of both Abuja a strong sense of purpose.” Americans and Nigerians, that provides English lessons to chil- Dana Cunliffe, an assistant community liaison officer, dren and adults who have left their homes due to persecution explains how volunteering with the same group affected her: and poverty, as well as to those who have fled Boko Haram’s “English teaching has allowed me to interact with and learn destruction. Their lack of English relegates them to very menial from Nigerians who have experienced great suffering. This jobs, if any, so the grant funds simple items: tables to sit at and experience has expanded my view of the world, and I am not books about topics relevant to the students’ lives. the same person I was before I began teaching.” FSO Althea Cawley-Murphee sums up her experience with We made another grant in 2015 to Quito Cares, a highly the trust like this: “Teaching English classes was one of the most regarded community action group that was founded in 2008 by

52 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Since making our first grants in 1997, we have disbursed $1.4 million to 666 projects in countries around the world.

MERCEDES PALACIOS As trustees, we are reminded over and over of the The J. Kirby Simon Fund awarded $820 for the project English for hardships so many endure around the globe. Many Children and Young At-Risk People in Rivas, Nicaragua. Funds were used of the applications are heartbreaking, addressing the to purchase English teaching materials. Shown here are students with an injured dog adopted by the class. Students in the program learn English combined effects of grinding poverty with attitudes and serve their community. that disadvantage the most vulnerable people—the disabled, unwed mothers, children and refugees. One poignant phrase came from an applicant several years ago in several Foreign Service spouses. At the group’s request, the trust describing the project she hoped to fund: “I assure you, the provided $4,200 to the Fundación Jonathan, which provides need is real.” medical support and food for low-income people. The grant The reminder that such small amounts of funding can make allowed the local organization to purchase an industrial oven such big differences is like an annual injection against cynicism. to bake bread on a daily basis for people in need of sustenance. None of us can fully solve these problems, but each of us can do As grant writer Erzsebet Best-Pitlu explains, “The J. Kirby Simon something, however small. Foreign Service Trust helped me continue sharing our values in the world that is contributing to the human spirit; and it made What Can We Do? possible not only doing my part, but doing my best.” As the trust looks forward, we are making changes that we hope will continue our work into the next generation. We now Why Does It Matter? have a Facebook page and are updating our website, www. This trust is unique: It is the only organization of its kind kirbysimontrust.org. committed to expanding the opportunities for professional Given that we can accomplish so much with so little, dona- fulfillment and community service to people associated with tions of any size are graciously welcomed. We are always happy U.S. embassies and consulates. We support individuals and to answer questions about the work of the trust via emails sent groups who are already willing to use part of their own time to [email protected]. and energy to extend their reach. We help foster cooperation Applications for our 20th grant cycle are due on April 1. Guide- among post staff to increase the numbers of people who volun- lines for applicants are available at www.kirbysimontrust.org. teer, whether they are members of the Foreign Service, other We are honored to be part of an organization that has cre- American and local staff, or family members. In many cases, ated something meaningful from an untimely death. As trustee these grants have facilitated long-term relationships between Colette Marcellin puts it, “The Simons found the wisdom and embassies and consulates and local charitable organizations— strength to respond to their tragedy with this beautiful gift of a relationships that might otherwise end when the lead volun- trust. This gift—both their legacy and Kirby’s legacy—continues teer leaves post. to help so many people throughout the world.” n

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 53 FEATURE

Extending the American Revolution Overseas: Foreign Aid, 1789–1850

Foreign assistance is part of America’s cultural DNA, fostered by the country’s revolutionary heritage of a commitment to human rights and individual liberties.

BY JOHN SANBRAILO

odern analyses of U.S. foreign Foreign assistance reflects what historian Gordon Wood assistance typically describe identifies in his book The Idea of America: Reflections on the Birth it as a post-World War II of the United States (Penguin, 2011) as a fundamental element innovation that began with the of the country’s revolutionary tradition: the desire to spread Marshall Plan and President democracy and development overseas. It is part of the country’s Harry Truman’s Point Four cultural DNA, fostered by its unique revolutionary heritage of aid program in the late 1940s. a commitment to human rights and individual liberties. Aid Following the lead of interna- expresses the nation’s sense of a universal mission to nurture tional relations theorist Hans freedom and prosperity in other countries, a mission that has Morgenthau, many practitioners believe that foreign aid arose as regularly been an integral part of U.S. foreign policy purposes. Man instrument of Cold War diplomacy, and that aid as we know it The desire to share the principles of the American Revolu- might not now exist without the Cold War. tion with other countries was driven not only by diplomats and This article presents an alternative view, expanding on an government officials, but by missionaries, traders, educators, sci- article by Glenn Rogers, “A Long-Term Perspective on U.S. entists, agriculturalists, academics, progressive reformers, civil Foreign Development Cooperation” (May 2010 FSJ). Foreign society groups, business leaders and the military. These early aid is deeply rooted in American history, and has evolved over undertakings were similar to aid programs in recent decades, more than 200 years to improve the lives of hundreds of millions offering useful comparisons. of people throughout the globe while also supporting vital U.S. interests. Earliest Initiatives The Founding Fathers were, above all, what we might call John Sanbrailo is executive director of the Pan American “development philosophers.” The writings of Benjamin Frank- Development Foundation, an affiliate of the Organization lin, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton explore how of American States. A former FSO with USAID, he served societies move toward greater liberty and progress. Franklin’s as mission director in Ecuador, Peru, Honduras and El Sal- Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind and Peopling vador, retiring with the rank of Career Minister in 1997. Mr. Sanbrailo is of Countries, etc., published in 1751, outlined one of the first currently working on a history of foreign assistance. comprehensive development theories. In it, he describes how

54 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL the interests of rich countries are enhanced by promoting prog- ress in their poorer territories. These ideas have endured to this Jefferson’s belief that “this ball of day as a central pillar of foreign aid policy. Works such as Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanack and Auto- liberty will roll round the world” was biography, Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia and Hamil- reflected in his proposals to spread ton’s Report on Manufactures embody fundamental principles “republican principles” to Russia, that have shaped U.S. approaches to the world for more than two centuries. They are often incorporated in modern foreign Poland, Greece and the emerging assistance legislation without anyone ever realizing their origins. South American nations. The founders established institutions to advance liberty, equal- ity, representative government and the pursuit of happiness that continue to influence how Americans view international development and their role in the world. One of the earliest examples of American promotion of democracy overseas was the collaboration in Paris between Jef- ferson and General Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette, in drafting the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citi- zen” in 1789. This historic document marked the beginnings of the French Revolution and was greatly influenced by the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the American Declaration of Indepen- dence. Jefferson’s belief that “this ball of liberty will roll round the world” was reflected in his proposals to spread “republican principles” to Russia, Poland, Greece and the emerging Latin American nations. In more recent years, they are seen in U.S. support for the Arab Spring and democratic transitions through- out the world. From his first encounters with Native Americans in what were then sovereign nations in the western region of North America, Jefferson advised: “We desire above all things, brother, to instruct you in whatever we know ourselves. We wish you to learn all our arts and to make you wise and wealthy.” He instructed his sec- retary, Meriwether Lewis, to arrange smallpox vaccinations for Indian tribes along the route of the Lewis and Clark expedition, expressing attitudes toward traditional people that would evolve into foreign assistance over the decades to come. Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton supported aid to

Saint Domingue (now Haiti) to address the consequences of the CONGRESS OF FERRIS/LIBRARY GEROME LEON JEAN struggle for independence of that Caribbean island. Thousands Benjamin Franklin (at left), John Adams and Thomas Jefferson (standing) review a draft of the Declaration of Independence. of refugees fled to the United States in 1792 and 1793. Their plight led the U.S. Congress to establish a relief fund, thereby setting one of the earliest precedents for aid to foreign citizens. Toussaint L’Ouverture forged diplomatic ties that allowed Ameri- Today the State Department’s Bureau for Population, Refugees cans to support the creation of the world’s first Black Republic. and Migration carries out similar initiatives to ease the suffering As detailed in Diplomacy in Black and White (University of of uprooted people around the world and integrate humanitar- Georgia Press, 2014), the United States provided the revolution- ian principles into U.S. foreign policy. aries with economic assistance, arms and naval backing. As the From 1798 to 1801, President John Adams and Haitian leader highest-ranking U.S. diplomat dispatched to Saint Domingue,

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 55 and agricultural improvements, assessing that country’s natural resources and advocating freedom for the serfs. In 1811, President James Madison called for an “enlarged philanthropy” in dealing with the revolutionary events “developing themselves among the great communities which occupy the southern portion of our hemisphere and extending into our own neighborhood.” As the first U.S. diplomat to serve in Chile (1810-1814), Poin- sett helped that country prepare its constitution and develop plans for its national government. He conducted training courses on the Bill of Rights and promoted agricultural produc- tion, while leading local troops fighting for Chile’s indepen- dence from Spain. As minister to Mexico (1825-1829), Poinsett used Masonic lodges to build greater awareness of democratic practices and governance, activity comparable to civil society development programs supported today by the U.S. Agency for LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, TAKEN BY MATHEW BRADY International Development and the National Endowment for John J. Crittenden (1787-1863) was the 17th governor of Kentucky and served twice as U.S. Attorney General. He Democracy. Admittedly, Poinsett exceeded his instructions to represented the state in the U.S. Congress and strongly promote U.S. goodwill and trade relations which demonstrates supported an “Appeal to the People of the Nation” to contribute the tension between the idealist and realist approaches to to the relief effort following the Great Potato Famine in Ireland. American foreign policy that continues to this day. Dr. Edward Stevens played a crucial role in advising L’Ouverture Other Americans traveled to South America to aid its wars and mobilizing aid from the Adams administration. This coop- of independence, encourage trade and render humanitarian eration was of great strategic importance in bringing forth the assistance, often remaining there afterward to advance national new nation of Haiti, upholding American democratic ideals progress. In 1812, Congress appropriated $50,000 to ship flour to and slowly altering the Atlantic region’s discourse on slavery earthquake victims in Venezuela. The flour was delivered by dip- and race. It also opened markets for U.S. trade and undermined lomat Alexander Scott, who was instructed to highlight that this French interests, leading to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. aid was “strong proof of the friendship and interest which the Seeds planted around the world by the U.S. Declaration of United States…has in their welfare…and to explain the mutual Independence and the Constitution and its Bill of Rights would advantages of commerce slowly grow throughout the 19th century. Numerous Americans with the United States.” conspired with Latin American rebels in their plans to liber- In 1819, at the request ate South America as a means of developing the continent and of President James Mon- expanding commercial opportunities. Foreign writers pointed roe, Congress appropri- to Benjamin Franklin and George Washington as models for ated funds for an even promoting economic progress and democratic leadership. They more ambitious overseas regularly cited Franklin’s declaration that America’s cause “is the nation-building effort, cause of all mankind.” providing $100,000 to the American Colonization Extending the American Revolution Overseas Society for settlement of

Even during the initial decades of the 19th century, when U.S. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS freed blacks to Liberia. attention focused largely on continental expansion and consolida- Historian Daniel Walker tion of the federal system of government, foreign technical assis- Howe considers this “one tance that is similar to what we know today was undertaken. For of the most grandiose example, one of the wealthiest, most cosmopolitan figures of the schemes of social engi- Joel R. Poinsett (1779-1851) was period, Joel Poinsett from Charleston, South Carolina, traveled to Secretary of War and America’s neering ever entertained Russia in 1806 and 1807, advising Czar Alexander I on economic first diplomat to serve in Chile. in the United States.” Led

56 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL by Bushrod Washington, the nephew of President George Wash- ington and a Supreme Court justice, and other prominent figures like Henry Clay, the ACS obtained funds from private donors and later from the Virginia legislature and other states to establish Liberia, which led to its independence in 1847 and to Africa’s first democratic republic. Liberia and Haiti were unique in the 19th century, and U.S. assistance played a crucial role in helping to create both countries. Although both were largely ignored in subsequent policies, these republics contributed to weakening the institu- tion of slavery and slowly changing the debate on race relations by demonstrating that blacks were capable of self-government, setting the stage for 20th-century African independence move- ments. Such examples illustrate that foreign assistance can often have unintended outcomes. TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY MATTHEW HARRIS JOUETT. HARRIS MATTHEW UNIVERSITY TRANSYLVANIA The first nongovernmental organizations to work overseas Henry Clay (1777-1852) was renowned in the Western Hemisphere were incorporated in the 1810s, spurred in part by the patriotic as a strong proponent of pan-Americanism. fervor that followed the War of 1812. Among them was the Amer- ican Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, the afore- advocating diplomatic recognition of these new nations, Clay mentioned ACS and the American Bible Society, all three early proposed an “American System” of independent, democratic precedents for private actions to transfer democratic ideals and nations peacefully interconnected by trade and mutual coop- new knowledge to other lands. While their primary aims were eration, which he saw as important for national growth and pros- evangelizing and promoting Bible studies, they also encouraged perity. Historians see Clay as articulating the first comprehen- democratic values, education reforms, community development sive vision of international development that would later be seen and health projects. Peter Parker in China, Isaac Wheelwright in in the creation of the Inter-American System, the Pan American Ecuador and Charles Jefferson Harrah in Brazil all carried out Union, the Good Neighbor Policy, the Organization of American such activities. To cite just one example: in the 1830s and 1840s, States, the Alliance for Progress and similar regional initiatives. Parker introduced Western medicine into China, trained hun- Most presentations of the period highlight the Monroe dreds of doctors and developed the Medical Missionary Society Doctrine of 1823, often discussing it as the birth of American of China—while also serving as chargé d’affaires of the U.S. lega- imperialism. Clay’s positive vision of hemispheric integration tion and facilitating treaty negotiations with the Qing Dynasty. and his proposal of a policy of “good neighborhood” are often Some of the first translations into Spanish of the U.S. Dec- overlooked or dismissed as self-serving moves to support his laration of Independence and the Bill of Rights entered Latin political ambitions. His statements on the “spiritual links and America thanks to New England merchants and missionaries, great destiny the two Americas could share by building together” through instruction they provided on democratic practices. are similarly positive, even though they were motivated, at least Together with local leaders, they translated the Federalist Papers in part, by a desire to end Spanish trade restrictions and hasten and the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin into Spanish to use U.S. expansion into Texas. While his plan for hemispheric coop- in newly established public schools. These teachers were not eration is not well known, Clay is one of the very few among the unlike today’s Peace Corps Volunteers, symbolizing the strong pantheon of leaders of the Americas who is honored with a bust spirit of solidarity and shared humanity that has influenced in the historic OAS headquarters in Washington, D.C. foreign assistance from its inception. Inspired by Clay’s pan-Americanism, William Wheelwright from Newburyport, Massachusetts, was the first U.S. diplomat A Pan-American Vision in Guayaquil, Ecuador (1825-1829), importing the country’s In the 1820s, Representative Henry Clay became one of the first steam engine and helping develop local industries. He later most ardent champions of United States cooperation with the became the leading steamship and railroad pioneer in South newly emerging countries of South America. In his speeches America, implementing the earliest regional integration projects.

