State 1991-03: Iss

State (ISSN 0278-1859) (formerly the Depart¬ ment of State Newsletter) is published by the U.S. Department of State, 2201 C Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20520, to acquaint its officers and employees, at home and abroad, with developments that may affect operations or per¬ sonnel. The magazine also extends limited •Coolrie Pushers' coverage to overseas operations of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service of the Commerce Department and the Foreign Agricultural Service and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the Agriculture Department. There are 11 monthly issues (none in August). Deadline for submitting material for publication is in the first week of each month. Contributions (consisting of general information, articles, poems, photographs, art work) are welcome. Double-space on typewriter, spelling out job titles, names of offices and programs—acronyms are not acceptable. Black-and-white, glossy- print photos reproduce best, but some color photos are acceptable. Each photo needs a cap¬ tion, double-spaced, identifying all persons left to right. Send contributions to State magazine, THE COVER—“Fellow cookie pushers ...” DGP/PA, Room B-266. The office telephone said Ambassador W. Nathaniel Howell as he number is (202) 647-1649. began a speech to Department employees in the diplomatic lobby, on his return from Kuwait Although primarily intended for internal com¬ (State, February). The term is no doubt one he munications, State is available to the public would today apply, as well, to his colleagues in through the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. the Middle East and in Israel. Their stories Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. begin on Page 2. The Tel Aviv crew, from left, 20402. Second-class postage paid at Wash¬ are American citizens services staffers Michael ington, D.C., and additional mailing offices. Metrinko (consul general), Ronen Rhinhard, POSTMASTER: Send address changes to PA/ Steve Maloney, Shalom Hayeem, Daniel OAP, Room 5815A, Department of State, Rubinstein, Jacques Sapriel, Caryn Katz, and Washington, D.C. 20520. Aimee Medawar. Deputy editor Donna Gigliotti Assistant editor Barbara Quirk Staff Assistant Monica Byrd □ United States Department of State March 1991 No. 342 1 ■ 1 1 ^ ■ News stories Photo stories 11 People from State join 30 Post of the Month: Operation Desert Storm Athens 13 Bacquet, Shirley, Wells are picked as African envoys Special 14 Gale Rogers, Kuwait, is 22 A gift for your boss? (and “Consular Officer of the Year’ other ethical conundrums) 15 Richard N. Dertadian wins 40 Precautions against assault Replogle management award in federal buildings 17 Bush seeks more money, personnel slots for State Departments and features 20 New budget system for the 25 “Ask Dr. Goff” 11 News bureaus: a 5-year plan 13 Appointments Highlights 27 Book Review 58 Obituaries 50 Bureau Notes 42 Personnel: Feature stories 50 Diplo-Crostic Civil Service 2 Gas masks: de rigueur in 57 ebp 45 Personnel: the Persian Gulf area 27 Education and Foreign Senrice Training 48 Superior, 23 How to get Uncle Sam (not 14 Honors and Meritorious you) to pay for your travel Awards Honor Awards 27 Book review 57 Look-Alikes 29 Verse Letters to the Editor ‘Monster’ worst sort. It therefore revolted me to see Washington him appear in two photographs with Dear Editor: Ambassador Peter Jon de Vos. It was gratifying to see the hard work, 1 recognize that publishing Prince dedication and self-sacrifice of our col¬ Johnson's photograph is not the same as leagues in Monrovia memorialized in your condoning his actions, and 1 appreciate the February cover story. If anything, the arti¬ journalistic inclination against self¬ cle underplays the hardships they endured censorship. At the same time, it offends and the atrocity of what they witnessed. my sensibilities as a human being to see With respect to the latter, every prin¬ this man presented as though he were cipal in the civil war has engaged in merely part of the Liberian scenery. If it unspeakable acts against his fellows, and it was necessary to include his photo in our would be difficult to say which of them is benign house organ, it should have been the worst. The stories of vile atrocity com¬ accompanied by a brief description of mitted by Prince Johnson and his followers Prince Johnson as monster. The reader are legion, and few could argue with the should know what he or she is seeing. notion that he is a war criminal of the —(Continued on Page 57) March 1991 Life in the Foreign Service Department people find themselves in the middle of a war Eyewitness accounts from Dhahran, Riyadh, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem pound is only half a mile from the airport) crisis began, a large group from the consu¬ DHAHRAN signaling the beginning of the operation that late had been the guests of the emir of Al- would be