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 57 principal U.S. cities, dubbed “helleno- philes” and led by figures like Edward Everett and Mathew Carey, raised funds to send food, sup- plies, volunteers and cash to the distressed Greek population. This assistance included agricultural tools and support for rebuilding homes CREATIVE COMMONS/U.S. NAVY CREATIVE A United Nations peacekeeper helps locals move American food aid in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake and schools, not in Haiti. unlike similar mod- ern responses for other causes. He launched steamship travel along the Pacific coast, introduced No event in the first half of the 19th century led to such the telegraph, built a transcontinental railroad connecting widespread American giving as the Great Potato Famine in Chile and Argentina in the 1850s, and initiated mining projects Ireland. In American Philanthropy Abroad (Rutgers University and community improvements. Press, 1963), Merle Curti cites this Wheelwright’s brother Isaac was relief effort as “the first truly national an education adviser in Ecuador and The first nongovernmental organized campaign for helping Chile, establishing the first public the distressed in foreign lands.” schools for girls there. These techni- organizations to work Even President James Polk made cal assistance and investment initia- overseas were incorporated a personal contribution, although tives began a process of translating he did not favor federal aid. Other Clay’s vision into action and were in the 1810s, spurred in part prominent Americans such as Vice forerunners of modern cooperation by the patriotic fervor that President George Mifflin Dallas and programs. William Wheelwright is followed the War of 1812. Senator John J. Crittenden, and busi- unique among American diplomats ness leaders like Amos Lawrence, and entrepreneurs in being honored strongly supported an “Appeal to the by a statue in Valparaíso that was People of the Nation” to contribute. erected and paid for by contributions In 1847-1848 alone, more than a from the Chilean people. million dollars was raised, including $800 from the Cherokee and Choctaw nations, to ship emergency food and other relief Humanitarian Assistance & Technical Advice to Ireland. With great fanfare vessels regularly departed from Building on the precedents of aiding Haitian refugees and major U.S. ports, with the government providing some naval Venezuelan earthquake victims, individuals and the private shipping support—an early example of a public-private part- sector contributed generously to alleviate the suffering caused nership. by humanitarian crises, famines and natural disasters in other As noted in Kendall Birr and Merle Curti’s Prelude to Point lands. During the 1820s, “Greek Fever” seized the American Four: American Technical Missions Overseas (University of Wis- public, which mobilized to aid that country’s struggle for consin Press, 1954), the U.S. government began responding to freedom from the Ottoman Turks. Citizens’ committees in a growing number of technical assistance requests from foreign

58 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL countries starting in the 1830s. Secretary of State James G. International visitors regularly Blaine to help create the Inter- traveled to the United States to American System in 1890. That observe the accomplishments led, in turn, to the establish- of the self-taught engineers ment of the Pan-American who constructed the Erie Union, the first modern Canal and other infrastructure multilateral organization for projects. The development of regional cooperation and steamboats and railroads, and development and a model for the newly invented telegraph the future League of Nations, (the Internet of its day), United Nations and Organiza- attracted increasing attention. tion of American States. By the late 1840s, Americans Indeed, many of the ele- JEFFERSON PEACE MEDAL/OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY were already building railroads The USAID logo we know today bears a distinct resemblance to ments that we recognize as and telegraph lines in foreign the Jefferson Peace Medal, as shown here. Peace and friendship modern foreign aid emerged lands, such as George Wash- medals minted in silver by the U.S. government were an aspect of during this period: congres- diplomacy with Native Americans and others during the 18th and ington Whistler in Russia and 19th centuries. sionally appropriated funds; the initiation of the Panama humanitarian assistance and Railroad, an engineering food shipments for victims of marvel of the era. Rapidly increasing agricultural production and conflict, famine and natural disasters; support to revolutionary the machinery of Cyrus McCormick were generating frequent regimes and new nations; technical advice for improving educa- requests for agricultural experts. tion, medical care and agriculture; the establishment of NGOs In addition, foreigners viewed with great interest the Ameri- operating overseas; the dispatch of volunteers to foreign lands; can public school system and recruited advisers who could support for industrial and infrastructure development; public- replicate it overseas. They traveled here to observe new ideas private partnerships; and promotion of democracy and what we about penology, care for the insane and abused women, and now call “nation-building.” creation of voluntary associations. Many were intrigued by the Such a perspective may help to explain how President George American experiment in representative democracy and won- W. Bush could enter office opposed to overseas nation-building, dered how it might be established elsewhere. By 1850, Minister yet subsequently embark on the most ambitious such efforts in George Bancroft was reporting from London that the U.S. had American history in Iraq and Afghanistan while achieving the surpassed Britain in commerce, manufacturing and wealth. largest increase in foreign assistance since the Marshall Plan. Or World leaders saw the U.S. as a growing center of discovery and why President Barack Obama, in his Second Inaugural Address as a provider of knowledge and techniques that would accel- in January 2013, echoed Thomas Jefferson in proclaiming: “We erate economic and social progress. Such initiatives would will support democracy from Asia to Africa; from the Americas further expand after the Civil War. to the Middle East; because our interests and our conscience compel us to act on behalf of those who long for freedom. We History Matters must be a source of hope to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, Modern aid programs are part of a tradition that dates back the victims of injustice. Our individual freedom is inextricably to the founding of the republic. During the six decades follow- bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth.” ing independence, Americans advocated international engage- As Abraham Lincoln famously observed, “We cannot escape ment and wrote about how it would benefit the United States history.” Foreign assistance is not merely a temporary aber- and other nations. They encouraged initiatives to share with ration or a response to immediate international crises. It has the world the fruits of the American Revolution, although trade been a fundamental part of U.S. engagement with the world expansion and other national interests were also fundamental and defines who we are as a people. If Americans stopped concerns. While many have forgotten Henry Clay’s proposal for trying to improve and democratize the world, they would stop Western Hemisphere collaboration, his vision lived on to inspire being American. n

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 59 FS Heritage

FS PERSONNEL EVALUATIONS, 1925-1955: A Unique View

The evolution of personnel evaluations at State is reflected in the dossier of Frances Elizabeth Willis, the first woman to make a career of the Foreign Service.

By Nicholas J. Willis

s most Foreign Service Journal comments from instructors in the Foreign Service School (now readers know, Employee Evalu- the Foreign Service Institute), and ended in 1955 when she was ation Reports for all U.S. Foreign evaluated for the last time, one month before she was pro- Service personnel are signed by the moted to Career Minister. Data for Lucile Atcherson, the first rating officer, the rated employee, woman to enter the Foreign Service, has also become available a reviewing officer and the panel for 1925 and 1926, so this article covers those two additional chairperson. Further, the EER years, as well. program has been vetted and fine- As H. L. Calkin documents in his 1978 book, Women in the tuned by the Government Account- Department of State, these female pioneers were actively dis- ability Office in 2010 and again in 2013. couraged from entering or staying in the Service. Just six women ABut as the career of Frances Elizabeth Willis, the third woman were accepted between 1922 and 1941, and only two stayed. to join the Foreign Service—and my aunt—illustrates, the pro- Frances Willis was the first of these, and the evaluations in her cess wasn’t always so transparent and objective. Frances Willis dossier illustrate the gender-biased procedures used to hold entered the Service in 1927, serving for 37 years until reaching her back professionally. More positively, they also remind us of the mandatory retirement age of 65 in 1964. the extent to which the State Department personnel evaluation Her personnel evaluations started in 1927 with grades and system has evolved since then. While many sources in the Foreign Service and Department Nicholas J. Willis is the author of Frances Elizabeth Willis of State generated personnel evaluations during this period, one (2013), a self-published biography of his aunt, the first element of the system remained constant: the Annual Efficiency woman to make a career of the U.S. Foreign Service. After Report submitted to the department by the employee’s onsite retirement from a career working with military radar supervisor. Eventually the AER evolved into the EER, the para- systems and their countermeasures, he devoted himself to mount metric in the current system, but between 1925 and 1946 collecting her papers and relevant material to document her life. This ar- it was only one of many inputs considered. It became signifi- ticle is an outgrowth of that effort. Frances Willis’ biography is available cantly more important after World War II. by emailing [email protected]. Personnel evaluations generated during this period changed

60 March 2016 | the foreign Service journal frequently and took various forms: narrative, numerical and The annual Efficiency Rating even multiple-choice. Here is a chronology of their evolution. could hardly be called a Foreign Service School, circa 1928 report, since it consisted of The school instructed all newly commissioned Foreign short, unsigned comments— Service officers, rated “FSO (unclassified),” in the elements of consular work: passports, visas, accounts, indexes, invoices, etc. sometimes just one word each— The instructors conducted a written exam in each area, and then about the officer’s performance. numerically rated the student on mental keenness, practical judgment, effectiveness and general attitude. They then attached comments to their rating, and the chief instructor ranked mem- in her dossier, including handwritten notations on the bottom bers of each class. This process was not unlike public school and back of her 1928 Foreign Service School record. But perhaps it grading in the first half of the 20th century. didn’t make any difference where the reports were filed, because Gender bias reared its ugly head here, at the very beginning none of these pioneering women were expected to last very long. of Frances Willis’ career. Her passports instructor stated: “Miss Fortunately, these haphazard evaluations faded away in the early Willis showed excellent judgment and other qualities, which in a 1930s, though they were later resurrected in a more structured man would have called for a higher rating.” format. None of these reports indicated whether the officer had read them. Informal Period, 1925–1933 Little is known about the fourth State Department-generated Four personnel evaluation reports appeared during this report, in this case about Lucile Atcherson, the first woman to period: the Annual Efficiency Report, a special Inspection Report, join the Foreign Service. Although Marilyn Greenwald, Lucile’s an Efficiency Rating and a department-generated report. The AER granddaughter, obtained Atcherson’s dossier and quoted narra- was a one-page, narrative report generated by the onsite supervi- tive evaluations of her performance as a third secretary in the first sor, describing the officer’s duties and performance. It usually chapter of a biography of Lucile’s daughter, she did not cite the ended with a comment about the officer’s suitability for retention, actual documents. One quotation appears to have resembled the reassignment, promotion, etc. But occasionally it consisted of a AER, while the department-generated quotation seems to have simple, handwritten note, especially if the supervisor was a politi- been an early version of a Rating Sheet—the next stage in the cal appointee. evolution of personnel evaluations. The American Foreign Service Inspection Report was the only structured format of the four. And despite its title, it was only used Rating Sheet Era, 1933–1946 to evaluate consular officers. A multiple-topic, multiple-page, The State Department adopted a two-year promotion process, narrative document, it was written by a consul general who had using a selection board consisting of officers senior to the rated been detailed as a Foreign Service inspector to evaluate a consular officer. After the board convened, it updated a Rating Sheet, the employee at post. Sections of the document addressed personal- essential document for promotion, and permanently filed it in ity, mode of living, contacts, cooperation, standing and profes- the officer’s dossier. This consisted of a one-paragraph summary sional attributes, the last taking up two pages. It ended with the of material in the dossier for the current, two-year period under inspector’s opinion about the officer’s suitability to continue in review. the consular service or transfer into the diplomatic service. The material consisted of memos, letters, notes, newspaper The third format, the annual Efficiency Rating, was also gener- articles and evaluation reports from the department and the ated by the department’s Consular Service. But it could hardly be onsite supervisor. Apparently, the one-paragraph summary was called a report, since it consisted of short, unsigned comments— generated by a member of the current board, but no description sometimes just one word each—about the officer’s performance of the process was included in the dossier. Then the summarizer in assigned duties: passports, shipping, notarials, etc., as viewed (more accurately, a redactor) would assign a rating of excellent, from the department. Following the comments were a date and very good, satisfactory or unsatisfactory and add the entry to rating—average, high average, good, very good and none. previous paragraphs in the Rating Sheet. These paragraphs were In my aunt’s case, these comments appeared at random places dated, but neither signed nor initialed.

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 61 The redactor, in a special 1946 review, immediately promoting her to Class III. Acheson subse- quently gave her an outstanding review. Then they discovered Rating Sheet review, gave her a that the redactor, in a special 1946 Rating Sheet review trig- mere “very good” rating, stating gered by that promotion, gave her a mere “Very Good” rating, that Class III was high enough stating that Class III was high enough for her “because of her sex.” Frances’ next AER included—for the first time—a rating at for her “because of her sex.” the end of it, and the subsequent Rating Sheet entry had none. The department-generated Efficiency Ratings—now signed—continued, along with a periodic Inspector’s Effi- This process made the board’s job much easier, because ciency Report, which added 16 questions to be answered by everything they needed to know about the candidate was sum- the inspected officer (e.g., “What is your ultimate goal in the marized in the new paragraph. They could immediately tell Foreign Service?” “Are you in debt?”). whether the candidate was improving or slipping. But it also New forms started to appear, as well. One was a seven- opened the door for mischief if the anonymous redactor were page Position Description with a two-page, 1,100-word set of biased or had a personal ax to grind. In Frances Willis’ case, instructions requiring a detailed description of duties, includ- for example, a 1932 entry in her dossier reported that as a third ing the officer’s estimate—within a 5-percent margin of error— secretary in Stockholm, she had assumed chargé duties, the first quantifying such factors as time taken, successes and adverse time a woman had done so. That report was indeed filed—but consequences for each duty. inside Frances’ 1928 Foreign Service School record, where it was A one-page, department-generated, Annual End-User overlooked by the redactor, who also ignored two press articles Summary Report also appeared, with a narrative evaluation reporting the event that had been properly filed. As a result, that similar to that in the AER. It ended with a new numerical rating event was omitted from the first (1933) entry in her Rating Sheet, system, consisting of six boxes and the requirement to check which assigned her an unimpressive “Satisfactory” rating. one box. The boxes ranged from a low of 1 to a high of 6, with Onsite, supervisor-generated AERs continued, virtually 6 defined as “... superior in every respect, denoting the highest unchanged, during this period. However, the department-gener- degree of resourcefulness and initiative, with no recognizable ated Efficiency Ratings returned as a short paragraph, covering room for possible improvement”—a high bar, indeed. both consular and diplomatic tasks, now with a rating (E [Excel- The AER, which remained nearly unchanged for 16 years lent], VG [Very Good], S [Satisfactory], U [Unsatisfactory]) added, (apart from minor revisions in 1933 and 1943), was massively just like the Rating Sheet. They were not signed, but some bore revised and expanded in 1949. Not only did it grow from one to reviewer initials. And in my aunt’s case, they often seemed to six pages, but it now had four parts. Part II alone listed 13 fac- influence Rating Sheet deliberations more than AERs. tors to be graded in three categories: superior, satisfactory and not up to standard. These included versatility in knowledges Major Changes, Good and Bad: 1946–1955 (sic) and skills, such as accuracy, productivity, trustworthiness In response to abuses by Rating Sheet redactors, Under Sec- and reliability. retary of State Joseph Grew and Dean Acheson, his successor in Part II concluded with narrative comments from the the position (the equivalent of today’s Deputy Secretary of State), reviewer, similar to the old AER. Part III was a short section mandated major changes in the evaluation process starting in grading language skills, and Part IV listed activities to be 1946. These included abolishing the redactor’s rating on the graded, including political, economic, consular, etc., much like Rating Sheet and transferring it to the Annual Efficiency Report, the Foreign Service cones that showed up at this time. so that the onsite supervisor became responsible for rating the Part I was the oddest section of all, consisting of 31 groups officer, just as is currently done. They also elevated the AER to of statements descriptive of FSO performance. The review- major—not paramount, but major—importance in the promo- ing officer was required to underline the most descriptive and tion process. cross out the least descriptive. Here are typical examples: While no directive is available defining these changes, con- A) He will probably not go much further in the Service. sider the following events: Under Secretary Grew had appointed B) He demands a high degree of efficiency from those asso- Frances Willis as his assistant in 1945 and given her an excellent ciated with him.

62 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL C) He is not active in seeking desirable contacts. This process made the board’s D) He is imaginative. E) He is probably one of our future Career Ministers. job much easier, because everything they needed to A) He has a good sense of humor. know about the candidate B) He is adaptable. C) He shows little taste in his clothes. was summarized in the new D) He is inclined to be pompous. paragraph. But it also opened This evaluation process is flawed on three counts. First, the the door for mischief. statements in each group are binary, either good or bad, and usually very good or very bad, which significantly skews the scoring. Second, the statements have very little correlation with each other: What does a sense of humor have to do with taste in clothes? Third, weighing answers between groups is entirely tory steps in the evaluation. This format continued up to 1955, subjective: Is “probably one of our future Career Ministers” when Frances Willis received her final evaluation, one month twice as good as “adaptable”? Four times as good? The saving before she was appointed Career Minister. She was promoted grace was that narrative comments were allowed to remain. to Career Ambassador in 1962. In my aunt’s case, this new format appeared when she was assigned as first secretary/consul in the political section at the A Work in Progress London embassy and had received excellent reviews. While she Frances Willis never complained about discrimination received an anonymous 89 score (out of 100, or a Very Good during her Foreign Service career. In fact, she said just the rating) on Parts I–IV, the Part II narrative section, written by opposite in a 1951 speech to the National Council of Women in Minister-Counselor Julius Holmes and approved by Ambas- Finland: “I can say to you with complete honesty that since the sador L.W. Douglas, recommended her for appointment as a day when I entered the Foreign Service I have been given equal chief of mission. treatment with the men in the Service. I have heard it said, of One explanation for this odd addition is that while the course, that there is discrimination against women who wish to number of State Department employees had stayed relatively enter the Service. All I can say is that my personal experience constant (1,000-2,000) between 1900 and 1940, it rapidly rose does not bear that out.” to more than 10,000 during World War II, and topped 16,000 It is likely that my aunt never reviewed her dossier, which by 1950. With too much time on their hands, these bureaucrats contained many negative gender bias comments over the first created tasks to keep themselves busy, including massively 20 years of her career. Even if she had done so, she would prob- revising and expanding existing reports and procedures and ably have simply ignored them and pressed on. issuing new requirements. In important ways, personnel evaluation is always a work in Fortunately, order was restored in 1952 when the AER was progress. For example, numerical grading systems have their totally revised and renamed “Efficiency Report.” It now had six own flaws. In the 1970s such a system was abused by some U.S. parts: Parts I–V numerically graded the employee, using the Air Force reviewing officers who wanted to ensure that the best new six-point grading system, on duties performed, personal and brightest members of their organization were promoted, so qualities, factor analysis (30 factors about knowledge, per- gave them the maximum 4.0 grade in every factor in the review. formance and personality traits) and language, followed by a It didn’t take long for word to get out about that tactic, which single, overall rating number. greatly increased the number of perfect reviews submitted, Part VI, Summary Comments and Recommendations, ending the utility of that system. And, of course, a similar tactic covered 15 topics such as attitude, executive ability, physical has captured academic grading to an even greater degree, with fitness, adverse factors, etc., followed by summary comments, grades higher than 4.0 being routinely awarded. all in narrative form. In addition, there were boxes asking if The fallback position is to revert to the ponderous—but a review panel was used and if the report was discussed with much harder to abuse—narrative-type evaluation, which the the officer under review—obviously desirable, but not manda- Foreign Service has embraced. n

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 63 AFSA NEWS NEWSTHE OFFICIAL RECORD OF THE AMERICAN FOREIGN SERVICE ASSOCIATION

Foundation and the Board Ambassador Ruth A. Davis to Receive of the American Academy of Diplomacy. She is vice AFSA’S Premier Award president of the Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs, The American Foreign Service School of Leadership and women’s economic empow- and president of the Interna- Association is proud to Management in 1999, erment. tional Mission of Mercy, USA. name Ambassador Ruth A. improved crisis management She also chairs the She is a senior adviser Davis the 2016 recipient of instruction and training for selection committee for the to the Thursday Luncheon its Lifetime Contributions to locally employed staff, and Charles B. Rangel Interna- Group and the Interna- American Diplomacy Award led the Diplomatic Readiness tional Affairs Fellowship at tional Career Advancement in honor of her dis- Initiative that Howard University’s Ralph Program at the University tinguished Foreign boosted Foreign Bunche International Affairs of Denver, where she serves Service career and Service hiring. She Center. As vice president annually as a counselor and lifelong devotion to has also helped to of the Association of Black speaker and was honored diplomacy. increase diversity American Ambassadors, with ICAP’s first Diversity The award will in the Foreign she participates in activities Award for visionary leader- be presented at Service, particu- involving the recruitment, ship and fostering diversity the AFSA Awards larly as president preparation, hiring, retention, within foreign affairs. Finally, Ceremony on June and adviser to the mentoring and promotion Davis is a member of AFSA 23, at 4 p.m., in the Thursday Lun- of minority Foreign Service and the Association for Diplo- Benjamin Franklin Ruth A. Davis cheon Group. employees. matic Studies and Training. Diplomatic Reception Room Since her retirement in Davis currently serves on Davis has received the at the Department of State. 2009, Amb. Davis has served the Board of Visitors for the Department of State’s Supe- Ambassador Davis was as the chair (and a founding Defense Language Institute, rior Honor Award, Arnold L. born in 1943 and earned her member) of the International the Board of Directors of the Raphel Memorial Award and bachelor’s degree (magna Women’s Entrepreneurial Senior Seminar Alumni Asso- Equal Employment Opportu- cum laude) from Spelman Challenge, an organiza- ciation, the Advisory Council nity Award; the Secretary of College and master’s degree tion devoted to promoting of the Foreign Service Youth State’s Achievement Award; from the University of Califor- the Director General’s Foreign nia, Berkeley. Service Cup; two Presiden- During her 40-year career tial Distinguished Service in the Foreign Service, she Awards; and Honorary Doc- served as chief of staff in the torates of Law from Middle- Africa Bureau, distinguished bury and Spelman Colleges. adviser for international She was recently named to affairs at Howard University, The Economist’s 2015 Global Director General of the For- Diversity List as one of the eign Service and director of Top 50 Diversity Figures in human resources, director of Public Life. the Foreign Service Institute, Previous recipients of the principal deputy assistant AFSA award include George secretary for consular affairs, H.W. Bush, Thomas Pickering, ambassador to the Republic George Shultz, Richard Lugar, of Benin and consul general Joan Clark, Tom Boyatt, Sam in Barcelona. Earlier in her Nunn, Rozanne Ridgway, career, she was a consular Charles Stuart Kennedy and officer in Kinshasa, Nairobi, SOSA/AFSA JOAQUIN William Harrop. n Ambassador Ruth A. Davis with FSO Clayton Bond at AFSA’s May 22, 2014, Tokyo and Naples. gala dinner at the State Department celebrating the 90th anniversary of —Soren­ Smallwood, Davis established FSI’s the Foreign Service. Awards Intern

64 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS STATE VP VOICE | BY ANGIE BRYAN AFSA NEWS Views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the AFSA State VP. Contact: [email protected] | (202) 647-8160

travel to join the mother at a Stop Calling It Maternity Leave! later time instead of requiring concurrent travel, forcing a As someone who has spent parents are not automatically to adopt or use a surrogate, near-term pregnant woman to more than half her career in granted special leave on the including same-sex couples, care for older children alone. Muslim countries, I am used birth (or adoption) of a child. also face struggles that AFSA (3) Authorizing per diem to being asked what it’s like One of my Swedish col- is advocating to ease. How- during the entire medical to be a woman in the Foreign leagues was shocked to learn ever, for the purposes of this evaluation (MEDEVAC), Service. I developed stock that new Foreign Service short article, I am focusing on instead of forcing the mother answers and anecdotes parents do not receive any pregnant employees.) to be out-of-pocket or move ranging from humorous to parental leave and that the It is surprising that the dip- out of temporary lodging dur- thought-provoking. colleague she thought was on lomatic service of the United ing her hospital stay. But it wasn’t until I was “maternity leave” was actually States—a country that works (4) Appointing a point of posted in Sweden that I using a combination of annual tirelessly around the globe to contact for pregnancy-related stopped focusing on how leave, sick leave and leave protect women and children MEDEVACs and pregnancy many female ambassadors without pay. and to fight for basic human policy to provide clear and there were or how to inter- Employees who want to rights—still treats its own consistent written guidance act with male contacts and expand their families must female employees in such a to employees and manage- started thinking about gender choose between doing so and way during what should be ment officers. equality, work-life balance taking vacation, or doing so one of the happiest periods of (5) Matching pregnant and what it truly means to be and earning a salary. their lives. employees who are in the family-friendly. Now that I am involved in I am not a parent, nor do I United States awaiting Just as Americans find it fighting for employee rights, plan to become one, but I feel delivery with telework and/or hard to imagine a society in I hear story after story about very strongly about the need bridge assignments so they which women are denied the problems our female employ- for the State Department to do not have to burn annual right to vote, drive or be edu- ees face when they make do much better in this area leave while able to work. cated, Swedes find it hard to the decision to have a baby. and to become the model These are but a few of the understand a society in which (Note: Employees who choose employer it claims to be. ideas that the department How could the department could pursue to help support do better? First and foremost, soon-to-be parents. take notes from the Depart- I am pleased to report CALENDAR ment of Defense’s recent that the department recently March 2 April 10-14 12-2 p.m. AFSA Road Scholar Program decision to grant employees formed a working group to AFSA Governing “Diplomacy in Action: The actual parental leave to deter- look at these issues, and has Board Meeting Middle East, South Asia and mine how the Foreign Service invited AFSA to participate. Global Terrorism” can do the same. Other steps We are also working closely March 6 Deadline: AFSA Financial Aid May 4 could include: with the employee organiza- Scholarship Applications 12-2 p.m. (1) Funding both parents’ tion Balancing Act and others AFSA Governing travel from post to the U.S. to make sure that we have a March 10 Board Meeting birth location. What kind of good understanding of the 11:30-2:30 p.m. Workshop: Spotting May 6 message are we sending wide range of issues affect- and Solving Ethical Foreign Affairs Day/AFSA about being family-friendly ing employees who wish to Dilemmas at Work Memorial Plaque Ceremony if we tell the non-pregnant expand their families. March 15 May 22-26 partner that it is not impor- We are always open to Deadline: National High AFSA Road Scholar Program tant for them to be present at hearing your experiences. If School Essay Contest “The Middle East: Conflict the birth of their children, or you have one to share, espe- and Controversy” to assist their partners before, cially if you have a solution to April 6 12-2 p.m. May 30 during and after delivery? propose along with it, please AFSA Governing Memorial Day: (2) Taking the no-cost step reach out to me at bryana@ Board Meeting AFSA Closed of allowing older children to state.gov. n

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 65 USAID VP VOICE | BY SHARON WAYNE AFSA NEWS

Views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the AFSA USAID VP. Contact: [email protected] or (202) 712-1631

A Legislative North Star

Over the years, USAID has to go up after the HRConnect Using non-standard hiring practices to resorted to more than 30 dif- system is updated to correct bring in staff to encumber positions ferent hiring methods to keep for the large number of staff the agency on track to meet that have been miscoded. traditionally reserved for Foreign Service its mission objectives. This Using non-standard hiring officers has had a severe impact on the number shows how astonish- practices to bring in staff to career paths of our FSOs and dealt a ingly creative and tenacious encumber positions tradi- USAID management can be tionally reserved for Foreign striking blow to workforce morale. when it comes to meeting its Service officers—followed needs. by repeat extensions of the While those traits are timeframes these temporary Buildings Act of 1926 autho- ambassadors. To do other- admirable, USAID’s effort to hires are supposed to work— rized the purchase, con- wise has a corrosive effect on keep its work on behalf of the has had a severe impact on struction or lease of Foreign the career Service and is an American people on track the career paths of our FSOs Service housing abroad, since unfortunate squandering of is precisely what has led it and dealt a striking blow to the Rogers Act had eliminated the efforts that went into their astray. It happens to all of us. workforce morale. personal wealth as a require- careful selection, as well as of We take shortcuts or, for bud- It also represents a lost ment to join the Service. the long and varied experi- getary reasons, cut back in opportunity to leverage the • The Foreign Service Act ence that professional career places that in the long run are skill and know-how of those of 1946 further improved, officers bring to senior assign- not in our best interest to cut in whom USAID has already strengthened and expanded ments. Also, Foreign Service (e.g., healthy food, education, invested. Further exacerbat- the Foreign Service. A Director pay and allowances were exercise, vacation). ing the situation is the fact General position, along with raised and the career aspect Like the proverbial frog that now the agency lacks a the Foreign Service Board was re-emphasized with entry sitting in a pot of slowly boil- transparent mechanism to and Board of Examiners, capped at the FS-4 rank. ing water, USAID’s creative account for the actual operat- was created to improve its As is evident, great minds hiring approaches will mean ing expenses needed for staff administration and uphold across many generations have that eventually we’ll come to and training. the principle of competitive repeatedly come to the same realize that we are all sitting Fortunately, a legislative entry. The legislation also conclusion: A strong, profes- in a hot pool of trouble. As the “north star”—in the form of a called for maximum compat- sional, career Foreign Service AFSA USAID vice president, I series of laws passed over the ibility among the various U.S. is required to fulfill its mission cannot stand idly by and allow past 92 years—exists to help Foreign Service personnel and meet its congressionally that to happen. guide USAID back from the systems. mandated obligations. So how did we get here? brink. There is much wisdom • The Foreign Assistance Following this legislative First and foremost, the short- within the texts of the follow- Act of 1961 unified existing “North Star” will help USAID age of operating expense ing laws: non-military U.S. aid efforts get back on track. It will take funds required to hire and • The Rogers Act of 1924 and established the Agency some time to address the train sufficient numbers recognized the need for a for International Develop- consequences of the hiring of Foreign Service officers strong, professional Foreign ment to provide a program of decisions that got us to this and civil servants led to the Service by establishing it as a assistance to underdeveloped point. However, assuming practice of hiring personal career requiring competitive nations with reporting back the agency can combine its service contractors (PSCs) examination, worldwide avail- from the field. creativity and tenacity with and program-funded Foreign ability, commissioning and • The Foreign Service Act the commitment that the Service Limited appoint- merit-based promotion. The of 1980 created a Senior agency’s leadership now ments. As of December 2015, Foreign Service Institute was Foreign Service and stipulated has, USAID’s FSOs can again USAID reported 941 PSCs founded a year later to provide that the president should emerge as the top develop- and 228 FSLs on its roster. We specialized training. normally appoint FSOs, ment cadre they were created expect the number of FSLs • The Foreign Service not political supporters, as to be. n

66 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL FAS VP VOICE | BY MARK PETRY AFSA NEWS

Views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the AFSA FAS VP. Contact: [email protected] or (202) 720-2502

Off Balance?