called Desert Shield. We watched Khafji during a camping weekend. By Adam Namm and Peg Willingham and listened with a mixture of apprehension One evacuee looked familiar to Peg Mr. Namm is a general services officer and relief as the commander-in-chief Willingham, who recognized a Kuwaiti who and Ms. Willingham a consular officer at announced that troops were landing in our had hosted junior officers from around the this consulate general. Other staff members little comer of the world. Gulf at his beach house in southern Kuwait contributed to this report. With those words, we made the transi¬ after a conference last March. Our former IRST, IN JULY, there was the haze of tion from being a little-known town fre¬ host, now a refugee, smiled graciously at a troop build-up along the Iraq/Kuwait quently confused with nearby Bahrain or the halting words of commiseration, and said he border—third- or fourth-tier story on CNN, more distant capital of Iran to “somewhere looked forward to offering us hospitality in in Saudi Arabia,’’ the destination of thou¬ Kuwait again “soon, Insha’allah (God will¬ sands of soldiers and hundreds of journal¬ ing).’’ Consul general Kenneth Stammer- ists. The advent of the media marked a new chapter in public affairs officer Jonathan ‘Our surprise turned to the Rice’s Job, as he became an important point shock of reaiizing we might of contact for reporters from big news be the next target’ bureaus and small towns. In the ensuing weeks, Kuwaiti refugees man and his wife, Patty, recognized and fleeing American citizens told us their Kuwaiti and American friends from their terrible stories as they sought a safe haven 1987-89 tour in Kuwait who passed through from the destmction of their country. Dep¬ the consulate on their way to the United uty principal officer Jim Bell, consul Les States and elsewhere. Mr. Namm Hickman and economic officer Todd The crisis also brought us into contact coming to us via satellite from Atlanta. In Schwartz spent most of August, September with fame—and fine dining. During Sep¬ those waning summer days, full of heat and and October monitoring the situation at the tember and through the fall, many of us humidity, as air-conditioning compressors Saudi border town of Al-Khafji, now well- spent large portions of our lives at the Gulf ground on, we put the story on the back known as the site of the first major ground Palace, a Saudi royal palace put at the dis¬ burner—where it would shortly boil over. battle of the war. Just six months before the posal of many of our visiting dignitaries. August 2 was like a blast of steam, oppres¬ Adam Namm at an airbase in eastern Saudi Through autumn, many of us called the sive and draining. In the coming days, Arabia. To the rear is Army C-5A. Gulf Palace our second home, and some Kuwaitis flooded across the Saudi border to seek refuge from the invaders. Though the end of summer was in sight, somehow it was getting hotter. That initial week was wide open and dangerous. With only a thin brave line of Saudi soldiers to the north, and no U.S. troops to protect us, we had no certainty as to where Saddam’s men would stop. CNN showed a map with arrows—big, red, alarming arrows—pointed toward Dhahran from occupied Kuwait. Our surprise at the invasions of Kuwait turned to the shock of realizing that we might be the next target. Us? In Dhahran, home of the world’s largest proven oil reserves, the biggest risk since the end of the Iran-Iraq War was being hassled by religious police who cau¬ tion women to cover their bare arms or exposed necks. We watched the skies at night that first week, and devoured all the news available. We scurried across the consulate com¬ pound on August 8 to hear President Bush address the nation. U.S. military planes had been arriving at the Dhahran airport for 24 hours, their loud roar (the consulate com¬ 2 STATE I even began to suffer from “buffet burn- ' out,’’ a condition arising from overcon- i. W sumption of shrimp, lobster, veal and steak j at the Gulf Palace’s restaurant. The legions ^ mUr of visitors included many members of Con- - ^ gress, the Secretaries of State, Defense and t - mm Energy, Vice President Quayle and, of course. President Bush. However, we missed seeing such performers as Steve Martin and Bob Hope, who visited the king- '©*8^ r dom to entertain the men and women in ^ Administrative officer Robert Kepler and secretary Jean Kepler arrived in Sep- tember to start their tours here—they were originally headed for Baghdad, but fate 'S’r intervened. Marine security guards Brad Anderson, Alex Bash, Monte Chapman, \ J- Jerry Hoffpauir and Jimmie Jackson, and detachment commanders Michael Logan and Mark Gordon, beefed up security at the HBzSpj# consulate—and let us know when air raid j / sirens sounded but we couldn’t hear them _ -- when we were inside the “crisis center” set up in August and reactivated in January.

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