The Foreign Agricultural fact that FSOs are generally won’t begin to alter the sys- ties for “cross-pollination” Service is among the smaller expected to spend two-thirds tem for as much as a decade. between the Foreign and foreign affairs agencies, of their career overseas. Consequently, Senior Foreign Civil Services are shrink- with Foreign Service offi- There is little disagree- Service officers and those ing; many of the best jobs cers accounting for only 20 ment that providing mean- at the FS-1 and FS-2 levels will be encumbered by civil percent of its total workforce. ingful Washington-based have to spend significantly servants for years to come; And despite widespread positions for FSOs and the more than two-thirds of their the number of Senior Foreign agreement within the agency “cross-pollination” that careers overseas. Service officers staying in that there should be bal- comes from mixing rotat- At the same time, baby Washington is diminishing; ance between the Foreign ing Civil and Foreign Service boomers are retiring and and the Civil Service culture Service and Civil Service, employees offer valuable management has to fill is starting to predominate. there appears to be a growing learning experiences for domestic slots with civil ser- FSOs are in danger of find- imbalance as it relates to all involved. However, this vants, who encumber posi- ing ourselves “out of sight, Washington positions—of sentiment can fall apart at tions for much longer periods out of mind” as our unique which few are designated for the individual level when of time than FSOs. experiences and points of FSOs—and overall influence. desirable jobs are at play and In addition, the few FSOs view become increasingly For FAS FSOs, this balance when civil servants view any in Washington, D.C., are now out of step with an agency usually amounts to parity open position as an exclusive very concentrated in the that focuses inward, rather in the number of deputy promotional opportunity. Office of Foreign Service than outward. If FSOs cease administrator positions and FSOs are beginning to Operations, which deals to be embedded in posi- other good jobs available see the balance change—not exclusively with overseas tions throughout the agency, to FSOs during their rota- because the system has issues and is itself isolated we may very well lose what tions in Washington. In fact, changed, but because of from the rest of FAS. This connects us to our non-FS FAS has developed several shifting FSO demograph- means the presence of FSOs colleagues in FAS—and FAS mechanisms to maintain this ics. As noted in my previous in the rest of the agency is risks losing the perspectives balance, the main one being columns, FAS has a desper- dangerously low and shrink- that, by definition, make it a the placement mechanism ate shortage of higher-level ing. Foreign Service agency. n for returning FSOs and the officers, and recent fixes As a result, opportuni-

AFSA Welcomes Spring Semester Interns

We are pleased to welcome international affairs major • Labor Management: McGirk is a senior politics our latest crop of interns to at The George Washington Blake Ladenburg is a junior major at The Catholic Univer- AFSA: University. at Whitman College in Walla sity of America. She is from • Advertising: Koen Valks, • Communications: Briar Walla, Washington, where he Elmhurst, Illinois. of Baarn, Netherlands, is a Blount hails all the way from majors in economics. He is We thank departing interns graduate student in inter- Queensland, Australia. She from Columbia Falls, Montana. Devon Fitzgerald, Quinn national affairs at American is studying criminology and • Professionalism and Stevenson, William Roberson, University. JeongEun “Jes- international relations at Bond Ethics: John Balle comes to Dastan Sadykov and Milo sie” Shin is also a graduate University. us from Detroit, Michigan. He Opdahl for their great work student at American Univer- • Executive Office: Allison recently graduated from the this past fall and wish them sity. She joins us from Seoul, Bailey, of Webster City, Iowa, University of Michigan-Ann the best. Long-term intern South Korea. is a junior political science Arbor with a degree in policy, Shannon Mizzi has moved • Awards: Atlanta native major at Coe College in Cedar economics and development. over to a contract editorial Marcy O’Halloran is a senior Rapids. • Scholarships: Kathryn assistant position. n

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 67 AFSA NEWS

AFSA Governing Board Meeting, December 2, 2015

Consent Agenda: On a motion from Retiree Vice President Tom Boyatt, the board approved all consent agenda items. national security, economic prosperity and values. Progress These included (1) the Nov. 4 Governing Board minutes; (2) has been made on partnering with the Una Chapman Cox the appointment of AFSA Executive Assistant Patrick Bradley Foundation to bolster the association’s outreach efforts. as keeper of records for AFSA’s political action committee; In addition, AFSA is collaborating with the United States (3) consent to the amendment to internal AFSA guidance Institute of Peace on the annual high school essay contest, governing the appropriate use of “officer” and “specialist” exploring the idea of creating a Foreign Service unit for when referring to members of the Foreign Service in each inclusion in A.P. history and U.S. government curricula, and of AFSA’s five constituent agencies/departments; and (4) leveraging key partnerships to reach a broader audience at consent to the AFSA Awards and Plaques Committee’s rec- the grassroots level, among other efforts. ommendation that the Governing Board not add two names to the AFSA Memorial Plaques based on the fact that neither U.S. Diplomacy Center: Ambassador (ret.) Bill Harrop person qualified for inclusion under the criteria in place at briefed the board on how construction of the museum, cura- the time of their death. The motion passed unanimously. tion of exhibit content and establishment of a governance structure are progressing. He thanked AFSA for its support to AFSA Outreach Efforts: Executive Director Ian Houston date and expressed a desire for the association’s continued briefed the board on AFSA’s enhanced public outreach on involvement going forward. n the critical role of the Foreign Service in promoting America’s

AFSA Governing Board Meeting, January 6, 2016

Consent Agenda: On a motion from State Vice President Applicant to the Committee on the Foreign Service Profes- Angie Bryan, the board approved all consent agenda sion and Ethics: On a motion from Retiree Representative items. These included (1) the Dec. 2 Governing Board Al La Porta, the board approved the appointment of State minutes; (2) the appointment of Information Management Foreign Service Officer Tim Haynes to serve on the AFSA Specialist Susan Danewitz and Foreign Service Officer Committee on the Foreign Service Profession and Ethics. The Ramón Escobar to replace outgoing State representatives motion passed unanimously. Samuel Thielman and Philip Laidlaw on the AFSA Govern- ing Board; and (3) the AFSA Awards and Plaques Com- Overseas Development Program: On a motion made by mittee’s recommendation that the Governing Board add AFSA State Representative Nini Hawthorne, the board agreed Steven Farley’s name to the AFSA Memorial Plaques in the to refine and reconsider at its next meeting AFSA’s response C Street Lobby of the Department of State. The motion to the Department of State’s evaluation of the Overseas Devel- passed unanimously. opment Program. n

68 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS

AFSA ON THE HILL The FY 2016 Consolidated Appropriations Act

On Dec. 18, the House and “We have a moral obliga- Funding for full OCP remains one of Senate passed a $1.14 tril- tion and national security our members’ highest priorities, and lion omnibus appropriations imperative to safeguard AFSA will continue to work with agency package to fund the govern- our diplomats serving this ment through September nation overseas.” management and interlocutors on the 2016, which President We thank Rep. Frankel for Hill to secure it at the earliest possible Barack Obama promptly taking the lead on deliver- opportunity. signed. There are many ing this new flexibility in pieces of good news for the contracting, which will Foreign Service in the fiscal improve security at our Americans taken hostage at According to the U.S. Global year 2016 budget. embassies for decades to Embassy Tehran in 1979. Leadership Coalition, fund- Best-Value Contract- come. We also owe thanks The language—promoted ing for the fiscal year 2016 ing. A new provision allows to original co-sponsor Rep. by Senator Johnny Isakson international affairs bud- the Department of State to Randy Weber Sr. (R-Texas) (R-Ga.) and Rep. Gerry Con- get—including the overseas use “best-value” contract- and longtime AFSA friends, nolly (D-Va.), among oth- contingency operations ing when selecting the House Committee on For- ers—authorizes payments (OCO) account and interna- local guard contractor at all eign Affairs Chairman Ed of up to $10,000 per day of tional food aid—totals $54.6 overseas diplomatic mis- Royce (R-Calif.) and Ranking captivity and up to $4.4. mil- billion: $39.7 billion in base sions. Previously, at all but Member Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.). lion for each of the 53 hos- funds and $14.9 billion in high-threat posts, State was Overseas Comparabil- tages or their estates. It also OCO. required to hire the secu- ity Pay. In other good news, makes American victims These figures illustrate rity firm offering the lowest Overseas Comparability Pay of other state-sponsored that the broader 7-percent price, regardless of past will continue at the cur- terrorist attacks eligible for increase in the international performance or quality of rent two-thirds level, which benefits. affairs budget is driven by service. AFSA sees as a significant 61-percent growth in the AFSA’s support was victory in the current budget The International OCO account ($5.6 billion), instrumental to the addi- environment. Funding for Affairs Budget while cutting base funding tion of this measure to the full OCP remains one of our The overall international by 5 percent ($2 billion). omnibus. Our consistent members’ highest priorities, affairs budget for fiscal year Base funding has not been and measured advocacy and AFSA will continue to 2016 increased by 7 percent this low since fiscal year on the Hill led the office of work with agency manage- over the enacted fiscal year 2009. Representative Lois Fran- ment and interlocutors on 2015 level, and the all- Still, AFSA sees this as a kel (D-Fla.) to seek AFSA’s the Hill to secure it at the important Diplomatic and good budget for the Foreign assistance to impress on her earliest possible opportu- Consular Affairs Programs Service. Though the budget colleagues the importance nity. account—which funds State environment remains chal- and urgency of this change. Compensation for Iran operations around the lenging, AFSA is pleased AFSA responded with a Hostages. At long last, the world—was increased by that our strategy to protect letter to the Hill in favor legislation includes a section 4.8 percent to $8.2 billion, a the Foreign Service from any of best-value contracting approving compensation for $373 million increase from significant cuts has paid off. signed by six of our most American victims of state- current levels. If you have any questions distinguished career ambas- sponsored terrorism. The Despite the progress about the budget or related sadors, paving the way for three-decades-long effort—a on overall funding levels, topics please email inclusion of the provision. cause that AFSA advocated the continued erosion of [email protected]. n In a press release, Rep. throughout the years— funding in the base budget ­—Javier Cuebas, Frankel hailed the measure, was spearheaded by the is a significant concern. Director of Advocacy

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 69 AFSA NEWS

Announcing the 2015-2016 AFSA Financial Aid Scholars

The American Foreign Ser- memorial scholarship in I thank all the people at AFSA who vice Association bestowed 1926 to honor her son Oliver made this award possible. Thank you 124 named financial Bishop Harriman, who died aid scholarships worth suddenly while she served in for making it possible for me to reach $218,000 on 64 students for Copenhagen. AFSA has since my academic goals and the cost of the 2015-2016 school year. endeavored to help families college more affordable with this These need-based awards lessen the burden of pay- were provided to under- ing for college by providing scholarship. graduate children of Foreign awards to their children. —Katherine Sugely Arriola, Junior, SUNY Buffalo State Service employees who are During the last 89 years, AFSA members. Individual the scholarship fund has awards ranged from $3,000 grown to $7 million thanks to $5,000. (See pages 71-75 to the many individuals who well as some corporate enti- it was established and by featuring each recipient, have established annual ties, have also played a critical whom—and submit personal including the names of his and perpetual scholarships role in the success of the thank you letters and photos or her parents, the univer- or made general donations. AFSA Scholarship Program. that are shared with the sity attended and scholar- Affiliated organizations such No AFSA membership dues scholarship donors. In this ships received.) as the Associates of the go toward the scholarship way, AFSA seeks to build a Mrs. Elizabeth T. Harriman American Foreign Service fund. stronger sense of Foreign established the first AFSA Worldwide and DACOR, as AFSA’s Scholarship Com- Service community. Donors mittee manages the program. and students often form a Every March, the committee personal connection, leading receives applications from to ongoing correspondence or FS dependents all over the even an in-person meeting. world and determines the In 2015, AFSA provided a Spotlight on Scholarship Donors recipients, taking into account total of $260,000 in college family assets and income, aid. In addition to the 64 among other factors. The need-based scholarship recip- scholarships are disbursed in ients, 22 high school seniors Harriet Winsar Isom installments, which are sent received funding through Financial Aid Scholarship directly to the students’ col- AFSA’s Merit Awards Program Harriet Isom is a retired career Foreign Ser- leges in August and Decem- (see the 2015 July/August vice officer who worked in Asia and Africa ber to coincide with the start AFSA News). Over the last with the Department of State from 1961 of the academic semester. 25 years, AFSA has awarded to 1996. During her final 10 years of service, Ambassador Smaller scholarships are $4 million in college aid to Isom headed the U.S. embassies in Laos, Benin and Cam- bundled together to make more than 2,200 FS students. eroon. She speaks Indonesian and French. In retirement, larger award amounts. Stu- For more information she returned to her family ranch near Pendleton, Oregon, dents need only submit one on the AFSA Scholarship where she is a “gentlewoman farmer” and active in Oregon application; AFSA will match Program, visit www.afsa. civic and volunteer organizations. students to the appropriate org/scholar or contact AFSA Amb. Isom graduated from Mills College and The scholarships, in accordance Scholarship Director Lori Dec Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. She has received with any special restrictions at (202) 944-5504 or dec@ women of achievement awards from the March of Dimes placed on each individual afsa.org. n Oregon Chapter, the Oregon Commission for Women and award. —Lori Dec, the Pendleton Chamber of Commerce. Isom established Recipients receive infor- Scholarship Director her AFSA scholarship in 1993. mation on their particular scholarship—how and why

70 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS

FINANCIAL AID Samater Badeh Allison Childers Kirsten Christensen SCHOLAR BIOS Son of Lul Abdalle and Daughter of Julie and William Daughter of Casey and Margie Mohamed Badeh Farah. Childers. Recipient of the Christensen. Recipient of the Recipient of the Louise Associates of the Foreign Albert E. Carter Memorial Najee Agu Holscher Memorial Financial Aid Service Worldwide Financial Aid Financial Aid Scholarship and Son of Edward and Wanda Scholarship and the Gertrude Scholarship. Attending Liberty the Dorothy Osborne and Agu. Recipient of the Harriet Stewart Memorial Financial University. Theodore Xanthaky Memorial P. Culley Memorial Financial Aid Scholarship. Attending Financial Aid Scholarship. Aid Scholarship, the Edith K. University of North Texas. Caleb Childers Attending Florida State and Wilbur J. Carr Memorial Son of Julie and William University. Financial Aid Scholarship and Daniel Blankenship Childers. Recipient of the Harriet the Omar Sykes Memorial Son of June and Robert C. Thurgood Memorial/DACOR Clarissa Crawford Financial Aid Scholarship. Blankenship. Recipient of the Bacon House Foundation Daughter of Brian and Elizabeth Attending Old Dominion Ruth Nay Skiles and Victor H. Financial Aid Scholarship. Crawford. Recipient of the University. Skiles Memorial Financial Aid Attending Liberty University. Virginia Thurgood Bingham Scholarship and the Harriet C. Memorial/DACOR Bacon Anandan Thurgood Memorial/DACOR Dylan Childers House Foundation Financial Amirthanayagam Bacon House Foundation Son of Julie and William Aid Scholarship and the Naomi Son of Indran and Ruthann Financial Aid Scholarship. Childers. Recipient of the Pekmezian Memorial Financial Amirthanayagam. Recipient of Attending George Mason Heyward G. Hill Memorial/ Aid Scholarship. Attending the Harry A. Havens Memorial University. DACOR Bacon House Erasmus University (The Financial Aid Scholarship and Foundation Financial Aid Netherlands). the Naomi Pekmezian Memorial Jeffrey Carlson Scholarship. Attending Liberty Financial Aid Scholarship. Son of Mark and Melinda University. Attending Brown University. Carlson. Recipient of the Harriet C. Thurgood Memorial/DACOR Barbara Armstrong Bacon House Foundation Daughter of Alina and John Financial Aid Scholarship. Everett K. and Clara C. Melby Memorial Armstrong. Recipient of the Attending Wheaton College, Financial Aid Scholarship Linda K. Fitzgerald Memorial Illinois. Everett Melby had Financial Aid Scholarship a 27-year career as and the Harriet C. Thurgood Sarah Carlson a Foreign Service Memorial/DACOR Bacon Daughter of Mark and Melinda officer from 1947 House Foundation Financial Aid Carlson. Recipient of the James to 1974 with the Scholarship. Attending King’s Bolard More Memorial Financial Department of State. College London. Aid Scholarship and the Naomi Pekmezian Memorial Financial He met Clara while Salma Badeh Aid Scholarship. Attending working at the World Daughter of Lul Abdalle and Wheaton College, Illinois. Council of Churches, Mohamed Badeh Farah. and they married in Recipient of the Adolph William Cassilly 1944. Mr. Melby’s Dubs Memorial Financial Aid Son of Michael and Traci overseas assign- Scholarship, the Oliver Bishop Cassilly. Recipient of the ments included Bern, Harriman Memorial Financial Linda K. Fitzgerald Memorial Athens, Bonn, Georgetown, Frankfurt, Port-au-Prince and Aid Scholarship and the Financial Aid Scholarship Quebec. Clara accompanied her husband at all posts and Brockman M. Moore Memorial and the Heyward G. Hill raised four children. She spoke Dutch, French, German Financial Aid Scholarship. Memorial/DACOR Bacon and English fluently. Attending University of Texas at House Foundation Financial The couple’s children and colleagues established the Arlington. Aid Scholarship. Attending University of Mary Washington. AFSA scholarship in 2003 when Mr. Melby passed away. Each year since then, Eric D.K. Melby—the couple’s son and an AFSA scholarship recipient himself in the late 1960s—has contributed to his parents’ scholarship.

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 71 AFSA NEWS

Dillon Cummings Financial Aid Scholarship and AFSA’s assistance has made a the Dorothy Osborne and Son of Constance and David big difference in being able to Cummings. Recipient of the Theodore Xanthaky Memorial William Benton Memorial Financial Aid Scholarship. pay for college this year. Attending University of Financial Aid Scholarship, —Sarah Carlson, Sophomore, the Clara C. and Everett K. Colorado, Colorado Springs. Melby Memorial Financial Aid Wheaton College, Illinois Scholarship and the Lawsuit Claire Gilbert Over the Movie “Missing” Daughter of Jeffrey and Terri Financial Aid Scholarship. Gilbert. Recipient of the Linda Financial Aid Scholarship. Aid Scholarship and the John Attending Colorado State K. Fitzgerald Memorial Financial Attending Calvin College. Campbell White Memorial University. Aid Scholarship. Attending Financial Aid Scholarship. Webster University (The Luke Howlett Attending West Chester Kristina Cummings Netherlands). Son of Patricia Howlett. University. Daughter of Constance and Recipient of the Louis C. David Cummings. Recipient of Rachel Gilbertson Boochever Memorial Financial John Huyett the Rose Marie Asch Memorial Daughter of Christopher and Aid Scholarship, the Brockman Son of Douglas and Robin Financial Aid Scholarship. Lori Gilbertson. Recipient M. Moore Memorial Financial Aid Huyett. Recipient of the Attending Concordia University of the Edith K. and Wilbur J. Scholarship and the Gertrude Heyward G. Hill Memorial/ (Canada). Carr Memorial Financial Aid Stewart Memorial Financial DACOR Bacon House Scholarship and the Gertrude Aid Scholarship. Attending St. Foundation Financial Aid Lisa Curbow Stewart Memorial Financial Lawrence University. Scholarship and the George Daughter of Cecilia and Ethan Aid Scholarship. Attending and Mattie Newman Memorial Curbow. Recipient of the University of North Carolina, Adriana Huff Financial Aid Scholarship. Barbara Bell Black Memorial Wilmington. Daughter of Deborah Paolini. Attending University of Nicosia Financial Aid Scholarship and Recipient of the Naomi (Cyprus). the Gertrude Stewart Memorial Raina Haynes-Klaver Pekmezian Memorial Financial Financial Aid Scholarship. Daughter of Karen Klaver. Attending Catholic University of Recipient of the Edith K. America. and Wilbur J. Carr Memorial Suzanne Marie Collins Financial Aid Scholarship and Memorial Financial Aid Natascha Curbow the Dorothy Osborne and Scholarship Theodore Xanthaky Memorial Daughter of Cecilia and Ethan Jack Collins, a Foreign Service Curbow. Recipient of the Linda Financial Aid Scholarship. officer with the Department of K. Fitzgerald Memorial Financial Attending San Jose State State from the 1960s through Aid Scholarship and the University. Dorothy Osborne and Theodore the 1980s, and his wife, Trudy, Xanthaky Memorial Financial Charles Holtrop keep the memory of their Aid Scholarship. Attending Son of Daniel and Julie Holtrop. daughter Suzanne Marie Collins University of North Georgia. Recipient of the Heyward G. alive with an AFSA scholarship. Hill Memorial/DACOR Bacon In 1985, Suzanne was tragically Stephen Feldmayer House Foundation Financial murdered at age 19 while serv- Son of Jamene and James Aid Scholarship. Attending ing in the U.S. Marine Corps. She had been active in high Feldmayer. Recipient of the Montgomery College. school sports, served as a class officer and sang in the Heyward G. Hill Memorial/ school choir. DACOR Bacon House William Holtrop The award was established in 1996 by John Douglas Foundation Financial Aid Son of Daniel and Julie Holtrop. and Mark Olshaker, co-authors of the books Mindhunt- Scholarship. Attending West Recipient of the Colonel ers and Journey Into Darkness. The books chronicle Chester University. Richard R. Hallock Memorial Financial Aid Scholarship, the behavioral profiling of serial killers. Journey Into Darkness Alexandra Garcia Marcia Martin Moore Memorial discusses Suzanne’s death in some detail. She rose to the Daughter of Kathleen and Financial Aid Scholarship and rank of lance corporal and died the day before she was to Rudolph Garcia. Recipient of the Adele Langston Rogers and graduate from aviation school. the Jacq Bachman Siracusa William P. Rogers Memorial

72 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS

Margaret-Anne Johns Aid Scholarship and the The AFSA scholarship is certainly Brockman M. Moore Memorial Daughter of Marcelina and appreciated. I am confident that Stephen Johns. Recipient of the Financial Aid Scholarship. Linda K. Fitzgerald Memorial Attending Oregon State with AFSA’s help, I will succeed at Financial Aid Scholarship and University. all my endeavors. the William Leonhart Memorial Financial Aid Scholarship. Connor McKinney —Dillon Cummings, Freshman, Attending Stephens College. Son of Christopher and Colorado State University Tracy McKinney. Recipient Liam Kierans of the Terence Flannery Son of Lisa Bucher and Thomas Memorial Annual Financial M. Moore Memorial Financial Financial Aid Scholarship, the Kierans. Recipient of the Aid Scholarship, the Naomi Aid Scholarship. Attending Lowell C. Pinkerton Memorial Brockman M. Moore Memorial Pekmezian Memorial Financial Brigham Young University. Financial Aid Scholarship and Financial Aid Scholarship and Aid Scholarship and the the Ernest V. Siracusa Memorial the Gertrude Stewart Memorial Rozanne L. Ridgway Financial Jordan Palmer Financial Aid Scholarship. Aid Scholarship. Attending Financial Aid Scholarship. Son of Susan Baker and Attending Florida International University of California, Berkeley. Attending College of William & Paul Palmer. Recipient of the University. Mary. Brockman M. Moore Memorial Jacob Murri Financial Aid Scholarship Sarah Patton Colin Krafft Son of Amy and William Murri. and the George and Mattie Daughter of Susan and William Son of Christopher and Recipient of the John Foster Newman Memorial Financial Aid Patton. Recipient of the Hope Mary Krafft. Recipient of the Dulles Memorial Financial Aid Scholarship. Attending Texas and John Bastek Memorial Virginia Thurgood Bingham Scholarship and the George Tech University. Financial Aid Scholarship, the Memorial/DACOR Bacon and Mattie Newman Memorial Elizabeth M. and William E. House Foundation Financial Aid Financial Aid Scholarship. Julia Palmer Cole Memorial Financial Aid Attending Brigham Young Scholarship. Attending Virginia Daughter of Susan Baker and Scholarship and the Elbert University. Polytechnic Institute and State Paul Palmer. Recipient of the G. and Naomi M. Mathews University. Brockman M. Moore Memorial Memorial Financial Aid Emily Neder Financial Aid Scholarship, the Scholarship. Attending Green Ashley LaReau Daughter of Marqui Neder. George Shultz Financial Aid Mountain College. Daughter of Cindy LaReau. Recipient of the Betty Carp Scholarship and the John C. Recipient of the Evelyn and Memorial Financial Aid Whitehead Memorial Financial Aidan Pazan Robert Curtis Memorial Scholarship and the Elbert Aid Scholarship. Attending Son of Michele Castagna and Financial Aid Scholarship and G. and Naomi M. Mathews University of California, Santa Stephen Pazan. Recipient of the the Elbert G. and Naomi M. Memorial Financial Aid Cruz. Brockman M. Moore Memorial Mathews Memorial Financial Scholarship. Attending Eastern Financial Aid Scholarship and Aid Scholarship. Attending Washington University. Alvaro Pareja the C. Montagu and Frances M. Savannah College of Art and Son of Lucy Gonzalez and Pigott Memorial Financial Aid Design. Aidan Omdahl Javier Pareja. Recipient of the Scholarship. Attending Ohio Son of Brent and Natasha Brockman M. Moore Memorial University. Meredith Lehan Omdahl. Recipient of the Daughter of Terri Baker. Anthony G. Freeman Memorial Recipient of the Francesca Financial Aid Scholarship and Bufano Lapinski Memorial the Philip C. Habib Memorial This scholarship will help make Financial Aid Scholarship and Financial Aid Scholarship. paying for college more affordable the Elbert G. and Naomi M. Attending Brigham Young Mathews Memorial Financial University. for my family. I know this journey Aid Scholarship. Attending St. would have been much tougher John’s College of Annapolis. Ashton Omdahl Son of Brent and Natasha without the support of the Foreign Christina McGuire Omdahl. Recipient of the Elbert Service community. G. and Naomi M. Mathews Daughter of John and Suzanne —Colin Krafft, Freshman, Virginia Tech McGuire. Recipient of the Fallen Memorial Financial Aid U.S. Diplomats in Libya Financial Scholarship and the Brockman

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 73 AFSA NEWS

I am so blessed to be a recipient Aid Scholarship, the Charles C. Massachusetts Institute of and Janet K. Stelle Memorial Technology. of an AFSA scholarship. It means Financial Aid Scholarship the world to me to be able to study and the Cameron C. Turner Avery Smith at a university. One day hopefully, Jr. Memorial Financial Aid Son of Matthew and Susan Scholarship. Attending Saint Smith. Recipient of the Heyward I can help others as AFSA has so Leo University. G. Hill Memorial/DACOR Bacon generously assisted me. House Foundation Financial Aid Andrea Salazar Scholarship. Attending Oberlin —Andrea C. Salazar, Junior, George Daughter of Jose and Wendy College. Mason University Salazar. Recipient of the Associates of the Foreign Madeline Strandemo Service Worldwide Financial Aid Daughter of Guy and Kimberly Scholarship. Attending George Isaac Pearson Financial Aid Scholarship. Strandemo. Recipient of the Mason University. Marc Grossman and Mildred Son of Connie and Kurt Pearson. Attending California State Patterson Financial Aid Recipient of the Norton W. Bell University, Northridge. Kathleen Saunders Scholarship, the Harriet Winsar Financial Aid Scholarship, the Daughter of Robert and Isom Financial Aid Scholarship Arthur B. Emmons Memorial Rebecca Post Wendy Saunders. Recipient and the George and Mattie Financial Aid Scholarship Daughter of Jonathan and of the Heyward G. Hill Newman Memorial Financial and the Sheldon Whitehouse Kathryn Post. Recipient of the Memorial/DACOR Bacon Aid Scholarship. Attending Memorial Financial Aid Linda K. Fitzgerald Memorial House Foundation Financial University of Minnesota. Scholarship. Attending James Financial Aid Scholarship and Aid Scholarship. Attending Madison University. the Heyward G. Hill Memorial/ University of New Mexico. DACOR Bacon House Thomas Strandemo Alana Perera Foundation Financial Aid Son of Guy and Kimberly Amelia Smith Strandemo. Recipient of the Daughter of Michele Balthazaar Scholarship. Attending Virginia Daughter of Matthew and Susan Elizabeh N. Landeau Memorial and Dale Boustead. Recipient of Polytechnic Institute and State Smith. Recipient of the Kiang Financial Aid Scholarship, the David D. Newsom Memorial University. Fund for Excellence Financial the Elbert G. and Naomi M. Financial Aid Scholarship, the Aid Scholarship and the Dalton Mathews Memorial Financial George and Mattie Newman Wanit Ruekit V. Killion Memorial Financial Aid Scholarship and the George Memorial Financial Aid Son of Kanyanee Bras. Aid Scholarship. Attending and Mattie Newman Memorial Scholarship and the Evelyn K. Recipient of the Martin G. Financial Aid Scholarship. and Horace J. Nickels Memorial Patterson Memorial Financial Attending University of Louisiana, Lafayette.

George and Mattie Newman Memorial Antigone Valen Financial Aid Scholarship Daughter of Kelly and Stephen George Newman joined the Department of State Valen. Recipient of the Suzanne in 1951, kicking off his 30-year career as a Foreign Marie Collins Financial Aid Service officer. Soon after entering the Service, he met Memorial Scholarship, the Linda Martha, “Mattie,” and they married. K. Fitzgerald Memorial Financial The Newmans’ overseas posts included London and Aid Scholarship and the George a large number of assignments in Asia. They never had and Mattie Newman Memorial children, but became good friends with another FS Financial Aid Scholarship. Attending Princeton University. couple Elvin and Edith Roseman. Janet, the Rosemans’ daughter, lived with the Newmans in Manila to attend high school while her parents were posted in Cambodia where there Arianna Volciak was no appropriate school. Daughter of Christopher Sr. and During his last few months of life George Newman told Janet that he wanted to make Sabrina Volciak. Recipient of the sure “the young people (of the Foreign Service) were going to be taken care of.” Mattie Alice and John Hubler Annual predeceased George, and when he passed away in 2008, the AFSA Scholarship Fund and Financial Aid Scholarship and Janet Roseman Bayless were the equal beneficiaries of his estate. the Christopher and Eliza Van Hollen Memorial Financial

74 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS

It is so wonderful to be able to receive support from the Foreign Service community. I hope one day I will be able to give back to the younger generation in a similar way that AFSA and its donors are helping me. —Madeline Strandemo, Junior, University of Minnesota

Aid Scholarship. Attending Hannah Wolff Marymount University. Daughter of Eric and Kathleen Wolff. Recipient of the Heyward Christopher Volciak Jr. G. Hill Memorial/DACOR Bacon Son of Christopher Sr. and House Foundation Financial Aid Sabrina Volciak. Recipient of Scholarship. Attending Hillsdale the Virginia Thurgood Bingham College. Memorial/DACOR Bacon House Foundation Financial Aid Jonathan Wolff Scholarship. Attending Lehigh Son of Eric and Kathleen Wolff. University. Recipient of the Brockman M. Moore Memorial Financial Morgan Wilbur Aid Scholarship, the George Son of Allison and Richard and Mattie Newman Memorial Wilbur. Recipient of the Heyward Financial Aid Scholarship G. Hill Memorial/DACOR Bacon and the Anna B. and John M. House Foundation Financial Aid Steeves Memorial Financial Aid Scholarship. Attending Wheaton Scholarship. Attending Hillsdale College, Massachusetts. College.

Evangeline Wilton Misaki Yonashiro Daughter of Chad and Rachel Daughter of Naomi and Wilton. Recipient of the Prabhi Ronald Yonashiro. Recipient G. Kavaler Memorial Financial of the Elbert G. and Naomi M. Aid Scholarship and the Elbert Mathews Memorial Financial G. and Naomi M. Mathews Aid Scholarship and the Naomi Memorial Financial Aid Pekmezian Memorial Financial Scholarship. Attending Saint Aid Scholarship. Attending Michael’s College. University of California, Davis.

Daniel Wolff Rebekah Zehr Son of Eric and Kathleen Wolff. Daughter of Dora and Wilbur Recipient of the George and Zehr. Recipient of the Susan Mattie Newman Memorial Lowe Modi and Sorab Modi Financial Aid Scholarship and Memorial Financial Aid the Walter K. Schwinn Memorial Scholarship and the Brockman Financial Aid Scholarship. M. Moore Memorial Financial Aid Attending Columbia Scholarship. Attending Northern International University. Virginia Community College.

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 75 AFSA NEWS STAY INFORMED. STAY CONNECTED.

Retiree Corner articles are written by Retiree Counselor Todd Thurwachter.

AFSA is pleased to roll out this inaugural edition of the Retiree Corner—a new feature that will appear in every other issue of AFSA News. The Retiree Corner will augment the existing AFSA Newsletter, which transitioned to all-digital distribution in 2016. Between the Retiree Corner, the electronic AFSA Newsletter and the long-established Retiree VP Voice Column, AFSA is bringing our members even more robust coverage of issues of interest in retirement. To continue receiving the AFSA Newsletter, send your email address or, if you don’t have one, that of a family member or friend to [email protected].

Self-Plus-One 1999 Dyess Ave., Building E, aggressively increased the Speakers Bureau page at Enrollment Still Open Charleston SC 29405. ranks of its Speakers Bureau, www.afsa.org/speakers. If you missed the Dec. Be forewarned: While a program connecting For- 14 open season deadline to OPM reported that self-plus- eign Service speakers with Update on enroll in the self-plus-one one enrollment would save, groups that request one. OPM Data Breach health benefit, you’re in luck. on average, 6 percent over In the past year, we have As of December, the Office Per guidance from the the self-and-family option, more than doubled the of Personnel Management Office of Personnel Man- in some plans self-plus-one number of Speakers Bureau had sent letters to about 93 agement, “annuitants are costs more! For example, members to 360, and speak- percent of the current and allowed to decrease enroll- self-plus-one costs $3.61 per ing engagements have tripled former federal employees ment at any time. This means month more than self-and- to almost 100. Half of those who were affected by last that if you have a self-and- family in the popular Foreign resulted from speakers pro- year’s cybertheft of OPM family enrollment and you Service Benefit Plan adminis- actively setting up speaking records. decide you would like to tered by the American Foreign engagements on their own. The letters contain infor- change to a self-plus-one Service Protective Asso- But that’s just scratch- mation on credit monitoring, enrollment, you may do so ciation. Definitely check with ing the surface of what the identity theft protection ser- throughout the year. … your insurer before switching. Speakers Bureau might vices and insurance provided “If you have a self-only You can rest assured that accomplish. Thanks to a new at no cost to affected indi- enrollment, however, you self-plus-one is considered a partnership with the Cox viduals and their dependent must experience a qualify- type of self-and-family plan Foundation, AFSA is also minor children (under the ing life event (QLE) in order and thus meets the require- targeting high school social age of 18 as of July 1, 2015) to change to self-plus-one. ment allowing the survivor studies teachers in an effort for a period of three years. These are events such as of an annuitant to continue to get Foreign Service speak- OPM has established marriage, divorce or a family Federal Employees Health ers in front of a new genera- a verification center oper- member’s loss of coverage Benefits coverage, provided tion of future leaders. ated by the Department under another health insur- that the couple had been To succeed, we need more of Defense to collect valid ance program. For a full list enrolled in a self-and-family retirees—especially those addresses for individuals who of allowed QLEs, please view (including self-plus-one) plan outside the D.C. area—to could not be located and to the [form] SF-2809.” for at least the preceding five step forward and join the assist with PIN issues. Those To get an SF-2809 form, years and the annuitant had Speakers Bureau. All that is who believe they may have call HRSC at 1(866) 300-7419 set up the spouse to receive required is a willingness to been affected, but have not or download it from survivor benefits. share your personal Foreign yet received a letter, may www.afsa.org/retiree. Service story. contact the center by calling You must file the form AFSA Outreach AFSA will help you get (866) 408-4555 or by visiting with the Department of Expands started by providing back- www.opm.gov/cybersecurity. State’s Human Resources The American Foreign ground information, sug- After contacting the Service Center in Charleston, Service Association Govern- gested talking points and a verification center, the South Carolina, either as an ing Board has committed to free copy of its popular guide individual will receive a letter attachment to your email to explaining what the Foreign to the Foreign Service, Inside (the process can take a few [email protected], or by U.S. Service does to a broader a U.S. Embassy, to take with weeks). Recipients should mail to: U.S. Department of audience across the United you to the venue. confirm that the letter is valid State, HR Service Center, States. To do so AFSA has To learn more, visit our by matching it to the sample

76 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS

letters available on the OPM eventually been resolved. Security benefits on reach- practice, effective April 29, website. Any electronic or For the most up-to-date ing full retirement age (FRA). 2016. It also bars anyone paper correspondence that information, visit www.afsa. Suspension meant that their born after Jan. 1, 1954, from asks for personal informa- org/opm-breach. Should you benefit would continue to filing a “restricted applica- tion or does not direct the wish to speak with someone grow by 8 percent per year tion” to receive spousal individual to OPM’s cyber- regarding a specific ques- until he or she reached age 70. benefits, even if the spouse security website should be tions or problem, send an The lower earner could has already reached his or considered fraudulent and email to [email protected]. simultaneously file a her FRA. Any beneficiary age reported to local law enforce- “restricted application” 66 before May 2016, with a ment and the Federal Trade Popular Social for half of their spouse’s spouse who turned 62 before Commission at www.ftccom Security Strategy suspended benefit and Jan. 2, 2016 may still take plaintassistant.gov. Ending immediately begin receiving advantage of the “file-and- A few AFSA members have The Bipartisan Budget Act a monthly payment. When suspend” option, provided reported problems reach- of 2015 has ended a popular the higher earner reached they do so before April 30. ing someone at the phone option some married couples age 70, he or she could begin To learn more about what number provided and with the have used to maximize their collecting their maximum this change might mean for process of applying online for Social Security benefits. Social Security benefits, and you, visit www.socialsecurity. free credit monitoring and ID It used to be the case that the lower earner could collect gov or contact us at retiree@ theft insurance. However, in the higher earner could “file half of that higher benefit. afsa.org. n most cases, problems have and suspend” their Social The new law will end this

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 77 AFSA NEWS

Second Annual Book Market a Success!

The American For- Ambassador (ret.) and prolific author Charles Ray, at left, chats eign Service Asso- with a book market browser about ciation hosted its his latest novels, Mob Justice and A 2nd Annual Book Time to Kill, A Time to Die. Market on Nov. 19 at AFSA headquar- ters. This year, 21 tion of “In Their Own Write.” Foreign Service Please include any market- authors were on ing materials you may have. hand, showcas- If you have any questions ing their talents about the process, contact and sharing their Editorial Assistant Shannon experiences with Mizzi at [email protected]. n attendees. Each —Shannon Mizzi,

author’s book was LIVINGSTON C. AFSA/MARIA Editorial Assistant also featured in The Foreign Service Journal’s annual roundup of FS-affiliated authors’ recent works (see the November FSJ). A Conversation with Pearson Fellows Participating authors drew a diverse crowd rang- ing from Foreign Service retirees to active-duty colleagues and university students interested in the Foreign Service as a future career. Book genres fell into a wide range of categories, such as cooking, fantasy and fiction, policy, photography, memoirs, children’s books, history and biographies. The authors also enjoyed meeting one another and could be overheard shar- ing their experiences with the publication process and AFSA/MARIA C. LIVINGSTON C. AFSA/MARIA swapping tips on the craft of writing. On Jan. 15, American Foreign Service Association President Ambassador Barbara Stephenson, We’re already looking for- Director of Advocacy Javier Cuebas and Director of Communications Ásgeir Sigfússon visited ward to this year’s roundup! Pearson Fellows at the Russell Senate Office Building for a brown-bag lunch. The group dis- If you have a book coming cussed ideas for maximizing the benefits of the Pearson Fellowship for the individual officer, as out in 2016 (or had one pub- well as for the Foreign Service. Participants also offered valuable input on a number of issues lished in late 2015), please affecting the career Foreign Service (e.g., changes to the employee performance evaluation sys- send us a copy for inclusion tem, 360-degree evaluations, staffing shortages and bulges, bidding). Amb. Stephenson listened in the November 2016 edi- to fellows’ personal experiences navigating the Foreign Service personnel waters. n

78 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS

Changes on the AFSA Governing Board

Given the mandate of the Foreign Service to deploy worldwide, it is sometimes necessary for members of the AFSA Governing Board to leave the board during their term. When vacancies occur, AFSA bylaws state that the Governing Board has the authority to appoint individu- Sam Thielman Ramón Escobar Philip Laidlaw Susan Danewitz als to fill these positions. State Representatives Sam Thielman and Philip Governing Board appointed and Management. She has the course of her career and Laidlaw took office with the Information Management served in Yemen, Austria and became a certified informa- current Governing Board on Specialist Susan Danewitz Saudi Arabia, not to mention tion systems security profes- July 15. In November, Thiel- and Economic Officer Ramón the 20 posts to which she sional in 2015. man took the momentous Escobar to fill Thielman and has been sent on temporary Escobar is a State Depart- step of retiring from the For- Laidlaw’s spots. duty assignments. ment Dean and Virginia eign Service, and Laidlaw has Danewitz joined the Having been involved Rusk Fellow at Georgetown taken up his new assignment Foreign Service in 2006 with information technol- University. Since joining the as the deputy chief of mis- and is currently serving as ogy for more than 20 years, Foreign Service in 2006, he sion in Bogotá. We congratu- technology policy adviser to Danewitz started as a Unix has served in Iraq, the United late them both and thank the senior coordinator for system administrator and Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and them for their service. knowledge management in webmaster in 1995. She has Washington, D.C. In his last Not skipping a beat, the Office of the Deputy Sec- covered the entire software assignment, on the Colom- at the Jan. 6 meeting, the retary of State for Resources development life cycle during bia desk, he was primarily responsible for assisting Special Envoy to the Colom- bia Peace Process Bernard Connecting with America’s Teachers Aronson in his efforts to help end Latin America’s longest- AFSA’s Awards Coordinator Perri Green, seated running conflict. behind table, and Editorial Assistant Shannon We welcome Susan and Mizzi attended the 2015 National Council for Ramón to the AFSA Team! the Social Studies Conference in New Orleans, AFSA still hopes to fill the Nov. 13-15. NCSS is the United States’ largest vacant Broadcasting Board association devoted to social studies education. of Governors representative Green and Mizzi were there to meet social stud- slot on our Governing Board. ies educators and promote the Foreign Service To submit your name for con- through AFSA’s 2016 National High School sideration to fill this or other Essay Contest and best-selling book, Inside a board vacancies, please send U.S. Embassy: Diplomacy at Work. AFSA was one your CV and a statement of of more than 150 exhibitors at the conference, interest to bradley@afsa. which attracted approximately 3,000 attendees. org. n Pictured: Green speaks with teachers about this —Patrick Bradley, year’s essay contest theme, which focuses on Executive Assistant peacebuilding through diplomacy. n AFSA/SHANNON MIZZI AFSA/SHANNON

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 79 AFSA NEWS

Power in Numbers: Coalition Collaboration

AFSA President Ambas- sador Barbara Stephenson welcomed the Federal Postal Coalition to AFSA headquar- ters on Dec. 7 for the group’s annual end-of-year meeting. The gathering was part of the association’s ongo- ing efforts to leverage its resources and amplify its advocacy message by partnering with groups representing fellow federal employees. FPC is comprised of 31 national organizations that collectively represent five million middle-class federal and postal workers and retirees. Immediately prior to the gathering, Amb. Stephenson held a private meeting with LIVINGSTON C. AFSA/MARIA AFSA representatives presented NARFE President Richard Thissen with an AFSA coin in appreciation for his representatives from the organization’s steadfast support of federal employees. From left: AFSA Director of Advocacy Javier Cuebas, AFSA National Active and Retired President Ambassador Barbara Stephenson, Thissen, NARFE Legislative Director Jessica Klement and AFSA Federal Employees Associa- Executive Director Ian Houston. tion—also an FPC member. During this discussion, Ste- phenson’s first with NARFE President Richard Thissen since taking office, the two resolved to continue close collaboration on issues where there is common cause (e.g., paid parental leave and pensions and retirement benefits). NARFE excels at protect- ing the benefits available to all federal employees. By partnering with NARFE and other similar groups, AFSA is better able to focus its advocacy efforts on issues specific to the Foreign Ser- vice. n LIVINGSTON C. AFSA/MARIA —Maria C. Livingston, Amb. Stephenson opened the Dec. 7 Federal-Postal Coalition meeting by welcoming the group to AFSA headquarters and expressing hope for further productive engagement and collective achievements in 2016. Associate Editor Stephenson and FPC Chairman Alan Lopatin enjoy a light moment during the meeting.

80 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS AFSA NEWS

Director of Professional Policy Issues AFSA announces our first-ever director of professional policy issues: Maria Livingston. Her new department is responsible for provid- ing policy analysis and recommendations on issues affecting the health and well-being of the Foreign Service career path across

ANNOUNCEMENTS all of AFSA’s constituencies. Maria joined AFSA last spring as the associate editor of The Foreign Service Journal, where she communicated association news to our members in the AFSA News section of the Journal. Prior to that, Maria served as a Foreign Service officer for eight years, with assignments to Guatemala City, Mexico City and the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs. She was also detailed to the U.S. Executive Director’s Office at the World Bank. A New Mexico native, Maria holds bachelor’s degrees in international studies and Russian from the University of Denver and a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Please join us in congratulating Maria on her new role.

Retiree Representative AFSA is happy to present Isabelle Hazel, its new retiree representative. For the past two years, Isabelle has been a data-entry specialist in AFSA’s membership department. A recent graduate of The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, she has prior experience in international affairs through internships with Con- gresswoman Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), the Council on Foreign Relations, Mayer Brown JSM in Hong Kong and Doctors Without Borders. Isabelle has thor- oughly enjoyed engaging with members of the For- eign Service in a supportive capacity during her time at AFSA and is eager to build even more relation- ships through her new role as retiree representative. AFSA welcomes Isabelle to the team! n

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 81 IN MEMORY

n Weyland Beeghly, 72, a retired For- ally ignorant on the exciting intricacies on the U.S.S. Duluth in the Pacific. After eign Service officer with the U.S. Depart- of plant and animal reproduction; and a completing a master’s degree at the John ment of Agriculture, died at home on Dec. gifted writer of both the prosaic and the Hopkins University School of Advanced 10 in Omaha, Neb., after a two-month absurd. International Studies, he joined the For- illness. Some members of the Foreign Service eign Service in 1947. Mr. Beeghly was born on April 23, may recall his amusing correspondence During a three-decade-long career, Mr. 1943, in Sioux City, Iowa, to Milford and and tongue-in-cheek cable communica- Blake served in Nicaragua, Moscow and Dorothy (Graham) Beeghly. Raised on tions; others may recall his bovine attire Tokyo, before returning to Washington the family’s 500-acre farm near Pierson, at a country team meeting in Bangkok or to head up the Soviet desk at the State he graduated from Kingsley-Pierson High his booming baritone belting out a bluesy Department. A Russian speaker, he served School in 1961, attended McPherson rendition of “Pig Piles in the Wintertime” as a Soviet expert in the U.S. Mission to the College in McPherson, Kan., for two years at the Warsaw Embassy Follies. United Nations during the Cuban Missile and received a degree in agriculture jour- His family remembers him as a teas- Crisis. He also served as a political officer nalism from Iowa State University in 1965. ing, affectionate, dependable presence in in Tunis and deputy chief of mission in He married Susan Caylor of Anderson, their lives, a person who loved interesting Kinshasa and Paris. In 1970 President Ind., in 1970, and the couple moved to dinner table conversation, brisk walks, Richard Nixon appointed him U.S. ambas- Ithaca, N.Y., where Beeghly graduated card games with his grandchildren, musi- sador to the Republic of Mali, where he from Cornell University in 1972 with a cal gatherings of friends, bawdy jokes, served until 1973. master’s degree in agricultural economics. Brussels sprouts and ice cream. After a distinguished career in the dip- Mr. Beeghly joined the Foreign Agri- Mr. Beeghly is survived by his wife, lomatic corps, Ambassador Blake began culture Service of the U.S. Department of Susan; three children: Graham Beeghly of a second career in international sustain- Agriculture as an analyst in the Grain & Santa Monica, Calif., Laura Beeghly (and able development. Concerned that U.S. Feed Division in 1973. He and his family her husband, Brian Priesman) of Omaha, government agencies were funding the moved to the former USSR in 1976 where Neb., and Benjamin Beeghly (and his wife, destruction of natural resources around he served as the assistant agricultural Anna) of Baltimore, Md.; four grandchil- the world, he joined the London-based attaché at Embassy Moscow. dren, Tessa and Ezra Priesman, and Milo International Institute for Environment After a break to work the family farm and Mira Beeghly; and two sisters, Bev- and Development as a senior fellow in from 1978 to 1983, Beeghly returned to erlee McCollum and Bonnie Nigro, both 1977, heading up their advocacy work in the Foreign Service, where he spent the of Omaha. He is preceded in death by his Washington. remainder of his career. He served as parents, Milford and Dorothy Beeghly of There, he co-authored two books agricultural counselor in the former Soviet Pierson, Iowa. about actions allied nations were taking Union (1983-1986), Thailand (1986-1990), In lieu of flowers, please send dona- to address environmental challenges Poland (1991-1993) and India (1998- tions to the National Parkinson’s Founda- in the developing world, and organized 2002). During several tours at USDA in tion. the Tropical Forest Action Group that Washington, D.C., he and his family lived convinced USAID to withdraw funding for in Alexandria, Va. n Robert Orris Blake, 94, a career clearing tropical forests for cattle ranches Mr. Beeghly was diagnosed with Par- diplomat, former ambassador and sus- in Latin America. kinson’s disease in 2002 and retired from tainable agriculture advocate, died on In 1986, Amb. Blake founded the the Foreign Service in 2004. He and his Dec. 28 at his home in Washington, D.C. Committee on Agricultural Sustainability wife moved to Omaha in 2011 to be closer Born in Los Angeles, Calif., on April for Developing Countries that worked to his daughter and sisters. 7, 1921, Robert Blake grew up in Whit- to influence the agricultural and rural Colleagues remember Mr. Beeghly as a tier, Calif., where Pat Nixon was his high development policies and programs of the man of many talents: a singer/songwriter/ school typing teacher. He attended World Bank, USAID and the Inter-Amer- guitarist, who wrote and performed songs Stanford University, graduating early in ican Development Bank. He believed about animal husbandry; a humorist and 1943, when he left to begin officer training in “the absolute need to make farm- storyteller, who schooled the agricultur- as a naval seaman. He served as an officer ers—especially the female farmers who

82 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL do most of the work in many places—full Copenhaver is survived by her retired lectured on cruise ships. partners in agricultural development.” Foreign Service husband of 50 years, Amb. Fritts served on the boards of a Amb. Blake also made time to serve Barry, and their children: Scott and Ineke number of civic and foreign policy orga- on the boards of organizations he Copenhaver; Jill (a retired State Depart- nizations in Williamsburg and Hampton admired, including the Natural Resources ment civil servant) and Lonnie Trevino; Roads, including the Reves Center for Defense Council, the Wilderness Society, and Leah Copenhaver. International Studies and the Jefferson The Nature Conservancy, the Natural Program in Public Policy at the College Resources Council of Maine and the Maine n Robert E. Fritts, 81, a retired of William & Mary, the Middle Planta- Coast Heritage Trust, among others. Foreign Service officer and two-time U.S. tion Club, the Williamsburg Symphonia, In his final years of life, he became ambassador, died on Sept. 28 in Williams- the Williamsburg Choral Guild and the increasingly concerned about poverty and burg, Va. World Affairs Council of Greater Hampton hunger in the United States. He volun- Born in Oak Park, Ill., in 1934, Mr. Fritts Roads. teered for the Salvation Army, delivering received his bachelor’s degree from the He was also a member of the Wash- food to the homeless at night. He also University of Michigan in 1956 and served ington Institute of Foreign Affairs and the delivered Meals on Wheels and partici- as a commissioned U.S. Navy officer from American Foreign Service Association in pated in discussions with the leaders of 1956 to 1959, when he joined the Foreign Washington, D.C. the National Cathedral in Washington, Service. Amb. Fritts had a keen interest in D.C., to encourage its more active engage- Mr. Fritts served in Luxembourg, Japan history and loved choral music. He was a ment in addressing hunger. and Indonesia as an economic-commer- stillwater canoeist, freshwater fisherman Survivors include his wife of 59 years, cial officer. In 1973, he was transferred as and a tennis and golf enthusiast. Sylvia Whitehouse Blake; three children, deputy chief of mission to Sudan, where He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Robert Blake Jr., currently serving as the U.S. ambassador and his deputy had Audrey Nienhouse Fritts, of whom he ambassador to Indonesia, Lucy Blake of been assassinated. often said that he was “unfailingly sup- Palo Alto, Calif., and George Blake of New- In 1974, at the age of 39, he became the ported through her knowledge, charm port, R.I.; and five grandchildren. youngest ambassador in the history of the and courage”; two daughters, Susan Her- Foreign Service when President Richard zog (and her husband, Charles) of South n Judy Jacob Copenhaver, 70, a Nixon named him U.S. ambassador to Salem, N.Y., and Robin Long (and her retired member of the Foreign Service, Rwanda. As Fritts wryly observed, it was a husband, Bob) of Flagstaff, Ariz.; and four died of leukemia on Dec. 18 at her home record that “lasted about six months.” grandchildren: Leigh, Callum, Zachary in Cuero, Texas. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan and Matthew. After serving as a Civil Service appointed him U.S. ambassador to Ghana, Memorial donations may be made to employee with the Drug Enforcement where he served during a period of fluctu- the Williamsburg Presbyterian Church, Administration in Mexico, Mrs. Copen- ating bilateral relations. designated for the Chancel Choir, or to the haver began her Foreign Service career in Other State Department policy posi- International Rescue Committee or other 1986. Postings with her tandem husband, tions included principal deputy assistant international refugee relief organization. Barry, included Panama City, Bonn, secretary of State in the Bureau of Con- Islamabad, Monrovia, Kinshasa, Lahore, sular Affairs and deputy inspector general. n Roderick Nay Grant, 88, a retired Mexico City, Malabo and Sierra Leone. Following retirement in 1991, Amb. Foreign Service officer, died on Dec. 23 She retired in 2009. Fritts joined the faculty of the College of from cardiac arrest. He was a resident of In retirement Mr. and Mrs. Copenhaver William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va. He Ashburn, Va. delighted in bringing their many friends was also a senior fellow with the Joint Mr. Grant was born on July 30, 1927 in and their family together—including Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Va., and Los Angeles, Calif., and grew up in nearby grandchildren Carson, Justin, Max and an occasional United Nations election Glendale. An accomplished athlete, Mr. Maya—at their beautiful home “La Finca” observer in Africa. There he witnessed Grant captained Hoover High School’s in Cuero. the election of Nelson Mandela. In later first southern California championship In addition to her grandchildren, Judy years, he and his wife, Audrey, both track team, and later earned All-America

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 83 honors in the long jump competing for Sondra was born and raised in Memphis, n William Alston (“Otty”) Hayne, the University of California. Tenn., graduating from The Hutchison 90, a retired Foreign Service officer and After graduating from high school, he School. She attended Randolph Macon descendent of a pioneering California served in the U.S. Navy at the end of World College in Virginia and graduated from family, died peacefully at his home in War II. Mr. Grant attended the University the University of Alabama. St. Helena, Calif., on Nov. 14 following a of California, Berkeley, where he earned a In 1979, she moved to Washington, courageous battle with cancer. B.A. in philosophy and was inducted into D.C., where she met Douglas Hartley, a Born in San Francisco in 1925, Mr. Phi Beta Kappa. Foreign Service officer with the U.S. State Hayne spent his first years on the family He later studied at the Sorbonne in Department. A few weeks after their wed- farm in Marysville, where his proud par- Paris and then at Harvard University, from ding, the couple moved to Salvador da ents advertised their business as “Hayne which he received a master’s degree in Bahia, Brazil. Sondra’s vivacity and charm, Hogs & Hay.” When the family moved to public administration. enhanced by her quick grasp of the Portu- the Bay Area, he was educated at local Mr. Grant joined the Foreign Service guese language, quickly won the hearts of schools before going to the Thacher as a commercial officer in 1956. He and the Brazilians. School in Ojai, Calif. his wife, Marianne, served in Munich, After living for five years in Salva- After high school, he joined the Brussels, Bonn, Taiwan and Paris (twice), dor and in Rio de Janeiro, the Hartleys Navy and was sent to Doane College in in addition to Washington, D.C. returned to Washington, D.C. There, she Nebraska and then to the V-12 Program In 1982, while serving as commercial worked with a book publisher and lec- at U.C. Berkeley, where he earned his counselor in Paris, Mr. Grant and his tured on life in the Foreign Service. undergraduate degree in two years. He family were the target of a terrorist attack In retirement, the couple spent was on his way to join the Pacific war effort attributed to the Lebanese Armed Revolu- summers with friends in Maine, bought on the U.S.S. South Dakota when the war tionary Faction. A bomb mounted under- property in Cushing and eventually built ended. After his release from the U.S. Navy neath Mr. Grant’s vehicle dislodged and a house there on the coast, where they Reserve, he received an MBA from Stan- later exploded when the French bomb moved permanently in 2008. Mrs. Hartley ford University under the GI Bill in 1949. squad attempted to diffuse it, ultimately was intensely interested in politics and Mr. Hayne then worked for the Spice killing two police officers. Mr. Grant and was active as a volunteer at the Cushing Islands Company and for Riley Precision his family were unharmed. Community School, the local Historical Tool Company. In 1952, he met and wed Following his retirement from the Society, the local Food Bank and the Farn- Elisabeth Church, a transplanted Phila- Foreign Service in 1984, the Grants moved sworth Museum. She was a member of St. delphian, to whom he would be happily to Sequim, Wash., returning in 2008 to John’s Episcopal Church in Thomaston, married for 55 years and with whom he the Washington, D.C., area, where their Maine. Because of her openness, loyalty would raise three children. son and daughter-in-law reside. Mr. Grant and unfailing generosity, she had a wide He joined the Foreign Service in 1954 devoted his retirement years to writing circle of friends. and was posted to the U.S. consulate in poetry, publishing six books of poems. Sondra Hartley is survived by her Kingston, Jamaica. Subsequent overseas He is survived by his wife of 60 years, beloved husband, Douglas, and by three postings as an economic officer included Marianne; his son, Kenneth; his brothers, half-brothers, a half-sister, a step-son, four Lima, Paris and Mexico City. He was also Bruce and Kenneth; and his sister, Mar- step-daughters, 10 grandchildren and a detailed to the Fletcher School of Law and ian. His daughter, Laurie, preceded him in great-grandson who was born two weeks Diplomacy at Tufts University, where he death in 1993. before her death. earned another master’s degree, and to In lieu of flowers, the family has Harvard University, where he served as n Sondra Otey Hartley, 73, the wife of requested that donations be made to the a fellow at the Center for International retired FSO Douglas Hartley, passed away Cushing Historical Society, P.O. Box 110, Affairs. on Dec. 13 at Mercy Hospital in Portland, Cushing ME 04563, or the Cushing Com- Mr. Hayne retired from the For- Maine, after a fight against cancer. munity School, 54 Cross Road, Cushing eign Service in 1980, and he and his The daughter of the late Laura Wade ME 04563. wife moved to his family’s century-old Little and the late Dr. Bedford Otey, vineyard property in St. Helena. There he

84 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL replanted much of the family’s vineyard competitive diver. She loved exploring the 100-year-old farmhouse and spent many and developed a small herb farm and Gulf Coast, especially Dauphin Island, happy days there in her last years while culinary herb business. but, by her own account, did not much continuing to contend with cancer. She He became an active member and like going to school. Nonetheless, she loved to boat on the river, briefly opened director of the St. Helena Rotary Club, and was a graduate of Murphy High School in an antique shop on Main Street in Kilmar- a member and senior warden of Grace Mobile and briefly attended the University nock, Va., and was active in efforts to Episcopal Church. In 1990, he was elected of Southern Mississippi. improve the town. mayor of St. Helena and was reelected in In 1971 Mrs. LeBaron moved to Wash- She will be remembered for her 1992, running unopposed. ington, D.C., where she met her husband, kind heart, sense of humor, many loyal Mr. Hayne bravely supported his Richard. They were married on June 8, friends and the equal respect she gave to wife as she developed and suffered 1975, at St. John’s Church in Georgetown people of all backgrounds and standing. from Alzheimer’s-related illnesses until and started a long career together that An accomplished antique collector, she her death in 2008. In 2014, he married took them to many countries around the scoured flea markets all over the world. Christine Gorelick of St. Helena. He is world. Just after marriage, the couple She loved animals of all kinds and was remembered as a man of great integrity, moved to Brazil for two years where Mr. active in efforts to protect wildlife in intelligence, humor and kindness. LeBaron held a consultancy with the Bra- Africa, as well as supporting local organi- Mr. Hayne is survived by his wife, Chris- zilian Council for Scientific Research. zations in the United States and abroad tine; his son Alston (and his wife, Adrian); Mr. LeBaron joined the Foreign Service that care for abandoned animals. his daughter Amanda (and her husband, in 1979, and the couple embarked on a In addition to her husband, Richard John Kirkwood); his son Nicholas; and 33-year diplomatic career that took them LeBaron, Jean is survived by her brother, five grandchildren, Victoria Hayne, Cecilia to Nicaragua, India, Tunisia, Portugal, David Foshee and his family, of Mobile. Hayne, Spencer Kirkwood, Elisabeth Egypt, Israel, Kuwait and Great Britain. Donations in memory of Jean LeBaron Kirkwood and Alexandra Kirkwood. He is Mr. LeBaron was ambassador to are welcome at the Lombardi Patient also survived by his brother, Elliot (and his Kuwait from 2007 to 2010, and served as Assistance Fund at the Georgetown Uni- wife, Judy) of Novato, Calif.; and numerous deputy chief of mission in both Tel Aviv versity Medstar Hospital and the Northern nephews, nieces and cousins. and London. They also spent a number of Neck Animal Welfare League in Kilmar- Donations may be made in his years living in Alexandria, Va., while both nock. memory to the wonderful residential- held positions at the State Department. educational community where his Mrs. LeBaron served as a post manage- n Edwin H. Moot, 95, a retired For- developmentally-disabled son, Nick, lives: ment officer in the European and South eign Service officer, died on Dec. 12 in the Devereux Foundation of California, Asian bureaus. Rockville, Md. P.O. Box 6784, Santa Barbara CA 93160. Mrs. LeBaron was well known in After graduating from Northwestern diplomatic circles for her accomplished University, Mr. Moot served in the U.S. n Jean Foshee LeBaron, 65, the wife of representational entertainment events in Army in Europe from 1943 to 1945. He retired FSO and former Ambassador Rich- support of American foreign policy. She joined the Foreign Service in 1947. ard LeBaron, died of complications related believed in the importance of sustained During a 30-year diplomatic career, Mr. to metastatic breast cancer on Dec. 13 at personal engagement for U.S. diplomacy, Moot served abroad in Germany, Egypt, Georgetown University Hospital in Wash- and was very good at it. Her husband Italy, Hong Kong, the Somali Republic, ington, D.C. She was a resident of Alexan- often said that any success he had as a Southern Rhodesia (modern Zimbabwe), dria and Northumberland County, Va. diplomat was largely due to Jean’s gra- Zambia, Nepal and Mexico. He retired in Born to John and Sybil Foshee on Dec. cious and generous help. 1977. 23, 1949, Mrs. LeBaron spent her child- After Amb. LeBaron retired from the Mr. Moot was preceded in death by hood and early adult years in Mobile, Ala. State Department in 2012, the couple his wife, Joanne Ling Moot, also a Foreign She was an avid equestrian in her spent more of their time at Prudence Service officer, who passed away in 2002. youth, winning numerous regional com- Farm, their home on the Great Wicomico He is survived by two sons, a daughter and petitions. She was also an accomplished River. Mrs. LeBaron lovingly renovated a six grandchildren.

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 85 n Gladys Ann Pollock, 80, a retired staff of the Foreign Service in 1966 and traveling the world for the State and Com- member of the Foreign Service, died in an remained in San Salvador as a student merce Departments. After his first posting, automobile accident on Dec. 28. She was affairs officer. He was commissioned as an to Mexico as a consular officer, he was a long-time resident of Arlington, Va. FSO in 1970. transferred in 1958 to Cyprus. There he A native of Beaumont, Texas, Ms. Pol- During a 33-year diplomatic career, he was shot and wounded in a terrorist assas- lock spent most of her career as a Foreign served full tours in seven different Latin sination attempt during the civil unrest. Service secretary for the U.S. Information American countries. He witnessed eight Subsequent postings included Agency, rising to the highest ranks of her coups d’état and several bloody upris- Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), profession. She served abroad in London, ings. He was a vocal advocate for greater Ethiopia and Israel. He served two tours Rome, Paris, Beirut, New Delhi, Tehran, Hispanic employment in the Foreign in Washington, D.C., at the State and Belgrade, Mexico City and Istanbul. Service. He retired in 1995 as a member of Commerce Departments, respectively. His Ms. Pollock was a talented artist. After the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of last overseas assignment was to Australia, retirement from the Foreign Service, she minister counselor. after which he retired in 1978. settled in Arlington, Va., where she pur- In retirement, Mr. Uribe published Mr. Wentworth is remembered as a sued work in ceramics and papier-mache three works of historical fiction that drew master wordsmith and punster who loved art. With a gift for interior design, she on his foreign affairs experience, as well as to discover new words in many languages. combined influences from the cultures his memoir, My Way. He enjoyed visiting He spoke French, Spanish, Modern Greek, around her with her own American sen- his ranch in Texas, where he managed a Hebrew, Russian, Amharic and chiShona sibilities during her years overseas. The herd of cattle and rode his horse. (the last are African languages). result was a warm and welcoming abode He is survived by his beloved wife of He wrote limericks and other poetry; wherever she was assigned. 56 years, Sarah Meade Uribe; their three composed chamber music, operettas and Ms. Pollock is survived by a beloved children: Anne Uribe Cespedes, Ernesto choral music; arranged music for band sister, Dorothy Pollock Moore, and several Uribe II and August Orville Uribe; and and chamber groups; and loved to sing. devoted nieces and nephews in Texas six adoring grandchildren: Fernando R. He played the tuba and euphonium in and Florida, and by a host of friends who Cespedes II, Sarah H. Cespedes, Oscar A. various brass and community bands and recently gathered in Washington to cel- Uribe, Andreas O. Uribe, Ernesto T. Uribe viola in community orchestras and cham- ebrate her 80th birthday. and Daniel K. Uribe. ber groups around the world. Friends and Donations in Mr. Uribe’s memory may family members recall that he was kind to n Ernesto Uribe, 78, a retired FSO be made to the Boy Scouts of America, everyone, a real gentleman. with the U.S. Information Agency, died in Texas A&M at Laredo, or the World Wild- Mr. Wentworth studied at Dartmouth Falls Church, Va., on Nov. 21. life Fund. College, Case Western Reserve University, A Texan, Mr. Uribe grew up on horse- Princeton University, the Massachusetts back, working in South Texas where his n John P. (“Basil”) Wentworth, 90, Institute of Technology, the Foreign family had raised beef cattle since 1755. a retired Foreign Service officer, died on Service Institute and the University of He was educated in the public schools of Oct. 3 in Mechanicsburg, Pa. Indiana in Bloomington. Laredo, Texas, and graduated from Texas Mr. Wentworth was born on Sept. 17, He was predeceased by his wife of 58 A&M University, earning two under- 1925, in Massachusetts. He served as a years, Jocelyn. Mr. Wentworth is survived graduate degrees in 1960 and 1961 and a commissioned U.S. Navy officer from by his children, Carolyn Henderson (and master’s degree in 1962. 1943 to 1950. He earned his B.A. from her husband, John) and Peter (and his While studying, he worked as an the Case Institute of Technology in 1946, wife, Jan Sullivan); and his grandchildren, assistant radio editor for the Texas state and worked as an electronics engineer Jenna Barron (and her husband, Alex) and agricultural extension service. for Hughes Aircraft and Boeing as an Joe Henderson. n In 1962, he joined USIA as a bina- electronics engineer and project designer tional center grantee in Guayaquil. After from 1950 to 1953. two years in Ecuador, he was transferred He joined the Foreign Service in 1955 to San Salvador. He formally joined the and began a 23-year diplomatic career

86 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL REVIEWS

Take One: What U.S. Diplomats Do

“America’s Diplomats” A film produced by the Foreign Policy Association and airing on PBS stations this month Reviewed By Jane C. Loeffler

Our diplomats do important and often dangerous work on our behalf, but explaining that work to a TV audience is no easy task. First, diplomats have an array of job descriptions—from those who negotiate peace treaties or commercial pacts to those who promote American culture or The film is strongest in its opening sequences that deal with the issue entry visas. There is no single sound history of the Foreign Service and how and why a merit-based bite that can summarize or even suggest system evolved in the first place. the full range of diplomatic activity. Second, at distant workplaces, di- plomats labor beyond the radar of most of this little known dimension of public and Herzegovina (1995), and in showing geographically challenged Americans, service—its pitfalls and its pleasures. the symbolic power of U.S. presence when who have a hard time locating London, The film is strongest in its opening Edward Perkins was appointed the first let alone Lima or Lomé, on world maps. sequences that deal with the history of black ambassador to South Africa (1986). And third, what makes it especially the Foreign Service, and how and why a It also highlights the role of commercial hard to put diplomacy on film is that the merit-based system evolved in the first diplomacy with a lively segment on how best footage in terms of sheer drama is place. It is strong, too, in graphically American diplomats made sure that U.S.- taken from the most glamorous or violent pointing out the growing risk associated built Harley-Davidson motorcycle engines historical episodes. But alas, 99 percent with overseas assignments since the could roar on in Europe after European of diplomacy is low-profile work, often 1980s when terrorists first turned U.S. Union regulators tried to ban them. best accomplished by low-profile people embassies into accessible targets. The film features a diverse group of under less than ideal conditions. Messages from Foreign Service diplomats, but it is weak, perhaps, in If military history is about big battles, officers and former ambassadors, all of focusing too much on the traditional diplomatic history is about how those big whom are also career FSOs, underscore hierarchy that for decades excluded battles are best avoided. How do you put the film’s several themes. Ronald Neu- many of the faces that now make up a that on TV and make it watchable? mann, for one, argues that “diplomats majority of the Foreign Service. The retro To his credit, MacDara King has done need to meet the public,” and Nicholas look of the title slate—it is almost all an admirable job with his production of Burns speaks to the need to “balance risk white men, for example—points to an “America’s Diplomats,” a new film that airs and security.” Others place these issues underlying tension in a film that tries to on PBS stations this spring. (Noncom- squarely in the ongoing political dis- look backward and wants to look ahead, mercial screening and viewing is available course that too often separates the State but can’t do both at once. (Something at https://vimeo.com/152777066 with the Department from its critics. curiously arresting about that is the password “Diplomacy.”) The film is also effective in detailing uncanny resemblance between Benjamin Released by the Foreign Policy Asso- peace negotiations, such as those led by Franklin and John Kerry!) ciation, the film aims to raise awareness Richard Holbrooke to end strife in Bosnia Uneven film editing results in repeti-

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 87 tion, rapid shifts in pacing, and some America’s Embassies (Princeton Architec- chapters bear titles such as “Deposed overemphasis on death and destruction tural Press, 2010). She has been honored by Leaders, YouTube and the Contested in a film with a broader purpose. The the Department of State for her work. She Language of Arab Uprisings,” “Martyrs producers may feel that this will rivet has contributed a number of articles to The and the January 25 [Egyptian] Revolu- viewers, but it may also confuse them Foreign Service Journal, primarily relating tion,” “Sounds of the Syrian Revolution,” and add to their sense of vulnerability. It to embassy design and security. and also contain poetry from the Yemeni is one thing to trace the escalating threat civil war. of terrorism directed at U.S. interests Voices We Need to Hear Each chapter of the book starts with worldwide and quite another to linger a concise, well-written summary of the over scenes of mayhem in a film that Everyday Life in the results of the author’s research, making it might otherwise instill confidence in the Muslim Middle East easy for readers to locate chapters bear- mission of the Foreign Service. Edited by Donna Lee Bowen, Evelyn A. ing on their particular interests. And while relatively few Americans Early and Becky Schulthies, Indiana What makes this book special is that died in or near the 1998 attack on the U.S. University Press, Third Edition, 2014, $30, so many of its contributors really are embassy in Nairobi, some 4,000 Kenyans paperback, 504 pages. able to get inside what is going on in the were killed or injured there. Crimes of Reviewed By Stephen W. Buck Muslim Middle East, the so-called Arab that sort are global in their impact. U.S. “street.” Most of them have actually lived Ambassador Prudence Bushnell stood There is a reason why Everyday Life in the close to those they write about and speak valiantly with her Kenyan hosts in the Muslim Middle East has recently come the local language. Early, for example, aftermath of that attack, yet the film out in its third (substantially revised and spent five years studying women in a does not convey that her stance was well updated) edition. Edited by a professor of poor section of Cairo and is fluent in understood here or that massive changes Middle East studies and political science, Arabic. in embassy design followed directly. an anthropologist, and anthropologist In their introduction to the book, Furthermore, juxtaposing a jumble of and recently retired Senior FSO Evelyn the editors point out that the “every- terrorist incidents out of chronological Early, this book is the best I can recom- day approach” is extremely helpful in order strips them of context and renders mend for those wishing to go beyond understanding how Middle Easterners them meaningless as history. the fear-mongering about the so-called in specific local contexts perceive highly William Harrop and Edward Marks, Islamic State group to understand how charged questions such as what is “tra- two career diplomats who also served as most of the Middle East lives. ditional” and what is “modern” and how consulting producers, deserve accolades While written by academics, they mark their own distinctions between for their efforts to underscore the historic the book is far from being “aca- what is “honorable” and what significance of the Foreign Service. While demic.” It is usefully divided into is “shameful.” the film was not designed as a promo- sections: Generations and Life The essays based on this tional device, the U.S. Diplomacy Center Passages, Gender Relations, approach also demonstrate will surely benefit from any increased Home, Community and Work how family values are accom- public awareness it generates. and, probably particularly of use modated to workday demands; More importantly, the film arrives at for those wanting real insight, how religious preachers present a propitious moment when diplomats Islam in Practice and Perfor- their interpretations of Islam’s see their authority increasingly marginal- mance and Expression, which tenets on satellite television; and ized, and some sense respect for their covers social media and recent how class distinctions between mission is waning. At such a time, if the events. workers and administrators on film stimulates discussion, even heated Each section contains several chap- factory floors contribute to the discontent debate, it is tremendously worthwhile. ters, each of which is a topical essay by a that fueled the Egyptian uprising. sociologist, psychologist or other expert Despite media efforts to reduce the Jane C. Loeffler is an historian and author researcher. In the section, “Islam in Prac- “Arab Spring” uprisings to an artifact of of The Architecture of Diplomacy: Building tice and Performance and Expression,” Twitter and other social media, much of

88 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL the story of the protests lies in the daily ing us that two issues, Palestine and Iraq, insights into the base of society in the lives of merchants, workers, professionals “crystallize opposition to U.S. policy.” Muslim Middle East. And, as the edi- and farmers examined in this book, the “The question of the future of Pal- tors point out, “We need to listen more, editors note. estine and the rights of Palestinians in especially now, to the voices of Middle Eastern peoples in all their different social, political and economic circum- What makes this book special is that so many of its contributors stances and orientations, to understand really are able to get inside what is going on in the Muslim their aspirations and frustration.” For those serving in one of our Middle East, the so-called Arab “street.” “fortress” embassies in the Middle East, where getting to know those beyond the The introduction also provides the the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza elite is difficult, this book should be a needed broader context for the book’s remain the single largest area of concern must-read. n contents, covering Middle Eastern for Middle Easterners,” they state, point- Muslim culture, the historical context ing to a study indicating that opposition After receiving a master’s degree from the of Middle Eastern life, and Islam and to foreign military intervention is “the Harvard Center for Middle East Studies, politics, as well as who the Islamists are. single largest cause of suicide bombings Stephen Buck served at eight Arab posts dur- In addition, the authors discuss Middle throughout the Middle East.” ing 39 years in the Foreign Service. He is a Eastern responses to U.S. policy, remind- In sum, this book provides excellent longtime member of the FSJ Editorial Board.

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96 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL REFLECTIONS

A Precarious Journey into Europe

BY DANIEL MORRIS

e had a skinny frame, big dark eyes and an eager disposition. Such discouraging reports had lost their People walked by his bench in capacity to deter Ziyad. Hone of Belgrade’s biggest down- town parks without paying much attention to him or to the dozens of other refugees phone to record his information, and now had a ticket for a 5 p.m. bus with his uncle who had made temporary homes there. he wanted to know what it said. Ivana took and close companions to the Hungarian Given the language barrier, even the many the paper, narrowing her brown eyes on border. who cared were at a loss to connect. the tiny font. We relayed the news from earlier in My friend Ivana and I stopped, and “It says you’re from Damascus, Syria. the day, even though Ziyad had probably I offered an introduction in Arabic. His Born in 1988.” I translated into Arabic. We been one of the first to know: the border eyes brightened. His name was Ziyad and, stumbled our way through his descrip- was shut after the Hungarians installed the within moments, he was rapidly explain- tion of the crime across three languages. last section of a new wall. He smiled. Ivana ing how the previous night he had fallen The report was accurate, Ziyad sighed. and I exchanged looks of concern, but he asleep on the grass outside his uncle’s tent He had recognized the thief—an Afghan wasn’t bothered. “We’ll see,” he said flatly. when his pillow suddenly disappeared. refugee—as he fled, he said. The Serbian Such discouraging reports had lost their After registering the shock, he saw a man police explained that it would take weeks capacity to deter; Ziyad had figured out running away with his small bag. It con- for a judge to hear the case, and Ziyad did a way past a half dozen borders in recent tained his life: mobile phone, wallet and not have that kind of time. weeks. passport. He had other concerns. “Yinfa fi I was still reflexively on guard for an I was skeptical. In high school I gave euroba?” he asked. Will this work in oblique appeal. Now I was puzzled. Where $20 to a struggling musician on a Harlem Europe? These refugees were, of course, was the shakedown? I decided that if he sidewalk who needed cab fare to get back already in Europe. But from their perspec- wasn’t going to ask, I would: “Can I give to Queens. “Lesson learned,” I said to tive, they had yet to arrive. Europe was a you money for the translation and notary?” myself after I got home and found that his place like Germany or Sweden. A place “Thank you,” he replied. There are two MySpace page didn’t exist. where if you didn’t have a second cousin, thank-yous in Arabic. Said with a slight Then Ziyad showed me the police at least you had an Arabic-speaking com- nod, it means yes. Said with a slight blush, report. Maybe this wasn’t a con, I thought. munity. it means no. His face turned a shade of “Shu maktoob?” he asked. What does Serbia didn’t have that. It was some- pink. Rejection. this mean? The police had used a picture where to stop for a few days to rest, treat We all rose from the bench. The brittle of Ziyad’s passport saved on his uncle’s medical ailments from the onsite doc- fall day was turning to dusk. Serbs going tor, eat meals delivered from the back of about their daily lives crisscrossed the Daniel Morris is a Foreign Service a truck and maybe get a new change of park, fixing their gazes at the ground officer with the U.S. Agency for clothes. ahead. Ziyad joined his group nearby. International Development. Cur- “I don’t think so,” I replied, doubt- Ivana and I stood in silence for a rently based in Jerusalem, he man- ing any well-meaning refugee agency in moment. I had trouble summoning words ages programs for the West Bank and Gaza. Hungary or Germany would give a Serbian to express the combination of inspiration, He was previously posted to Cairo and Kabul. police report much credibility, even if confusion and sadness I felt. We watched He has written about international affairs for they could understand it. Ivana knew a them walk toward the bus station, continu- the Globe and Mail, the Baltimore Sun, and translation and notary service a 10-minute ing their precarious journey into a Europe other publications. walk away. But it was 4:30 p.m., and Ziyad still uncertain how to look at them. n

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 97 LOCAL LENS

BY ALEX DAVIS n OAXACA, MEXICO

his photo was taken in the open-air market Tin Puerto Escon- dido, in Oaxaca, Mexico, in November 2014. The market sells everything from fresh cheese to fried grasshoppers and is a place to socialize as well as do your shopping. Sandals are all one needs in this warm climate! n

Alex Davis was the community liaison officer in Nuevo Lare- do, where his wife, Monica Da- vis, served as a vice consul in the consulate. She completed this, her first tour, in January, and the couple will head to Cambodia in November. The photo was taken with a Canon EOS 50D.

Please submit your favorite, recent photograph to be considered for Local Lens. Images must be high resolution (at least 300 dpi at 8” x 10”) and must not be in print elsewhere. Please include a short description of the scene/event, as well as your name, brief biodata and the type of camera used, to [email protected].

98 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL