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DIPLOMATS IN DANGER ZONES Living & Working in an Era of Evacuations

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F OCUS: DANGER Z ONES COTE D’IVOIRE EVACUATION / 39 A Peace Corps director recalls her experience on the 16 / EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION State Department task force managing the evacuation By Steven Alan Honley of Cote d’Ivoire. By Kristi Ragan 17 / OPS: NERVE CENTER FOR CRISIS RESPONSE The Operations Center plays the central role LESSONS LEARNED IN THE 1991 ZAIRE EVACUATION / 44 in crisis management for State. Over a decade later, USAID’s 1991 Zaire evacuation By Susan Maitra still holds lessons for other posts. By Linda Rae Gregory 21 / EVACUATIONS 101 No matter what the crisis, the ground rules for RECALLING PAST CRISES AND EVACUATIONS / 49 evacuating embassy personnel are basically the same. AFSA members and their families share stories of By Mikkela Thompson evacuations and life at posts located in danger zones. By Steven Alan Honley 25 / RESPONDING TO CRISES ABROAD: THE CONSULAR AFFAIRS ROLE Consular officers train for crises, but nothing can prepare F EATURE them for some things they will face, as these stories show. JERUSALEM DIVIDED / 57 By Barbara Ensslin An FSO who first served in Israel in 1966 and has often 30 / A COUP IN GUINEA-BISSAU: BISSAU, 1998 returned reflects on the changes he has seen there. What started as a quiet Sunday morning By Kenneth Stammerman quickly turned into anything but that. By Peggy Blackford C OLUMNS D EPARTMENTS

31 / THE GUINEA-BISSAU EVACUATION: PRESIDENT’S VIEWS / 5 LETTERS / 7 AN OPS CENTER VIEW Our Brave Diplomats CYBERNOTES / 10 An FSO relates how serendipity played a helpful role in By John K. Naland BOOKS / 64 facilitating one particular evacuation. By Raymond Maxwell SPEAKING OUT / 13 IN MEMORY / 66 Ambassadors and INDEX TO ADVERTISERS / 74 36 / FLO: POINT OF CONTACT FOR Post Morale AFSA NEWS / EMPLOYEES & FAMILIES By Tibor P. Nagy Jr. State’s Family Liaison Office is playing an ever-greater CENTER INSERT role in assisting employees and their families in crises. POSTCARD FROM By Susan Maitra ABROAD / 76 By Eric Freedman

Cover and inside illustrations by Russell Charpentier

THE MAGAZINE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS PROFESSIONALS OREIGN ERVICE Foreign Service Journal (ISSN 0146-3543), 2101 E Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037-2990 is published J O U R N A L F S monthly by the American Foreign Service Association, a private, non-profit organization. Material appearing here- Editor Editorial Board STEVEN ALAN HONLEY ARNOLD in represents the opinions of the writers and does not necessarily represent the views of the Journal, the Editorial SCHIFFERDECKER, Associate Editor CHAIRMAN Board or AFSA. Writer queries and submissions are invited, preferably by e-mail. Journal subscription: AFSA SUSAN B. MAITRA Members - $9.50 included in annual dues; others - $40. For foreign surface mail, add $18 per year; foreign air- JUDITH BAROODY Business Manager MARK W. B OCCHETTI mail, $36 per year. Periodical postage paid at Washington, D.C., and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: MIKKELA V. T HOMPSON ELIZABETH SPIRO CLARK Send address changes to Foreign Service Journal, 2101 E Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037-2990. Indexed Ad & Circulation Manager MAUREEN S. DUGAN by Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS). The Journal is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photos ED MILTENBERGER CAROL A. GIACOMO or illustrations. Advertising inquiries are invited. The appearance of advertisements herein does not imply the AFSA News Editor LAURIE KASSMAN endorsement of the services or goods offered. FAX: (202) 338-8244 or (202) 338-6820. E-MAIL: [email protected]. SHAWN DORMAN CAROLINE MEIRS WEB: www.afsa.org. TELEPHONE: (202) 338-4045. © American Foreign Service Association, 2003. Printed Art Director HOLLIS SUMMERS in the U.S.A. Send address changes to AFSA Membership, 2101 E Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037- CARYN J. SUKO WILLIAM WANLUND TED WILKINSON 2990. Printed on 50 percent recycled paper, of which 10 percent is post-consumer waste.

FEBRUARY 2003/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 3

PRESIDENT’S VIEWS Our Brave Diplomats

BY JOHN K. NALAND

The Foreign we are by the men and women of our Service has an The Foreign Foreign Service, our Civil Service, our image problem. technicians and our Foreign Service White House Service is a front- Nationals.” Press Secretary line organization But much more could and should be Ari Fleischer, done. For example, State could urge responding last serving in harm’s White House speech writers to add 12 year to a ques- way in an words to the president’s next major tion about which U.S. officials would address in order to cite “the men and monitor a truce in a volatile region, increasingly women of our diplomatic corps sta- said: “Security officials. I mean, these dangerous world. tioned around the globe” after his are not pin-striped diplomats.” On standard salute to our soldiers, sailors, Capitol Hill, when many lawmakers airmen, and Marines. Secretary think about the Foreign Service, they increasingly dangerous world. Powell could add his byline to a visualize people in comfortable AFSA has been working to do exact- Parade magazine cover article telling Western European cities instead of ly that in our recent public statements. Mr. and Mrs. America about the work focusing on those serving on the front For example, following the tragic mur- of our diplomats around the globe. lines of the war on terrorism or in oth- der last October of USAID Officer The possibilities are endless if State erwise difficult places. On Main Laurence Foley in Jordan, almost were to undertake a concerted cam- Street, most Americans either have no every major U.S. print and broadcast paign to promote a better public idea what their diplomats do or think media outlet quoted AFSA’s com- appreciation of the important but dif- of us as “traveling around meeting ments highlighting the dangerous but ficult work done by America’s diplo- people rather than getting a lot done” vital work of the Foreign Service. mats. (as the Washington Post quoted one Secretary of State Colin Powell has While it would be wise for State to Iowa voter two years ago). also stressed this theme in congres- go on the public relations offensive, it These false stereotypes make it more sional testimony and other public is imperative that State do better difficult to convince the White House statements. For example, at a budget defending itself from unfair criticism. and Congress to provide the resources hearing last year, he lauded “the men For example, State won the behind- that the foreign affairs agencies need and women of the State Department the-scene’s legislative struggle last in order to advance America’s vital and the great job they’re doing on the summer to retain the visa adjudication national interests overseas. One sym- front line of offense in our national function but lost ground in the public pathetic lawmaker recently told me security efforts around the world. eye by waiting for weeks before that the foreign affairs agencies would These are people who take risks, they responding to published reports ques- fare better in the appropriations take casualties, they are often killed tioning the professionalism of consular process if we could “repackage” the regrettably in the line of duty. They officers. Foreign Service as a front-line organi- are as brave and courageous as any As always, AFSA will continue to zation serving in harm’s way in an group of men and women serving in work to educate Americans on the role uniform. Their families are put at risk. of the Foreign Service. We would John K. Naland is the president of the ... We cannot be served by a more welcome others taking a more active American Foreign Service Association. dedicated group of professionals than role in that effort.

FEBRUARY 2003/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 5 Experience the Appealing Charm …

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6 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/FEBRUARY 2003 LETTERS

A Role Model would take heat from hard-line be known to his constituents as astute, With the death of Roy Atherton on Israelis and their supporters, but they hard-working — and responsive. Oct. 30, 2001, we lost one of the truly needed to read and think about what I have to wonder how smart was great officers of the United States I was saying. We shared the thought the author of that e-mail? Foreign Service. In light of his that given the great disparity in wealth David Casavis unique role in the crafting and negoti- and power between the Israelis and U.S. Department of ation of the Camp David accords, we the Palestinians, fairness is a great Commerce also lost one of the best professional deal more important than even-hand- assets we had at any time in the histo- edness, because most of what must be Where Has She Been? ry of efforts to bring peace to the done to improve the situation must be Senator Patty Murray recently said Middle East. done by Israel. the U.S. should be “building stuff” to Roy and I served together in Friends and professional col- improve the lives of Third World chil- Calcutta 40 years ago, and although we leagues who knew Roy and his contri- dren as, she says, Osama bin Laden never had a common posting after that, butions quite well said at the memor- has been doing. What does she think our families stayed in close touch over ial service for him that his death was thousands of young (and old) Peace the years. In addition to being a close the end of an era. But the era does Corps Volunteers have been doing for personal friend, Roy was also a remark- not have to end. Roy left us an excel- the past 40 years? And doesn’t she able Foreign Service officer, one lent model of the qualities good offi- realize that we’re also still the world’s whose model I endeavored to follow. cers must have, as well as a superb biggest aid donor? In developing the article that the example of what we should expect Our ambasssador in Guatemala, to FSJ published for me in October from our best. As Secretary Powell whom I was economic counselor, (Palestine — The Problem and the recruits to rebuild the Service to meet asked me to oversee Peace Corps Prospect), I discussed the issues with a demanding future, he will not find a work in that country, so I can tell you Roy during a visit to his retirement better model for the next generation first-hand about the enthusiastic home in Collington, Md., and we of officers than the one provided by efforts of the 45 volunteers there. even talked about the article the day Roy Atherton. They were an impressive bunch of before he went into Sibley Hospital Terrell E. Arnold people — including a 70-year-old for surgery. Minister-Counselor, retired retired schoolmarm. They built wells, Roy never stopped thinking clearly, Washington, D.C. installed fish pools, built schoolhous- cogently and fairly about Middle East es and mother-child welfare centers, issues. It touched me deeply that in a No Scarecrow among many other projects. time of personal crisis he was still alert David Jones’ Speaking Out column Maybe we’re just not tooting our to opportunities for advancing possi- in the December Journal notes that own horn loud enough. Or maybe, ble solutions to the problem. He said an FSO sent an e-mail to a colleague beyond bombing some bad guys, our he very much appreciated my article this past summer describing Rep. Ben own legislators don’t know enough and said that the statements and rec- Gilman, R-N.Y., as someone who “had about their own government’s affir- ommendations were “right on target.” no brain, like the Scarecrow in the mative activities around the world. When I told him that I was receiving Wizard of Oz.” David B. Timmins a great deal of criticism from friends Rep. Gilman was my congressman FSO, retired of Israel, he said that of course I for half of my adult life. He will always Salt Lake City, Utah

FEBRUARY 2003/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 7 L ETTERS

Helping Central Asia For success, foreign assistance to Conolly “first coined this memorable In the November issue of the FSJ, Central Asia must continue until host phrase in a letter to a friend.” Alex Rasizade’s article, “The Specter countries can generate their own Pamela J. Anderson of A New ‘Great Game’ in Central skills, revenue and foreign exchange Dhaka, Bangladesh Asia” proposed three challenges for (no matter how long). Otherwise, as the U.S., including “promotion of past U.S. aid efforts show, if econom- Not Only Christians meaningful economic development” ic support is underbudgeted, and As I was stationed in Islamabad at and “staying engaged in the region for biased toward projects with limited the time of the attack on the Protestant the long haul.” As for economic devel- economic growth potential, the long- International Church, I read with opment, however, Rasizade questions term outcome will not be nation- some interest the article by Jonathan the choice of large infrastructure pro- building, but continuing economic Addleton in the November FSJ jects as proposed at the Tokyo confer- stagnation, acres of rusty and broken- (“Reflections on the Church Attack in ence in January 2002, or a “Marshall down foreign equipment, abandoned Islamabad”). I find it noteworthy that Plan” approach. The focus, he said, laboratories and classrooms, impass- the article focuses on attacks on should be on small businesses and vil- able rural roads, and counter-charges Christian institutions (churches, lage-level agriculture. of who is to blame. schools, hospitals). While it is certain- Having had long-term experience Vernon C. Johnson ly true that they were attacked, per- as a USAID employee (including USAID, retired haps had Mr. Addleton not made his stints as USAID director for Uganda Silver Spring, Md. reflections from afar he would have and Tanzania) and as a State also included mention of attacks on Department assistant secretary dur- The “Great Game” Revisited other institutions, some notable ones ing the Carter administration, I agree I enjoyed reading Alec Rasizade’s being Shia and Sunni mosques that with Rasizade’s challenges to the U.S. article, “The Specter of a New ’Great were attacked presumably as part of I also agree that a “Marshall Plan” Game’ in Central Asia” in the the factional infighting that persists in approach to aiding Central Asia has November FSJ, but his misuse of the Pakistan and the region. little validity. In postwar Europe, the word “coined” in his opening para- Just a fortnight before the attack on scientists, skilled technicians, graph might mislead readers who are the PIC, some attackers entered a financiers, entrepreneurs, etc., not familiar with the history of “the Shia mosque in Rawalpindi (just down though battered, were nonetheless in Great Game.” In fact, Rudyard the road) and gunned down a number place and, when they were assisted Kipling did not originate that term, of people. And one only need say with U.S. capital, the economic but merely popularized it. The “Gujarat” to bring to mind the mass recovery was spectacular. In Central phrase was actually coined by violence Hindus and Muslims in Asia, on the other hand, such an eco- Captain Arthur Conolly of the 6th neighboring India continue to inflict nomic base is lacking, so creating one Bengal Native Light Cavalry. Nor on each other. must be part and parcel of the nation- were Kipling and Conolly even con- Though Christian and other building process. temporaries; Captain Conolly, a “Western” institutions have received a My real doubt about Rasizade’s Great Game player himself, died in lot of attention lately, it may be more ideas and USAID’s development pro- 1842, while Kipling was born in 1865. objective to remember that such jects, however, is their limited hold Historian Peter Hopkirk, in his attention has been paid to other sec- on nation-building. For example, book The Great Game, details the tors of Pakistani society for a while. who is to foster improvement in vil- executions by beheading of Captain Though the Western community often lage-level agriculture, and with vil- Conolly and Colonel Charles does not pay a lot of attention to local lages numbering in the thousands, Stoddart, both British Army officers, affairs in many countries, putting our what will be the measure of success? in the great square of Bokhara, in ear to the ground once in a while may But my greatest concern is with June 1842. As Hopkirk states in his help us to put things in better per- USAID’s emphasis on humanitarian prologue: “Ironically, it was Conolly spective. I hope that we can see the and construction projects as its main himself who had first coined the attack on the PIC in a broader context approach to nation-building. phrase ‘the Great Game,’ although it of both ongoing strife in Pakistan and Although such projects are indeed was Kipling who was to immortalize it the wider region, in which our foes necessary, initially they represent a many years later in his novel Kim.” directly or indirectly influence people financial cost. Later in the book, Hopkirk notes that of many stripes to take action against

8 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/FEBRUARY 2003 L ETTERS

U.S. and Western targets of opportu- ment of a duty with which [Sharon] nity. was charged.” Major Karson Snyder The commission recommended U.S. Army that Sharon resign as defense minister, Amman, Jordan which he did. The Kahan Commission was very A Curious Omission clear on one important point relevant In “Palestine: The Problem and the to the review, however: “We have no Prospect” (October FSJ), Terrell doubt that no conspiracy or plot was Arnold purports to lay out the con- entered into between anyone from the cerns of the various players, but then Israeli political echelon or from the proceeds to single out for challenge military echelon in the IDF and the just one whose defensibility he finds Phalangists, with the aim of perpetrat- lacking (surprise! It is Israel). It is ing atrocities in the camps. The deci- curious that in an article of this length, sion to have the Phalangists enter the no mention was made of the historic camps was taken with the aim of pre- Camp David meetings of September venting further losses in the war in 2000, when the George McGovern of Lebanon; to accede to the pressure of Israel, Ehud Barak, said yes to the public opinion in Israel, which was Palestinian positions identified by Mr. angry that the Phalangists, who were Arnold. Not being ready to take yes reaping the fruits of the war, were tak- for an answer, Mr. Arafat took time ing no part in it; and to take advantage from his awkward departure to coldly of the Phalangists’ professional service predict the tragic result of his decision and their skills in identifying terrorists to not negotiate in good faith. and in discovering arms caches. No Dan Berman intention existed on the part of any FSO, Foreign Agriculture Israeli element to harm the non-com- Service batant population in the camps ... ” Washington, D.C. While a judgment of indirect responsibility for the massacres is no The Sabra/Shatilla Massacres small matter, it falls far short of proven In Arnie Schifferdecker’s review culpability for “wanton murder.” (September FSJ) of John Boykin’s The Kahan Commission was, as far book on Ambassador Philip Habib’s as I am aware, the only independent diplomacy in Beirut, Cursed Is the commission of inquiry ever to look Peacemaker, he writes, “Shortly there- into the massacres in a systematic and after, Sharon and his Phalangist allies thorough manner and to assign blame. covered themselves in shame through It would be appropriate for the their invasion of West Beirut and wan- Lebanese and Syrian governments to ton murders of hundreds of innocent set up independent commissions of Palestinian civilians in the Sabra and inquiry to assign direct responsibility Shatilla refugee camps.” for the Sabra/Shatilla killings and The Kahan Commission set up by other, even larger, massacres in the the Israeli government to examine the Lebanon of that era. But I suspect Sabra/Shatilla massacre concluded that we will have to await successor that “the defense minister made a regimes to those currently in place grave mistake when he ignored the before anyone dares to turn those par- danger of acts of revenge and blood- ticular rocks over. shed by the Phalangists against the Kenneth A. Stammerman population in the refugee camps. FSO, retired These blunders constitute non-fulfil- Louisville, Ky.

FEBRUARY 2003/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 9 CYBERNOTES

How They View Us: belong to teenagers in South Korea ferent countries — Saudi Arabia, The Riddle of Culture and Mexico, respectively, may give Bahrain, South Korea, Mexico, China, After the hand-wringing and plain- pause. In fact, in every country but Spain, Taiwan, Dominican Republic, tive “Why do they hate us?” in the Argentina, attitudes were consistently Pakistan, Nigeria, Italy and Argentina wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, negative toward Americans as people. — were surveyed by the DeFleurs. the results of a carefully designed and Titled “The Next Generation’s Their aim was to contribute to an executed study of the attitudes and Image of Americans,” the preliminary understanding of the ways in which beliefs held by teenagers in 12 coun- report on the research by Margaret the next generation in the countries tries give food for thought. The most and Melvin DeFleur, professors in the studied regard Americans, to identify negative attitudes toward the U.S. are College of Communication at the many sources from which their held by the average 17-year-old in Boston University, is available online views are formed, and formulate, if Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, hardly a (www.bu.edu/news/releases/2002 possible, any strategies useful in surprise. But that third and fourth /defleur/report.pdf). Since March reshaping those views. place in the anti-American league 2002, about 1,400 teenagers in 12 dif- Interestingly, the profiles of beliefs

Site of the Month: “Exploratorium” lion visitors per year — nearly 20 times the number of actu- al visitors to San Francisco’s landmark Palace of Fine Arts “We don’t ask ourselves where languages come from where the museum is housed. because they just seem to be there: French in France, Several things make this Web site unique. First, the com- English in England, Chinese in China, Japanese in Japan, bination of range and quality in both content and technical/ and so forth. Yet if we go back only a few thousand years, artistic delivery is remarkable. Numerous subjects, from none of these languages were spoken in their respective cooking to sunspots and the science of baseball, are explored countries, and indeed none of these languages existed in a lively and memorable way. As Exploratorium explains, anywhere in the world. Where did they all come from?” “Many of the resources on our Web site are examples of very This is the simple yet tantalizing lead to an exploration of simple uses of information technology, but thoughtfully the origins of language presented by Exploratorium mag- implemented. For example, the site contains instructions azine that is authoritative yet accessible to both young and for over 500 simple experiments, all of which may be viewed old, and presented online in an appealing and user- on any type of Web browser, with even the slowest connec- friendly format. tion, and easily printed out.” But the site designers have also Exploratorium Magazine Online is just one part of the made use of some of the most sophisticated technologies to award-winning Web site of the Exploratorium demonstrate certain phenomena in a variety of online (www.exploratorium.edu), the California-based museum exhibits. of science, art and human perception founded in 1969 by Second, the site is as inviting to an adult as it is to a physicist Frank Oppenheimer, and since 1991 steered by Dr. middle-schooler. Apart from the pure enjoyment of Goéry Delacôte, a French scientist and science educator. knowledge-gobbling, the latter will find extensive The Exploratorium’s mission is to create a culture of resource materials and ideas for school projects and learning through innovative environments, programs and homework assignments — whether in online activities tools that help people nurture their curiosity about the world and exhibits, the online magazine, the science news around them. Online since 1993, the Exploratorium was webcasts, or from Exploratorium’s 10 cool sites of the one of the first science museums to build a site on the World month and related links. Teachers, too, have an unusu- Wide Web. The Exploratorium site includes more than al resource here, with an “Educate” section containing 12,000 Web pages and many sound and video files, explor- carefully chosen tools for teaching and a direct path to ing hundreds of different topics, and currently serves 17 mil- other pages of particular interest to teachers on the site.

10 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/FEBRUARY 2003 CYBERNOTES

about Americans varied considerably results. Some of the negative attitudes e’re not saying what we from country to country, indicating, as clearly come from adults, DeFleur might or might not do the report states, “that the dimensions says, “but an amazingly important sec- W [about North Korea]. We think and bases for negative attitudes were ond source is our pop-culture, media it’s best to try to use diplomacy. by no means the same in each — and and entertainment products” — which would be difficult to change through the teenagers love! The impression We have to keep in mind the any uniform communication strategy.” movies make is exemplified by the for- concerns and interests of our The report’s “Summary of Findings” eign student who is fearful of walking allies in the region. ... This is reviews this in detail. down the street in the U.S. because he the time for the international The survey questionnaires were believes gunfire from police and bad community to come together. translated into the relevant languages guys might erupt at any moment. “We — Secretary of State and carefully constructed to elicit atti- sent a copy of our report to the tudes toward the characteristics, val- Screenwriters Guild in California,” Colin Powell, Dec. 29, 2002, on ues and behavior of Americans as peo- DeFleur adds, “and after holding a ABC-TV’s “This Week with ple (not the government, its policies or special meeting on this, they mocking- George Stephanopolous,” actions). Additional questions mea- ly titled the report: ‘We Hate You, But www.state.gov sured, among other things, the influ- Please Send Us Baywatch.’” It is a ence of depictions of Americans in curious love-hate phenomenon that vide movie reviews, so that audiences movies and television programming on points to the dilemmas of culture and in foreign countries “can hear a cri- each subject’s beliefs. Access to the how it operates. tique that points out what is realistic teenagers was gained through person- DeFleur doesn’t see a role for the and what is nonsense.” al ties with high school teachers and government in changing this. “I don’t In a detailed discussion of how to administrators in each country, bypass- think the State Department can pro- interpret the results of the study that ing government authorities and reach- duce rap music. That’s ridiculous,” he occupies the last half of their report, ing middle and lower-middle class says. “The Soviet Union used to do the DeFleurs present a thoughtful dis- youth. the same kind of thing, making films cussion of how beliefs are formed, and In an interview with Robert Nolan about heroic tractor drivers plowing a provocative history of the evolution of the Foreign Policy Association, fea- the fields for the benefit of humanity.” of American culture. tured at the FPA Web site (www.fpa. But he does suggest that organizations org), Melvin DeFleur discusses the like the Voice of America could pro- Iraq in the Cross Hairs Whether or when the new year’s new round of decision-making on Iraq 50 Years Ago results in an invasion and military overthrow of Saddam Hussein, that Once a real evil has got its start in the world it cannot nation is sure to continue to figure be overcome without great striving, great travail and among the top U.S. foreign affairs con- suffering. There will be much grief. The evil will continue until the cerns well into 2003. There are a price of its defeat has been paid, at last, in devoted effort, in pain and number of resources available on line anguish. This is the only way evil has ever been dealt with in the to provide the information and back- world, and it should cause us no bitterness. ground to stay current with this issue, and the larger Near East chessboard — Dean Acheson, from “Remarks of Dean Acheson at the Foreign of which Iraq is a piece. Service Association Luncheon,” FSJ, Feb. 1953. Before the close of 2002, the Carnegie Endowment for Inter-

FEBRUARY 2003/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 11 C YBERNOTES national Peace launched “Crisis in dimensions of the Iraq issue: Iraq sits groups), U.S. interest groups (includ- Iraq” — a comprehensive new online on the second largest reserve of oil in ing prominent individuals’ speeches resource accessible from the Carnegie the world. This Web site features sev- on Iraq, public opinion polls on the home page (www.ciep.org), with eral interactive backgrounders, full of subject, and war opposition groups), news, analysis and information on facts but highly capsulized, on how the and much more. Iraq. The Web page features “Iraq: U.S., Russia and Saudi Arabia view For a broader look at developments An Alternative Approach,” a detailed Baghdad, an overview of Iraq’s energy and policy issues in the region, the discussion of the policy of “coercive picture (including the international Brookings Institution’s Saban Center inspections” that Carnegie proposes investors behind its resurgence as an for Middle East Policy (www. as a middle road between do- oil power), a primer on oil production brook.edu/dybdocroot/fp/saban/ nothingism and a rush to war. Also and use, and cursory historical back- sabancenter_hp.htm) has up-to- featured are “current news,” with ground on Iraq’s conflict with the date analysis and links to other user-friendly links to the latest on Iraq world. resources. The Heritage Foundation from three major U.S. dailies; and For an exhaustive look at the has a Middle East research program “key resources,” with links to salient issue, there is the University of (www.heritage.org/Research/ U.N., U.S., and British documents, Michigan’s online Documents Center MiddleEast/index.cfm), as does the fact sheets and congressional hear- (www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/ Hudson Institute (http://mes. ings. This Web page is updated daily. iraqwar.html). Here, in “Iraq War hudson.org/index.cfm). The Rand An MSNBC News special report, Debate — 2002,” one can find anno- Corporation’s Center for Middle East “Oil, the Other Iraq War” (www. tated links to documents and informa- Public Policy Web site (www.rand. msnbc.com/news/IRAQOIL_Front tion on threat assessments, military org/nsrd/cmepp) also has an exten- .asp) provides insight into one very issues, the political aftermath of war sive listing of its studies and important aspect of the geopolitical (featuring all the various Iraqi interest research publications.

12 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/FEBRUARY 2003 SPEAKING OUT Ambassadors and Post Morale: The Most Critical Element

BY TIBOR P. N AGY JR.

ore than ever before, it is Ignore problem employees. crucial for the Department More than ever, The reality is that posts have serious Mof State to retain productive the level of morale personnel issues from time to time. employees to do its work. Yet today’s Regrettably, some employees seem to employees are no longer as hesitant affects every facet consider their main function to be — as those of us who entered the making life miserable for everyone Foreign Service 20 or 30 years back of mission else. Occasionally, there are agency — to curtail their tours, or even performance and and section heads whose conduct or resign, if they are severely dissatisfied competence is seriously wanting. with their working or living condi- community life. Such cases cannot be ignored. While tions. This, combined with the fact corrective action should proceed that it is already difficult to staff many through the chain of command, such overseas posts — especially those in cases may eventually come to the the 20- and 25-percent differential COM. When they do, the ambas- categories — means that post morale cial-ordered them months in advance sador must act, whether the situation is a major factor in determining for each employee. To forestall a is resolved through the employee’s (or whether a post functions well, or is mutiny, I had to explain to the COM family’s) departure or a less severe simply dysfunctional. why the turkeys had to go back. But it remedy. Having served as deputy to eight never should have happened at all. Ignore the American communi- chiefs of mission — political Humiliate anyone in public. ty. Like it or not, the COM is viewed appointees as well as career diplomats Some ambassadors seem to relish by the local American citizen commu- — I have experienced first-hand how dressing down subordinates in public, nity as its mayor. Some ambassadors an ambassador’s attitude and even though it is the worst way to forget that the Foreign Service was approach are most responsible for motivate an employee. Such a repu- historically established to protect promoting or destroying post morale. tation also makes staffing the post dif- American citizens (not to foster rela- So here is my own short list of basic ficult, hurting mission performance tions with country X). In this regard, “don’ts” and “do’s” for COMs: long after the COM has left. (It also I’ve worked for ambassadors who have can motivate JOs to leave the Foreign focused all of their attention and ener- Don’ts Service.) Conversely, constructive gy on the host country, and ignored “Let them eat cake.” The time criticism is an essential component to their own compatriots (whether they for imperial ambassadors is long over. improve subordinates’ performance, were businesspeople, missionaries, or While proper protocol has its place, help them mature, and prepare them NGO employees). When this hap- and the Foreign Service remains a for management responsibilities. pens, word spreads quickly, both with- hierarchical organization, COMs can This can best be accomplished in pri- in the community and back to the U.S. no longer treat staff as emperors did vate, without emotion or rancor, and This is most unfortunate, since local their subjects. I’ll never forget one at an appropriate time. One of the Americans react positively to even November when an ambassador’s best management principles I’ve minimal “hand-holding.” Periodic spouse marched into the commissary learned was from my first supervisor “town meetings” and smaller sessions and bought every turkey right before 30 years back: “If you need to chew with the business community and Thanksgiving — even though turkeys someone out, don’t do it on a Friday other groups of Americans will help were not available anywhere else in the and ruin their weekend; wait till keep the COM in touch with their country, and the commissary had spe- Monday.” concerns. If the community is too

FEBRUARY 2003/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 13 S PEAKING O UT

large, the ambassador should meet the mission is doing, it’s important to periodically with the American citizen have regularly scheduled sessions with wardens. Like it or not, the chief agency and section heads, either one- Ignore the support staff. on-one or in small groups. Ambassadors who treat “non-substan- of mission is viewed by Be visible. Eating lunch in the tive” officers as second-class citizens embassy canteen at least once a week do the department a great disservice. the local American can do wonders for post morale — A critical element of successfully especially if you do not sit only with the operating a mission is promoting a citizen community DCM and select senior officers. I have sense of common purpose. This only learned more from such exchanges comes when every employee — from as its mayor. than from many formal meetings. first-tour junior officers to senior Showing up occasionally at Marine counselors — understands the key House functions is another must. U.S. goals and objectives in the coun- Get involved in community try. In this regard, I have found it use- about the new “mayor” instead of rely- events. Another duty of the “mayor” ful to make one country team meeting ing on hearsay. is participating in the community’s each month open to all Americans Learn people’s names — and Halloween “trick-or-treating,” the with a security clearance. how to pronounce them. This Thanksgiving program; USMC Ball, Ignore the junior officers. doesn’t mean just American employ- the July 4th picnic; etc. An especially While Deputy Chiefs of Mission have ees and family members, but local critical role for the COM is to be avail- primary responsibility for JO develop- ones, too. Although this task is obvi- able when tragedy strikes the mission, ment, it does both sides a world of ously easier at smaller embassies, the community, or our nation and to good for ambassadors to have direct making the effort works wonders. play a prominent part in memorial ser- contact as well. At smaller posts I’ve Conversely, I have seen FSNs and vices and flag ceremonies. In this conducted one-on-one sessions; at American supervisors cringe at award regard, the CLO and the Marine larger posts I’ve met with them in ceremonies when the ambassador detachment are vital resources for groups — but in all cases the hands out awards for “superior ser- organizing community functions and exchanges have been worthwhile and vice” but butchers the recipients’ need the active support of the front eye-opening. Their perspective — on names. What should have been a office. “work” in general as well as on work- morale booster becomes a morale Reveal idiosyncrasies. We all ing in the Foreign Service — is a dose buster instead. have them, and it’s fair to let our staff of reality which senior management Know where each agency and know what they are up front. (For must understand. section is. I’ve worked for ambas- example, I’m visceral about starting sadors who never bothered to learn meetings on time and clean desks.) Do’s where the Information Management Such disclosure makes for much Meet everyone at post as soon Office was, for example. It makes smoother working relations and avoids as possible. Even at large posts, sense for every COM shortly after misunderstandings. there are ways to get everyone to meet arriving to visit each section and Give public accolades. While we the new COM quickly. What my wife agency to meet with the chief, greet all can’t get every deserving employee and I have done is to plan (through the the employees, and see first-hand promoted, we can make sure they all DCM) to host a reception at the resi- their working environment. Ditto for get an award. (And by “employee,” I dence for the American staff (and the U.S.-sponsored school, ware- mean all categories: U.S. direct hire, adult family members) within a few house, commissary, recreation center, local, contract, etc.) I have found that days after our arrival. The consular etc. A COM should visit at least once two interagency award ceremonies section can also arrange a “town meet- every facility over which he or she has per year work best — with at least one ing” for all resident American citizens authority. held at the ambassador’s residence. in advance. Meeting the Foreign Schedule regular face time with Local FSN retirees should also be Service Nationals in a group during each organization. Briefing notes invited to these ceremonies to send the first week is also essential. This and cable copies are fine, and country the message that they are still part of covers all constituencies, allowing all team meetings are also important. the “family.” personnel to make up their own minds But to truly know what each part of Encourage staff to “have a life.”

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Workaholism is unhealthy for individ- uals, families and organizations; it is more a sign of poor organizational and prioritization skills than dedication. I have worked for COMs who expected everyone to practically live at the office, while others chased us out to go have some fun. Not only was morale much better under the second type, but more productive work was accomplished. (Work really does expand to fill the time available.) This means employees, especially at hard- ship posts, should be encouraged to take their full R&R, home leave, etc. One encouraging trend is that Generation X and Y employees believe it important to balance their lives between work, family and recre- ation. Accordingly, ambassadors who abuse their employees’ time will find their best talent leaving, and very little will get done. There is an old Foreign Service adage: “Ambassadors look up, while DCMs look down.” In other words, the ambassador should handle the substantive landscape and cultivate relations with the host country, while the deputy deals with “mundane” management issues. This was never good advice but it is complete non- sense now. It simply doesn’t work. More than ever, the level of morale affects every facet of mission perfor- mance and community life. And it is the ambassador’s responsibility to work ceaselessly to make it as high as possible.

Ambassador Tibor Nagy recently con- cluded his tour as chief of mission in Ethiopia and is currently the Diplomat-in-Residence at the University of Oklahoma. Among many other assignments since enter- ing the Foreign Service in 1978, he served previously as ambassador to Guinea, and deputy chief of mission in the Seychelles, Togo, Cameroon and Nigeria.

FEBRUARY 2003/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 15 E DITOR’ S I NTRODUCTION

DIPLOMATS IN DANGER ZONES

iplomacy has long been a dan- Consular Affairs Bureau’s role in gerous profession, to put it “Responding to Crises Abroad” (p. 25), Dmildly. But perhaps never has an interview with Faye Barnes, director that been truer than in the post-Sept. of State’s Family Liaison Office, explores 11 environment. With anti-American- FLO’s role as “Point of Contact for ism on the rise, and a real possibility, as Employees & Families” (p. 36). we go to press, that we may soon be Turning to some case studies, we fighting Iraq (and perhaps North offer side-by-side accounts of the 1998 Page 21 Korea) in addition to al-Qaida and its evacuation from Guinea-Bissau. supporters around the globe, even hith- Ambassador Peggy Blackford tells us erto placid posts are experiencing a new about the embassy’s role in rescuing sense of fragility and vulnerability. Americans caught up in “A Coup in Accordingly, it seems especially Guinea-Bissau” (p. 30), while watch appropriate for this issue of the Journal officer Raymond Blackwell — whose to focus on how the Foreign Service is first post had been Bissau — gives us coping, professionally and personally, the Ops Center perspective (p. 31). with the growing uncertainties of what Remaining in Africa, we also offer an may someday come to be known as the account of the last year’s Cote d’Ivoire Page 25 “Era of Evacuations.” evacuation by Peace Corps Country Associate Editor Susan Maitra leads Director Kristi Ragan (p. 39) and off our coverage by going behind the “Lessons Learned in the 1991 Zaire scenes of the State Department’s Evacuation,” as compiled by USAID Operations Center. As she reports, FSO Linda Gregory (p. 44) . whether the Ops Center is responding Last, but certainly not least, we are to a natural disaster, a breakdown in proud to present a roundup of vignettes security, or a terrorist attack, it is indeed (p. 49) contributed by Foreign Service “State’s Nerve Center for Crisis personnel and their families, in Page 30 Response” (p. 17). response to our appeal for stories of life When conditions in a country deterio- in danger zones and evacuations. These riate, it may be necessary to evacuate run the gamut from lessons learned Americans, both private citizens and (and not) to humorous anecdotes and those at post. Journal Business Manager more poignant memories. In fact, we Mikkela Thompson explains how such received so many responses that we will determinations are made and imple- run more next month. mented in “Evacuations 101” (p. 21). While CA’s Barbara Ensslin details the — Steven Alan Honley, Editor

Page 31

16 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/FEBRUARY 2003 F OCUS ON D ANGER Z ONES

OPS: STATE’S NERVE CENTER FOR CRISIS RESPONSE Russell Charpentier

IN THE OPERATIONS CENTER, THE WATCH AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT SUPPORT UNITS WORK IN TANDEM TO PLAY THE CENTRAL ROLE IN CRISIS MANAGEMENT FOR STATE.

BY SUSAN MAITRA

n the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, the Watch in the Executive Secretariat’s Operations Center beat everyone in the U.S. — including CNN — to the facts of what was occurring at the World Trade Center. Even beforeO the major media began publicly speculating about crop dusters and unusual wind currents, the Watch knew that a commercial jet had deliberately flown into the tower. A former Ops Center employee, who happened to be working in the second tower, saw that first plane hit. He immediately called the Ops Center, identified himself, and reported exact- ly what he had seen: a commercial jet drove into the tower, and there was no question of the plane being out of control.

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Then he hung up the phone and ran down more than 50 brief of up-to-the-minute happenings around the world. flights of stairs to safety. Watch officers are in touch with embassy personnel The Watch alerted Executive Secretary Maura Harty around the world to keep abreast of breaking events. and Secretary Powell’s party in Lima immediately, and fol- The Watch also arranges telephone calls for the secre- lowed up when the second attack made it clear to all that tary and deputy secretary and other department principals it was terrorism. Harty convened the initial task force, the with senior U.S. officials and foreign leaders — including first of what would be five separate task forces set up over setting up the calls, and then monitoring and accurately the next month to manage the State Department’s transcribing those made to foreign leaders for the histori- response to the terrorist attack. cal record — and maintains communications support for This bit of recent history points to the importance of the department principals when they are traveling. The Watch otherwise little-known and often underestimated processes and distributes highly sensitive cables (the com- Operations Center in the State Department. puterized AMADS system distributes routine precedence cables with no intervention needed by the Watch) between Command and Control Washington and the overseas posts. It helps establish task The Operations Center, consisting of the Watch and the forces and monitoring groups, and prepares briefing docu- Crisis Management Support unit, is the nerve center of the ments, logs and memoranda for the secretary and his or Executive Secretariat, which was established in 1947 by her deputies. Secretary of State George C. Marshall. The former gen- eral sorely missed the tightly coordinated conduct of affairs Crisis Advisor that characterized his military command experiences. The The Crisis Management Support office is the “crisis secretariat proved critical to organizing decision-making at advisor” for State’s senior officials. CMS officers, who State as the U.S. emerged as a superpower and principal work regular hours but are on call round the clock to guarantor of the peace following World War II. At that launch task forces or undertake other crisis management time, the amount of time secretaries of State spent abroad tasks, focus on crisis monitoring, contingency planning, rose dramatically and the department workforce expanded task force support, evacuation coordination, and training. from 1,128 in 1940 to 9,000 by 1950. By contrast with the Watch, which gathers and The Watch and CMS work in tandem to play the cen- relays information to department principals on break- tral role in crisis management for the department. They ing events of potential consequence, CMS looks ahead constitute a command-and-control system for the secre- and forecasts potential trouble spots, bringing them to tary of State and his or her principals: tracking breaking the attention of the policy-making audience. CMS international developments with an eye for events of reviews broadcast media, Internet news sources and immediate concern to the U.S. or potential crises, and then LiveWire as well as the Watch products and e-mail and organizing and supporting the response at the appropriate incoming cable traffic. To determine whether a tenu- level, coordinating both within the department and with ous situation constitutes a crisis, CMS seeks out the rel- the inter-agency community. evant department experts — the post management Staffed 24 x 7 by a team of five to seven individuals, the officer, a country desk officer, an officer in the Watch is a small group with a large responsibility. Part of Overseas Citizens Services office in the Bureau of the Watch’s work is fulfilling the mandate of Presidential Consular Affairs, the Bureau of Intelligence and Directive 27, which charges the Department of State with Research or, perhaps, the Bureau of Diplomatic “coordinating the government-wide decision-making Security’s Office of Intelligence and Threat Analysis. process for all non-military incidents with foreign affairs CMS produces weekly reports and spot reports on sig- implications.” The Watch alerts and briefs department nificant developments. principals on relevant immediate, breaking developments. CMS identifies posts that may want to consider a mis- Twice a day (at 0530 and 1530, local time wherever the sion drawdown because of a critical security and/or politi- secretary is, so not exactly on 12-hour cycles), and more cal situation, and sends heads-up cables providing guid- often when a crisis erupts, the Watch produces a one-page ance on steps to take before a crisis reaches the evacuation Susan Maitra is Associate Editor of the Journal. stage. If a mission drawdown is requested, CMS assists the

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post and the bureau’s post management The task force set-up force members, use of computer and officer with the paperwork needed to audio/visual equipment, production of process an evacuation request and will allows all stakeholders the log and situation reports, and provid- review the document for clearance ing resources such as the F-77 Reports, before it is submitted to the under sec- in the crisis response to post emergency action plans, maps, etc. retary for management. The CMS also The task force, which is led by the convenes meetings of the interagency communicate directly regional bureau at the deputy assistant Washington Liaison Group, works with secretary or principal deputy assistant the Bureau of Administration to coordi- and continuously. secretary level, serves as the fulcrum of nate evacuation and transportation assis- information-gathering, supporting both tance and also serves as the point of con- department principals and the overseas tact with the Department of Defense for any military- mission, and providing regular situation reports to the sec- assisted evacuation operations. retary and department principals. Representatives from CMS maintains the repository of up-to-date Emergency other bureaus and outside agencies are invited to partici- Action Plans and other crisis management materials, as well pate — long-term task forces often rely also on the service as the F-77 Report of Potential Evacuees from each post. of retirees. Consular Affairs always participates, for there These are the basic documents used in planning evacua- is always an American citizen component. When the pri- tions and preparing for other emergencies. vate American citizen component of a crisis exceeds the capacity of the CA representative on the primary task force Enter the Task Force to manage, CA forms a separate consular task force in a Many evacuations are managed effectively at the dedicated task force room in the Ops Center. This set-up bureau level, but when a crisis warrants round-the-clock allows all stakeholders in the department’s response to a attention from one or more bureaus and agencies, a crisis given crisis to communicate directly and continuously — a monitoring group or task force may be set up in the Ops terrific enhancement to efficiency. Center. A monitoring group is set up for every shuttle Depending on the crisis, the Diplomatic Security, launch, as a precaution should the rocket malfunction and Public Affairs, Counterterrorism, Political-Military, and send the payload spiraling off course — a potential diplo- Medical Bureaus, the Family Liaison Office, the Peace matic incident if not a disaster. Natural disasters may also Corps, and USAID are also frequent participants, each prompt establishment of a task force. with a dedicated computer workstation at the task force The development of a tiered structure for the task table. If there are many casualties in a given situation, forces has enhanced preparedness and flexibility. Human Resources’ Office of Overseas Casualty Assistance Depending on the nature and scope of the crisis and the may also be at the table. level of impact on the resident official and private American communities, a smaller-scale monitoring group Boosting Preparedness may be convened instead of a task force, which is general- According to Valerie Crites, Deputy Director for Crisis ly reserved for a full-blown crisis necessitating the involve- Management, the 1985 Mexican earthquake was a turning ment of a number of different entities and requiring deci- point in the department’s approach to crisis management. sion-making by department principals. Given the number of Americans resident in the region, the The Ops Center has three different task force rooms earthquake required a tremendous response by the outfitted with computers and communications infrastruc- department. The task force did not have adequate phones ture, in addition to secure-area meeting rooms. Should a or computers to handle the quantity of calls and informa- crisis warrant additional task force workspace, the executive tion coming in. The communication equipment was secretary can activate additional rooms. CMS works close- upgraded, and is now kept current as technology evolves. ly with task force directors and coordinators before and CMS puts great emphasis on training and the availabil- during the actual convening of a task force to provide them ity of information to enhance the department’s crisis with the resources and support required to carry out their response. Circulation of the Watch’s twice-daily products work — including training on the various roles of the task and CMS’s weekly report of potential crises, “CMS Is

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Watching…” has been expanded, and training for the geo- Embassies Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, the Task Force graphic and functional bureaus, and other agencies, such Exercise program was revived in March 1999. This pro- as the Peace Corps, for task-force deployment has been gram, the domestic counterpart of the overseas Crisis stepped up, particularly since the events of Sept. 11. Management Exercise program conducted at posts, is In the 15 months since September 2001, CMS trained conducted by the Foreign Service Institute’s Crisis nearly 800 department personnel, compared to approxi- Management Training Team in the School of Leadership mately 450 personnel trained in the 20 months between and Management. The program is specifically designed to January 2000 and September 2001. Trainees become build department expertise in dealing with mass casualty/ familiar with the role of the Executive Secretariat and the mass destruction incidents. Task Force Exercises for each Ops Center, are walked through the different aspects of task regional bureau are organized in coordination with CMS, force work, and get an overview of the roles and responsi- and conducted in one of the Ops Center task force rooms, bilities of task force participants. CMS trains the appropri- three to four times a year. ate personnel for specific roles on a task force, such as the FSI and CMS are continually working to refine the logger, who keeps the official record of the task force, and learning goals, scenarios and methodologies of the TFX the deputy coordinator, who writes the situation report. program. CMS also works closely with FSI’s crisis manage- CMS also conducts regular training for bureau post man- ment trainers in the development and implementation of agement officers on how to draft evacuation documents and the CME program for overseas posts. CMS program offi- the procedures for clearing them. This training prepares cers regularly participate in CMEs overseas, representing individuals to jump into task force work, and spreads crisis- the Ops Center and bringing the department perspective to awareness more generally. the table as posts consider their crisis response plans and After a review of the August 1998 terrorist bombings of procedures. I

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EVACUATIONS 101 Russell Charpentier

NO MATTER THE LOCATION, THE NUMBER OF AMERICANS, OR THE TYPE OF CRISIS, THE GROUND RULES FOR EVACUATING EMBASSY PERSONNEL ARE BASICALLY THE SAME.

BY MIKKELA THOMPSON

or employees of Embassy Caracas, the Christmas holidays were a jumble of suitcases, hotel rooms and uncertainty, as post upgraded from authorized to ordered departure on Dec. 20, 2002. The list of posts that have been evacuatedF or drawn down since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks is a long one, encompassing posts as diverse as Islamabad, Abidjan, Sanaa and Jakarta, to name but a few. In just the last six months of 2002, there have been three monitoring groups set up in the Ops Center for post drawdowns. At this writing, there are five posts under ordered departure. Some of these facilities were closed or downsized for just a few days or weeks, while others have been operating for

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months with minimal staffing and no When the under secretary “authorized departure” and “ordered dependents. Yet no matter where an departure/ordered evacuation.” An embassy or consulate is located, how for management approves authorized departure permits “non- many official (and private) Americans essential” or “non-emergency” employ- are there, or the nature of the crisis the evacuation status, ees and all family members the option underlying the decision to evacuate of departing from post; this gives the personnel, the ground rules are basi- the “180-day clock” chief of mission greater flexibility and cally the same. avoids any negative connotation that Of course, some posts are inher- starts ticking. might be attached to use of the term ently more prone to evacuation and “evacuation.” Under an “ordered evac- closure than others. For example, uation” all family members and all our embassy and three consulates in Pakistan have except “emergency” employees must leave post. been evacuated twice recently: first after the Sept. 11, Once the chief of mission sends in the request for evac- 2001, attacks and then in March 2002 following the uation status — for either “authorized” or “ordered” Protestant International Church bombing and other departure of personnel — the regional bureau is responsi- terrorist acts. In the first case, the decision to draw ble for drafting a decision memo for the under secretary of down staffing was slow in coming, perhaps reflecting management’s signature. This memo contains an “effec- reluctance to remove families from what had tradition- tive date” reflecting the severity of the crisis in the host ally been one of the more comfortable, family-friendly country, and is accompanied by press guidance, an instruc- posts in the region (thanks largely to good schools) as tional cable to the field and a general travel warning. The well as uncertainties surrounding the full extent of al- regional bureau can push the memo if they feel strongly Qaida’s reach and the perceived need to show confi- about it, but must clear it with all affected bureaus. There dence in President Pervez Musharraf’s regime by can even be split memos, reflecting different policy priori- maintaining a strong U.S. presence. ties within different parts of State; for example, there may But in the latter crisis (which occurred only a short be concern that reducing the U.S. presence in a volatile time after families were allowed to return to Pakistan), the country may signal a lack of confidence in the host gov- “reaction from the 7th floor was swift and profound,” ernment that could have larger repercussions. Such dis- according to one evacuee who asked not to be identified. agreement is rare but does happen. Almost as soon as U.S. Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin When the under secretary approves the evacuation sta- recommended authorized departure, the department tus, the “180-day clock” starts ticking. The evacuation sta- approved it, and quickly upgraded to ordered evacuation. tus is reviewed every 30 days by the under secretary for management, up to a maximum of 180 days. The subsis- The Basic Drill tence expense allowance is available to evacuees during As that example suggests, the initiative for requesting a that period. (Domestic partners and other “members of drawdown in staffing or a complete evacuation comes household” are not considered “eligible family members” from the chief of mission, based on reporting and recom- and do not receive any official assistance with evacua- mendations from the country team. Such a request gen- tions.) According to the Standardized Regulations, an erally cites a number of “trip wires,” such as demonstra- employee must be returned to the post of assignment or tions, tank movements, and credible threats received by reassigned to another post not later than 180 days after the mail or phone. In some cases, State may send monitors to evacuation order has been issued. During the evacuation investigate the situation before deciding whether to evac- period employees are expected to be available for tempo- uate; for example, the Diplomatic Security Bureau may rary assignments within the department or elsewhere, and send extra regional security officers to assess the danger these assignments are handled by the regional bureau. posed by mob violence. After 180 days, if the security situation looks like it won’t There are two different categories of evacuation status: improve, the department may elect to further downsize or even close the post, though such a drastic move is rare. Mikkela Thompson is the Journal’s Business Manager. More commonly, it is designated an “unaccompanied” post

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and tours are reduced to one year. Significantly, one of the them upon their return to Washington is often much less recent additions to the Family Liaison Office list of evacua- organized. tion resources is titled, “Long Distance Relationships and Of course, the very fact that evacuees are theoretically Separated Tours: When Couples Live Apart.” only going to be away from post for 30 days complicates the task of what to do with them. All evacuees are encour- Vive la Différence? aged to consult their career development counselors to According to one recent evacuee, the authorized explore their options. However, it is the regional bureau departure category should be abolished outright because that decides whether the returnees work for the task it just adds more chaos and contention to what is already force, are given temporary jobs somewhere in the bureau an inherently stressful situation. In this FSO’s view, leav- (or occasionally in another part of the building), or are ing it up to posts to identify how many, and which, people sent out to another post to cover staffing gaps. (Support will leave “voluntarily” not only puts pressure on “non- staff are particularly likely to be sent back overseas.) essential” employees who do not want to leave their col- Other options are for them to enroll in training courses or leagues, it also leaves some staff feeling that their jobs are to take annual or sick leave. They may also take R&R or seen as less important, which can hurt morale — a prob- home leave, though that can cause additional administra- lem that a change of usage from “essential” to “emer- tive headaches. gency” has not alleviated. Each bureau is basically free to “recycle” evacuees as This officer also points out that the department it sees fit, though there is a general recognition that the sometimes applies pressure to get posts to send as employees are, as one personnel officer described it, many people home as possible, so that what is sup- “children home from the war” and therefore need special posed to be an authorized, voluntary departure is actu- handling to minimize the disruption and stress they are ally an ordered one. As a result, the process can end up already experiencing. However, it seems clear that some being a numbers game, in which Washington may force bureaus make more of an effort than others to match the embassy to cut all sections by the same proportion temporary duties to what the employees were doing in to achieve an arbitrary staffing ceiling even if that the field, or at least to find them substantive responsibil- leaves them too weak to do their jobs. ities rather than “make-work.” The degree to which Based on the chief of mission’s recommendation, evacuees’ preferences are taken into account in the non-essential employees and eligible family members process also varies. can be evacuated anywhere, either back to the U.S. or For example, Consular Affairs (appropriately enough) to a regional “safe haven.” Each employee identifies enjoys a reputation for “taking care of their own.” And the his or her safe haven — an alternate place of residence assignments officer for one geographic bureau (who asked in the event of an evacuation — in advance, based on not to be identified) finds jobs for the returned evacuees personal and family considerations. Problems may by e-mailing every office and post to find out what type of arise, however, with safe havens other than the conti- skills and experience they need and then matching offi- nental U.S., because in that case the evacuee has no cers to those specs. diplomatic accreditation and sometimes must arrive The timing of the evacuation also plays a role in deter- without a visa. Evacuees returning to Washington are mining what happens to returnees. If they are near the greeted by staff from the Family Liaison Office at the end of their tour (the transfer cycle begins in May) then airport, where they receive the information “Welcome” they may be given a bridge assignment or go early to their packet, with advice and crucial contact information. next post. Or if employees have special skills, such as hard FLO also holds town meetings and maintains regular languages, they can be reassigned to fill a gap. e-mail contact with evacuated employees for the dura- Wherever the employees work, the bureau post man- tion of the evacuation. agement officer will generally take care of their time-and- attendance cards and other administrative support; how- “Children Home from the War” ever, some posts insist on retaining responsibility for those The State Department may be quite efficient at evac- functions even though the employee is physically in uating Foreign Service personnel, but what happens to Washington.

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Marking Time ter was sent a cable instructing her to return to post for 30 Initially, being evacuated can actually be nice in some days. As happy as she was at the prospect of rejoining her respects. Compared to the grueling days they were likely husband, she was dismayed that their child was not even working at post because of the crisis, some evacuees enjoy acknowledged on her travel orders. As she put it, “Was I having a regular schedule and reconnecting with families, supposed to abandon her?!” Accordingly, while she was friends and colleagues. And being back in the department willing to die for her country, the FSO refused to return to even temporarily gives officers a chance to network and post without her daughter, thereby putting her career at work on lining up an onward assignment. This is particu- risk and prolonging the separation from her husband. larly true when the crisis passes and everyone is able to go At the same time, it should be noted that some officers back to post after the initial 30 days. (particularly single ones) are eager to accept a temporary But if it doesn’t, the novelty of being Stateside can rapid- assignment to a danger post to advance their careers. ly wear off. As one official acknowledges, “It doesn’t help Being prepared is undoubtedly the best way to mini- to keep people in limbo. They need to return to a stable mize the disruptiveness of an evacuation. The FLO Web professional position. The family needs a stable environ- page, at http://state.gov/m/dghr/flo/c1991.htm, contains an ment, too.” extensive list of very helpful documents, links and contact During the evacuation period, some allowance is made information. But no matter how well-prepared you are, an for officers to “swap” if one needs to leave post for 30 days, evacuation is neither pretty nor easy. In general, it seems with an evacuee returning to give a colleague the opportu- that State does a reasonably good job of minimizing the nity to decompress. However, this is not always a smooth stress both for employees and their families. However, process. For example, one member of a tandem couple effective employment of officers during their time in who had returned to Washington with their young daugh- limbo needs more attention. I We guarantee you the Lowest Price! • Ford • General Motors • Chrysler • Audi • Volkswagen

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24 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/FEBRUARY 2003 F OCUS ON D ANGER Z ONES

RESPONDING TO CRISES ABROAD: THE CONSULAR AFFAIRS ROLE Russell Charpentier

CONSULAR OFFICERS TRAIN AND PARTICIPATE IN CRISIS MANAGEMENT EXERCISES. BUT NOTHING CAN PREPARE THEM FOR SOME THINGS THEY WILL FACE, AS THESE STORIES SHOW.

BY BARBARA ENSSLIN

merican schoolchildren are trapped in a politically torn West African country amid chaos and bloodshed. Savage bombings at two popular nightclubs in Asia leave an unknown number of Americans dead or injured.A Rebels storm a Moscow theater and hold the audience hostage — including an unknown number of American tourists. Plane crashes, earthquakes, hurricanes and floods. Americans are caught daily in danger zones beyond our shores. They may be your parents, children, relatives or friends. Not simply headlines in the morning news, these scenarios have become a chilling reality to the many Foreign

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Service and Civil Service consular CA tapped specialized victim over the next few days. Among the officers of the Department of dead were seven Americans. State who are called upon to deal funding resources in DOJ The Department of State with mass casualty, crisis, and res- immediately updated its Indonesia cue operations. Every year, to expand the scope of travel warning to include informa- approximately one thousand tion about the terrorist attacks, Foreign Service consular officers, U.S. government assistance warning Americans to depart along with their Civil Service and Indonesia, and urging others to Foreign National counterparts, to American victims and defer travel there. Within a few issue seven million passports, six short hours, the department also million visas, and provide consular their families. set into motion a full-scale opera- services for some four million tion in Washington D.C. to support Americans residing abroad, and for millions of American rescue efforts, and to provide consular services to travelers. These same consular officers also cope with American citizen victims and their families. The plane crashes, hijackings, natural disasters, civil disorders, Counsular Affairs Bureau activated the Office of and political unrest. They take disaster preparedness Overseas Citizens Services Call Center to respond to training, and participate in crisis management exercises, general information calls from the public around the but nothing can prepare them for some of the things they clock. The Call Center handled over 1,500 calls within will face, as these stories of consular officers at work dur- the first few days of the crisis. As part of the crisis moni- ing the recent crises in Indonesia and Cote d’Ivoire toring group in the Ops Center, CA established Task underline. Force 2 to deal with public inquiries from friends and rel- atives, public officials, media and other interested groups. Bali: 20 Days and a Lifetime The consular officers working round the clock in The 20 days Tom Daniels, a first-tour consular officer Washington provided a continuous lifeline to the officers assigned to the U.S. consulate in Surabaya, spent in Bali, in the field who were coping with the crisis. Meanwhile, Indonesia, changed his life forever. Shortly after midnight Embassy Jakarta began to evacuate official Americans. on Sunday, Oct. 13, 2002, powerful boms exploded at the Thousands of miles from Washington and a lifetime of popular Sari Club in Denpasar, Bali, killing 183 people and experience away, Tom Daniels confronted the after- injuring 326 others. More would die from their injuries effects of the bombing in the most direct way imaginable. He was searching for dead and injured Americans among Barbara Ensslin is a consular officer in the Office of the rubble and devastation, assisting relatives of Overseas Citizens Services in Washington, who was sent American citizens presumed dead or missing, and deal- on temporary duty to Abidjan to help deal with the crisis. ing with Indonesian authorities, Congressional inquirers She began her Foreign Service career in 1992, and has and the public. served overseas in Berlin, Toronto and Tunis. She has Early Sunday morning, Tom received a call from Phil served as special assistant to the Director General and as Antweiler, the consul general in Surabaya, advising him consular desk officer for both the European and Near East of the bombing. Soon, Tom was in the office, coordinat- and South Asia divisions in the Office of American ing efforts to have the American casualties, who needed Citizens Services and Crisis Management Support Unit in treatment, medically evacuated to Singapore or Australia. Washington. This article was written with contributions He returned home about 10 p.m. to work with Task from Abidjan TDY consular officer Deborah Sisbarro; Force 2 in Washington for most of the night, compiling consular officer in Surabaya, Indonesia, Tom Daniels; and missing persons lists and trying to find out which consular officers in the Bureau of Consular Affairs; Americans had been injured but not yet evacuated. Overseas Citizens Services Office: Africa ACS Division On Monday, Oct. 14, Tom left Surabaya for Bali on Chief Jack Markey, staff members Stuart Denyer and the first flight, accompanied by one consular assistant, to Bonita Harris, and East Asia/Pacific ACS Division Chief organize the search efforts for missing American citizens. Suzanne Lawrence. Bali Consular Agent Andy Toth, three FSN employees,

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and American personnel from Embassy Jakarta, Assistant In addition to the support of consular officers from Regional Security Officer Timothy Dumas and Consular Washington, CA tapped specialized victim funding Officer Danielle Garbe, assisted Tom in the post-bomb- resources in the Justice Department to significantly ing efforts in Bali. expand the scope of U.S. government assistance to On Tuesday morning Tom executed the first Consular American victims and their families, and is now working Report of Death for a resident American woman. with DOJ to ensure a coordinated, rapid response to the Tuesday afternoon, he visited Sanglah Hospital Morgue needs of future victims of terrorism overseas. CA per- for the first time. He was struck by the bomb’s devasta- suaded the DOJ ’s Office for Victims of Crime to activate tion. There were no cold storage containers and most of the International Terrorism Victim Compensation the dead were lined up in body bags on the grass and on Program, authorized by Congress in 2000 but not imple- the sidewalk behind the morgue. Other bodies had been mented until now. The ITVCP was created to compensate taken inside the morgue for examination. It was impos- U.S. citizen victims of terrorism overseas for expenses such sible for him to count them. Although Tom had seen as medical treatment, mental health, loss of support, funer- bodies in the “no man’s land” of Bosnia, nothing had pre- als, and burials. CA also worked with the FBI’s Office of pared him for this. He began the search for more Victim Assistance and with state crime victim compensa- Americans among the dead. tion programs to obtain emergency assistance. CA By the end of the week another American victim was arranged funds to pay the cost of returning the remains of identified. Tom had spent dozens of hours finding her, the U.S. citizens killed in Bali as well as to pay for hotel bills identifying the body, processing for her release from the and meals for the family of one Bali burn victim. morgue, and staying with her father while she was cre- Tom Daniels will forever be connected to the victims mated. He grew very close to the American victim’s and their families, and to Bali. Despite the long hours father in those few days as he watched him suffer the and newfound sense of vulnerability to terrorism, Tom, pains of mourning. The week had also brought Tom formerly an attorney, says: “This is why I joined the close to five other families who called or e-mailed trying Foreign Service — to make a difference. I knew that to learn the status of their loved ones, presumed dead. anyone could file divorces and bankruptcies, but not Concurrently Linda McFadyen and Kerry Holmes- everyone could really make a difference in the world DeHaven, Tom’s counterparts in the East Asia Pacific unless they were willing to sacrifice a little. I would not Division of American Citizens Services, maintained daily trade these last 20 days in Bali for anything. These days contact with the families of the victims. are as formative to me as the year I spent in Bosnia with the Army. In Bosnia I was just another sergeant; here I The Emotional Toll was the U.S. diplomat on the scene. I was the person to After the second week in Bali, psychiatrists from Main whom the desperate turned for help. This was why I State and the Regional Medical Officer began calling came to Indonesia — I have no doubt.” Tom regularly, concerned about Tom’s and others’ expo- sure to the blood and carnage. In Washington, Linda, Facing the Fire in Cote d’Ivoire Kerry and their colleagues could also feel the emotional A month earlier, I myself and another group of con- toll. They worked around the clock talking to the devas- sular officers had been tested in Cote d’Ivoire. Consular tated families. Tom says he was too exhausted to be kept officer Deborah Sisbarro had just arrived in Abidjan and up by the graphic and vivid images of the bodies and the was completing the second week of a relatively normal destruction, but he did lose sleep when he took the end- temporary duty stint to fill a staffing gap. Her husband less rounds of calls from the victims’ families and from and baby were in the U.S., so she stayed busy processing colleagues in the Bureau of Consular Affairs. These calls Diversity Visa applications — for the worldwide immi- normally came between 9 p.m. and 12 a.m., every night. grant visa lottery conducted annually — by day and Tom says he came to expect them, and also to depend on catching up on leisure reading at night in her small apart- them, calling Linda and Kerry his “true counselors.” He ment near the embassy. On Sept. 18, 2002, she went to shared with them the progress of the day, and they shared bed thinking about the looming DV deadline and about together their hopes for the next. how her mystery novel would turn out.

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Deborah woke up at 3:30 a.m. Deborah woke up at became apparent that the two to radio reports from the embassy greatest areas of concern were the of explosions and machine-gun fire 3:30 a.m. to radio reports rebel-held towns of Bouake and in various parts of the city. The Korohogo, where 300 Americans area near her apartment was rela- from the embassy of were trapped, many of them chil- tively quiet, except for about 15 dren at the International Christian minutes of gunfire, which was explosions and machine Academy. enough to cause her to gather up Richard Buangan had just her sheets and radio and try to gunfire in various recently left his first Foreign sleep in the hall, away from the Service assignment in Cote windows. But she heard report parts of the city. d’Ivoire, and was barely two weeks after report of gunfire in the resi- into his consular assignment in dential areas where many of the Paris when he was recalled to American employees lived. At 4:30 a.m. the Regional Abidjan. I was detoured to Abidjan from a short person- Security Officer came over the internal radio with his al visit in Paris. We arrived in Abidjan to assist the con- announcement/warning; the first thing that flashed sular rescue efforts, accompanied on our Air France through her head was the words “No Double Standard.” flight by American Special Forces of the European The U.S. government’s “no double standard” policy gov- Command, along with their French military counter- erns the dissemination of threat information on any mat- parts, who were all pouring in to deal with the emerging ter concerning the safety and security of Americans trav- crisis. Our lives would become inextricably interwoven eling or residing abroad to all Americans, not just U.S. over the next 10 days as we shared MREs, cold crusts of government employees and their families. Deborah pizza, and a common mission: to get Americans, French, requested permission to leave the apartment so she could and other foreign nationals out of harm’s way. begin carrying out one of the most vital responsibilities of any consular officer: the protection of American citizens Activating the Warden System overseas — in this case the 3,000 private American resi- Upon arrival, Richard left for the central part of the dents and visitors in Cote d’Ivoire. country with a military contingent. Deb threw a few Having spent barely two weeks on the ground, things into a borrowed duffel bag to head out with a Abidjan’s sole consular officer was not familiar with the receiving team to Yamoussoukro, and I began to set up embassy’s American citizen warden system, a system that a command center in the embassy consular section. varies from post to post but is designed to disseminate Because others had to get to safety by curfew, I spent messages to the American community as quickly and as the first few nights alone in the empty consular section broadly as possible. The consular associate who normal- continuing the daunting task of locating more ly managed the warden system was on Rest & Americans, reaching wardens, briefing Washington, Recuperation travel. Fortunately, American Consular getting reports from colleagues on the ground, writing Assistant Sharon Belding had an old list of wardens with new warden messages, and providing policy guidance her at home. With active fire in the background, Sharon to my new friends in the field. One night Sharon, the offered to contact American wardens in Abidjan. consular assistant, and her husband Dean, a Seabee Deborah placed a quick call through the State assigned to Embassy Abidjan, stayed all night to help Department Operations Center to a reassuring consular me get out an urgent warden message, catching a couple duty officer in Washington, then attempted to reach all hours of rest in sleeping bags on the floor of the consul’s the American wardens outside the city — many of whom office. Like most nights since my arrival, I slipped she would come to know well during the arduous days through curfew, accompanied by two embassy guards, to ahead. The first warden she tried to reach had left the my hotel across the street from the embassy to shower, country, and the next one had resigned in July; despite change and catch an hour’s nap. these setbacks they persisted and contacted as many The stories that we heard from frantic Americans, people as they could. Through these conversations, it clinging to the phone lines in the middle of the night,

28 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/FEBRUARY 2003 F OCUS

were similar to those that Deb reported: “I remember representative maintained another map with post-it notes talking to one American, as he, his wife and their three showing private Americans. Simultaneously, consular girls huddled in their hallway. I could hear the shoot- officers, as well as French and American forces on the ing and firing in the background. They had no water or ground in Cote d’Ivoire, maintained similar maps to track electricity and bullets were lodging in the walls of their the escape of hundreds of Americans in the country. home. Some of the Americans had corpses in their As groups of Americans made their way south, or yards. And I had to keep telling them to remain where were liberated by French and American forces, the they were, that we were working on it. We were trying post-it notes were gradually moved southwards on the to get them out. And they were scared, disillusioned map to Abidjan or to Accra (Ghana), where many were and frustrated.” evacuated to safety. When word came from our A collection of anecdotal information was mounting, embassy in Abidjan that another group had escaped and the staff worked to locate and map out every from the danger zones, a loud whoop of joy sounded American in the country, to maintain contact, and to from the seventh floor of the Department of State. pass this information to their potential rescuers and to While specially trained consular officers in Task Force Washington. 2 dealt with the barrage of calls from the American As the government forces began engaging the public worried about loved ones, constituents and rebels, Americans were caught in the middle as the sit- employees on the ground in Cote d’Ivoire, the consular uation intensified. Our Yamoussoukro warden recom- affairs representative provided information to callers mended that if we were getting the children out, we ranging from the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to should use the New Tribes Mission compound as a pro- the Red Cross, and provided policy guidance to the cessing point in “Yam,” as we came to know the city. An consul who was about to board a C-131 with the U.S. incredible, generous group of people, they turned over military in an effort to evacuate Americans from the their walled school compound to the rescue operation. town of Bouake. Deb, along with a number of American embassy col- The Bouake rescue mission continued for two days. leagues from other sections, two consular FSNs, and But that was just the beginning of what would be a consular associate Ginette Stevens, moved all the series of rescue operations in a half-dozen towns. The tables and chairs from the five or so buildings to the first group of Americans in Bouake was liberated when side, and, with the bedding they had gathered up, cre- French troops, in coordination with American person- ated sleeping space for 200. Marty, the embassy com- nel, negotiated with the rebels a “laissez-passer,” a peri- munity liaison officer went out to buy bread, cheese, od of unimpeded safe passage under protection of jam, cookies, and drinks so that the incoming group armed protective forces along the route from Bouake to would have something to eat and drink. Yamoussoukro. Future operations involved rescue in C- They then set up a processing center in the chapel. The 130s, processing in Yam, then onward evacuation to first Americans and other foreign nationals began arriving Accra, where Regional Consular Officer Andre at 2 a.m., while I was on a satellite call with Deb. Together, Goodfriend, on emergency TDY in Ghana to support we cried tears of relief. First, the Special Forces doctor the Cote d’Ivoire Americans, was waiting to receive and spoke with each person, then the Canadians spoke with assist them with onward travel. their consul and the Americans with us. By 5 a.m., we had Consular staff on the ground in Cote d’Ivoire virtual- accounted for all but two people. ly dodged bullets and survived on little or no food, and without standard personal hygiene items. They were Meanwhile, in the Ops Center… mosquito-bitten and exhausted, running on sheer deter- Back in Washington, consular crisis teams were mobi- mination to do their jobs. Their names, and the names lized to staff an emergency operation all day and all night. of all the others in Washington, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, The Operations Center Task Force walls were plastered and at neighboring missions who supported the evacua- with maps and satellite images of Cote d’Ivoire. On one tion for several weeks, are far too numerous to list here. map, a Peace Corps representative tracked each Peace This story, fortunately, had a happy ending for the hun- Corps Volunteer with a post-it note. The consular affairs dreds of Americans who escaped danger. I

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A COUP IN GUINEA-BISSAU BISSAU, 1998 Russell Charpentier

WHAT STARTED AS A QUIET SUNDAY MORNING FOR AN AMBASSADOR ABOUT TO DEPART POST AFTER THREE YEARS QUICKLY TURNED INTO ANYTHING BUT THAT.

BY PEGGY BLACKFORD

n June 1998, I was looking forward to my imminent transfer back to the U.S. after three years as ambassador to Guinea-Bissau, one of the world’s poorest nations. U.S. interests were modest in this former PortugueseI colony. The small mission staff had two goals: to strengthen democratic institutions by providing train- ing to the media and funding programs that empowered women, and to help create a more modern and stable eco- nomic development climate. One of our most successful programs was training Guineans in the simple technolo- gy required to process the cashew nuts that grew abundantly on trees all over Continued on page 32

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GUINEA-BISSAU EVACUATION: AN OPS CENTER VIEW Russell Charpentier

AN FSO RELATES HOW SERENDIPITY PLAYED A HELPFUL ROLE IN FACILITATING ONE PARTICULAR EVACUATION.

BY RAYMOND MAXWELL

t may be a cliché that every evacuation is different, no matter how long you are in the Foreign Service and how many you are involved with, but it is also true. In the Operations Center, we helped facilitate someI 19 evacuations during the 12 months I worked there — several more than the yearly average for the recent past. Yet the 1998 evacuation of American personnel from Guinea-Bissau will always stand out in my memory. During my stint as a watch officer in the Operations Center that year, we Continued on page 34

FEBRUARY 2003/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 31 F OCUS

Continued from page 30 Enroute to her usual An evacuation by air would be impossible. Office Management town. Family income among early-morning birdwatching, Specialist Diann Bimmerle, a vet- some program participants had eran of several coups elsewhere, increased an astounding 700 per- the USAID mission director offered her experience and kept cent. Peace Corps Volunteers us connected to the State focused on agriculture and encountered armed men Department Operations Center English language teaching. in Washington. The U.S. military It was quiet in Bissau, perhaps and heard automatic had no ships or aircraft close by. too quiet. The president and his Throughout the day, Vice government were widely viewed weapons fire. Consul Bryan Hunt, a first-tour by Guineans as ineffective and officer, fielded frantic inquiries corrupt, albeit democratically from U.S. citizens and the press elected. Change was inevitable, but neither diplomats while at the same time tracking down all the Americans nor Guineans were predicting immediate or violent in the country, advising them to stay at home and in change. touch. Popular wisdom held that the coup attempt At 6 a.m. on Sunday, June 7, 1998, my doorbell began would blow over in a day or two. We had to question to ring incessantly. It was U.S. Agency for International that assessment almost immediately when, early on Development Mission Director Nancy McKay, who Monday morning, the shelling nearly blew us out of bed. reported that en route to her usual early-morning bird- Americans and others began seeking sanctuary on our watching, she had encountered armed men and heard residential compound across from the embassy. automatic weapons fire. Most people reached the embassy without incident The mission staff quickly assembled at the embassy. but two Peace Corps Volunteers called desperately seek- We learned that the chief of staff of the army, fired for ing our help. They were trapped in a hotly contested his part in an arms smuggling scandal, had decided not area of town. The local people were evacuating. Could to go quietly. Illiterate and unable to communicate in we get them out? As I tried to decide whom to send on Guinea-Bissau’s official language, Portuguese, he had this dangerous mission, Nancy McKay spoke up. It was been held under house arrest for some time and was lit- her neighborhood; she knew it well and would go. As tle known to expatriates. Nevertheless, he was a hero of the embassy vehicle pulled out of the compound, the bitter struggle that freed his country from Portugal shelling began. The next hour, until everyone returned and was revered by many in the military. They rallied to safely, was one of the longest of my life. Soon we were his support. The rebels quickly achieved control of two sheltering more than 50 people: Peace Corps key military bases, one nearly adjacent to the embassy Volunteers, missionaries, businesspeople and tourists. and blocking the only access to the airport. While they ransacked our homes for food, blankets and towels and prepared meals for our growing army of Peggy Blackford served as ambassador to Guinea- refugees, Peace Corps Medical Officer Karen Bissau from 1995 to 1998. She joined the Foreign Glucksberg treated an epidemic of stomach disorders Service in 1972 and also served in Nairobi, Sao Paulo, and headaches brought on by nerves. Our newly-arrived Harare, Paris, Bamako and Washington, D.C. She summer intern, whose internship was to be short but retired in 2000 but continues to accept short assign- memorable, spent hours destroying classified and sensi- ments from the State Department’s Bureau of African tive documents. The staff moved mattresses to the Affairs. She has taught at City University of New York embassy and we slept in our offices along with our eight and lectures on foreign affairs to various interested cats. groups in the New York area. The Portuguese Embassy informed us that a This account, along with numerous others, can be Portuguese freighter would take refugees to Dakar, found in the 2003 edition of AFSA’s Inside a U.S. Senegal. Space was available for our citizens. It Embassy: How the Foreign Service Works for America. seemed our best bet. On Wednesday, June 10, after a

32 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/FEBRUARY 2003 F OCUS

harrowing eight hours on the Taking advantage of a lull in coup began, we emerged from the dock while shells went off around embassy. The crumbling colonial them, the vast majority of the the fighting, we drove to an town was deserted. Almost every- Americans in Bissau, led by one had fled to the countryside, McKay and Peace Corps Country isolated dock where we were mostly on foot. Taking advantage Director Brian Cavanagh, board- of the mid-morning lull in the ed the ship for a grueling but safe picked up by a dinghy from a fighting, we drove to an isolated trip to Dakar. Those of us left in dock where we were picked up by the capital drew a quick sigh of small tanker. a dinghy from a small tanker. relief before setting to work to Each of us boarded with a cat or find evacuation routes for the 17 two in one hand and a change of Peace Corps Volunteers who lived outside the capital clothes in the other and set sail for Banjul, capital of city. One by one we coordinated with authorities in neighboring Gambia. Twenty-four hours later, our Washington to extract them by air from tiny dirt adventure was over. Meanwhile, back in Guinea-Bissau airstrips or by roads heavily patrolled by the Senegalese the war raged on for more than a month. Four of our and Guinean military. The last volunteer was airlifted homes were burned to the ground; the rest were looted. out on Saturday, June 13. We gathered up the consular We lost almost all our prized possessions, yet we were seals and took the cash from the safe. It was time for us the lucky ones. It took more than a year to broker a sta- to go as well. ble cease-fire, and for the Guineans it will be many Sunday morning, June 14, just one week after the more years before they truly recover. I

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Continued from page 31 Once all non-official clock, had already been in operation for several days, of had already been involved in Americans had been safely course, holding open a vital several African evacuations, telephone link between including the Democratic evacuated, the embassy staff Washington and Embassy Republic of the Congo (for- Bissau. In the task force merly known as Zaire), began focusing on their office, I overheard Consular Ethiopia, and Eritrea — due to Affairs Assistant Secretary civil and political strife — as own departure from Mary Ryan and Administration well as several posts in East Bureau Assistant Secretary Pat Asia and the Pacific due either the capital. Kennedy discussing the use of to civil unrest or to heavy a port in the town of Prabis as smoke from forest fires in the an alternative evacuation site. region. This involved taking As it happened, Mike the initial calls from post, alerting State Department Lukomski, the former USAID director, and I had gone offices and Washington agencies, setting up the task on several fishing trips on that river when I was force, drafting spot and briefing reports, and main- assigned to Embassy Bissau two years earlier, and each taining communications with the affected posts. time, we launched the boat from Prabis. Once or Then a civil war broke out in June 1998 in Guinea- twice, we had to cancel our fishing trip at the last Bissau — which also happened to be my first post, minute because at low tide, the river practically disap- where I had served from 1993 to 1995. After five pears, cutting off access to the bay and the ocean. increasingly intense days of fighting in that small, Recalling that fact, I informed the task force that no extremely poor country, U.S. Ambassador Peggy boat would be able to enter or exit the river at that Blackford and her staff were forced to abandon their point unless at high tide. residences in the housing compound across the street Africa Bureau Executive Director Bob and band together in the chancery safe haven. (The Manzanares, manning the task force that Saturday post was reporting that rockets and motor rounds afternoon, then suggested a nearer point of debarka- could be heard outside, suggesting the embassy was tion, the port of Bandim. However, in describing that somewhere in the line of fire between government plan, he used as a reference the new, Chinese-built forces and the rebels.) Throughout the crisis, they had football stadium in Bissau, which he referred to by the worked feverishly to ensure the safe passage from the name on his map, the 24th of September Stadium. country of a group of Peace Corps Volunteers, mis- That information was relayed to the folks at post, but sionaries and other American citizens. One by one, no one was familiar with the port or the stadium, each volunteer was evacuated and every missionary because no one in Bissau ever referred to either by its and American who wanted to go was located and proper name. Most people when I was there called it moved to safety, by road north to Senegal and west and the Chinese Stadium. I clarified for the task force the south to Guinea, and by air to neighboring countries location of the port by mentioning a more familiar and to Europe. Once that task was accomplished on nearby landmark, the Swedish Tennis Camp, which Saturday, June 13, 1998, the Embassy staff began embassy personnel instantly recognized. That port, focusing on their own evacuation from the capital. less than a two-mile walk from the chancery, ended up The Guinea-Bissau Task Force, staffed around the being the point of embarkation the next day for the embassy staff. Raymond Maxwell, an FSO since 1992, has served in There only remained the question of tides and the Bissau, London, Luanda and Accra. He is currently a possibility that a boat or ship could enter the river up post management officer for East Africa. He received a to the point at the port of Bandim to effect the evacu- Meritorious Honor Award from the Operations Center ation. The task force found it impossible to get tidal for his work in facilitating the evacuation. information for Bissau on a Saturday afternoon.

34 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/FEBRUARY 2003 F OCUS

My watch team had recently fin- For several hours the Petty Officer Samuels, was still in ished updating the Watch- the office. He promptly referred stander’s Guide to the Universe, a embassy employees were out me to the Naval European reference book then used by the Meteorology and Oceanography Ops Center to locate working- of radio contact with the task Center in Rota, Spain. Within 30 level contacts in U.S. govern- minutes, NEMOC faxed to the ment agencies in Washington, so force as they made the Ops Center the tidal predictions I had a pretty good idea where to for Bissau for the next week, start. First, I phoned the journey to the pick-up point, enabling us to identify the best National Military Command time to undertake the evacuation Center, but without result. I carrying a few possessions. using the port of Bandim. then called the Naval Command The evacuation was effected Center in Washington, but they the next day. For several hours referred me to the United States the embassy employees were out European Command in Stuttgart, which had responsi- of radio contact with the task force as they made the bility for all official U.S. military operations in Africa. journey to the pick-up point on the river, carrying with Stumped, the watchstanders at EUCOM told me to them their pets and a few possessions. Eventually, phone the office of the Commander-in-Chief, Naval they arrived and were picked up by a dinghy from a Forces Europe in London. It was evening there but small tanker that transported them along the coast to luckily, the CINCNAVEUR Duty Quartermaster, neighboring Banjul. I

THE REMINGTON

FEBRUARY 2003/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 35 F OCUS ON D ANGER Z ONES

FLO: POINT OF CONTACT FOR EMPLOYEES & FAMILIES AN INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR FAYE BARNES

he Family Liaison Office’s possible, does the same for returnees at other gateway mandate to provide services to airport cities. We distribute a “Welcome Back” pack- all U.S. government employ- et to all evacuees, which introduces FLO as the cen- ees and their families posted tral point of contact for U.S. government employees abroad includes crucial sup- and their family members, and also contains an port for those living in danger “Evacuation Contact List” with the relevant informa- zones and undergoing evacua- tion for offices in State as well as the other government tions, and FLO Director Faye agencies with which evacuees will need to interact. Barnes emphatically anticipates an expanded workload FLO organizes briefings for evacuees in the Tin this area in the coming period. In answer to questions Washington area, sends newsletters and maintains from FSJ Associate Editor Susan Maitra, Ms. Barnes telephone and e-mail contact with all evacuees. explains FLO’s role in crises and evacuations, discusses FLO also assists evacuees with concerns such the lessons learned, highlights some as children’s issues, spouse employ- of FLO’s “best practices,” and offers STATE’S FAMILY LIAISON ment, adjustment and administra- several recommendations for posts. OFFICE IS PLAYING AN EVER tive issues, and continues to advo- Faye Barnes came to the FLO GREATER ROLE IN ASSISTING cate within the department for the directorship in 1998. In overseas special needs of evacuated families EMPLOYEES AND THEIR tours earlier with husband Richard and to contact families on behalf of L. Barnes, a retired FAS officer, Ms. FAMILIES DURING CRISES. evacuees. Barnes served as the Community Following a crisis or evacuation, Liaison Office Coordinator in BY SUSAN MAITRA FLO assists with information and London, Mexico City and Bonn. guidance regarding a return to post She speaks Spanish and German, and supports the CLO in rebuilding and previously worked in public relations. The Barnes the community there. have two daughters, both born abroad. FSJ: What are the main problems FS members/ families have with evacuations? FSJ: What role does the FLO play in evacuations FB: The biggest problem is frustration at losing — both at post and in D.C.? control of their lives. There is a psychological uproot- FB: In the run-up to an evacuation FLO supports ing, and the uncertainty of knowing when or if the the community liaison officer at post with information evacuation will be lifted. There is disruption of chil- and guidance, meets with the bureau to advocate for dren’s education. Often, a family has to deal with the family issues, and participates on task forces and mon- loss of a second income. There is the loss of post dif- itoring groups. FLO contacts representatives of all ferential and other allowances to reconcile. agencies at post and, if requested, contacts family Exacerbating the pocketbook issues, evacuated members in the U.S. FLO also gathers safe-haven employees working in D.C. do not receive locality pay information on the evacuees. because they are not assigned here. For employees, During an evacuation, FLO arranges for returnees there are also career considerations: months away from to Washington to be met at the airport, and, where post do not help in the annual EER process. Having to

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curtail out of an evacuated post out- Plan for the long run employees in the Washington area, side of the bidding cycle timeframe if the bureau and FLO could locate can create problems, too. when evacuated — work for them. FSJ: What are the main Most of the time, lack of spousal concerns/problems of FS members/ the average evacuation employment opportunities is a families posted in danger zones? source of frustration for evacuated FB: In today’s world, there are now lasts from three families. fears of terrorist attacks. There is FSJ: How has the department’s constant worry about losing a fami- to four months. management of evacuations evolved ly member. And there are worries over time? about losing family pets and personal effects. Security FB: Support for individuals, both financially and as a whole is a big day-to-day concern, including psychologically, has improved. Communications in restrictions on movement. This is linked to the neces- evacuations have also improved. sity of armored protection at certain posts. It certainly FSJ: What lessons have been learned? cuts down on spontaneous activity! FB: We have learned that once the evacuation is FSJ: How has the support/advice FLO provides over and families and non-emergency employees changed in the past 10 years? In the past year? return to post, that is not the end. Rebuilding the com- FB: Technological innovations are the biggest fac- munity can take a long time. It is important to give all tor of change in the past 10 years. With the Internet, segments a chance to tell their stories, to be heard. all posts are able to download FLO support and advice The community must come together, and it is impor- materials (which are accessible from the FLO Web tant for the community to trust management. site’s publications page, http://www.state.gov/m/ FSJ: Are the “lessons learned” translated into new dghr/flo/rsrcs/pubs). Prior to most evacuations, policy and procedures? Any examples? employees and their families can now locate lodging, FB: One can cite several examples that reflect make reservations and rent automobiles directly from “lessons learned.” One is substantially increased their posts, easing their return to the U.S. Before, dur- allowances that more realistically reflect the expenses ing and after an evacuation people keep in touch with incurred by evacuees. Another is the fact that evacuees each other and with FLO more easily through the can now change their safe-haven address once during an Internet. evacuation. And, chiefs of mission now have the delegat- Videoconferencing allows FLO to assist posts with ed authority to approve travel to and from post by contingency planning, and permits evacuated families employees and family members who have not elected to to see and talk with employees who remain at posts. leave under authorized departure orders. Those who do In the past year there has been little change in the remain often need to get away on personal travel to content of our support and advice. Rather, there has release stress. This has been a big morale booster. been an increased demand for it! FSJ: Does FLO have a cumulative set of “best prac- FSJ: Are evacuees given temporary employment? tices” recommendations for management? How soon after evacuation, and for how long? FB: FLO has a number of “best practices” recom- FB: Employees of all evacuated agencies report to mendations for posts: (1) maintain open communica- their offices/bureaus in Washington for temporary tion between post management and the community; work assignments. Family members employed at post (2) prepare for the possibility of an evacuation through (FMAs) are not guaranteed temporary employment good contingency planning; (3) include schools, FSNs through the department, although most posts have con- and eligible family members in the planning — FSNs tinued to pay their evacuated CLOs if they are able to usually have a wealth of knowledge on local conditions work out of the FLO. Occasionally bureaus will offer that can have a positive impact in planning; (4) create temporary employment to spouses who were employed employee/family databases with accurate contact infor- at the post. Just recently, Embassy Caracas, recognizing mation; (5) encourage families to consider their safe- thie issue of lost income, offered to fund their FMA haven options well in advance of an emergency situa-

FEBRUARY 2003/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 37 F OCUS

tion; and (6) plan for the long run Our philosophy is that it mal group setting to discuss issues of when evacuated — the average concern arising from evacuations. evacuation now lasts from three to is most important to take FSJ: Do you anticipate a need, or four months. do you have plans, to devote more of Here in Washington, having the care of the individuals in FLO’s resources to evacuations? evacuated CLOs work out of the FB: When a major evacuation FLO office for the duration of an the crisis situation, so happens, the entire FLO staff drops evacuation has proved a very effec- their regular portfolios and focuses tive “best practice.” Evacuated everything else takes a on the crisis at hand. Our philoso- CLOs have instant credibility in the phy is that it is most important to evacuee community and they are back seat. take care of the individuals in the cri- acutely sensitive to the issues affect- sis situation, so everything else takes ing the community. The CLOs are a back seat. If there is a need for invaluable in maintaining a sense of community for the more assistance in FLO, we have made plans with the evacuees; they organize social events for those in the Office of Casualty Assistance to call upon their trained Washington area and write regular e-mail newsletters to volunteers. evacuees at safe havens around the U.S. and the world. FSJ: Given the changed global environment, with a CLOs have also organized “chill and chat” sessions, proliferation of danger zones, do you foresee an expand- where State Department mental health professionals ed workload for FLO? come to meetings with parents and children in an infor- FB: In a word, yes! I

38 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/FEBRUARY 2003 F OCUS ON D ANGER Z ONES

COTE D’IVOIRE EVACUATION: THE PEACE CORPS COMPONENT

could never have imagined that my first act ic, political and development environment from one of as the designated Peace Corps Country opportunity to obstacle. Director for Cote d’Ivoire would involve The first consequence of the violence was a gener- the evacuation of 133 volunteers and the al lack of information on what was really happening on subsequent suspension of the entire Peace the ground. It is normal that the people at the coun- Corps program. However, having worked try level are often the “last to know” — getting their for 15 years in developing countries, much initial information, like everyone else, from BBC or of this in Africa, I knew first-hand that just CNN broadcasts. The 1999 coup in Cote d’Ivoire, when you think you have plans for Africa, Africa occurring in a country hailed for its political and eco- Ireminds you that it instead has nomic stability and dominating plans for you. regional economic and political A VETERAN OF AFRICAN I was appointed Peace presence, had shocked the world. Corps Director for Cote d’ DEVELOPMENT WORK RECOUNTS Since then, there had been a con- Ivoire in June 2002 and was HER EXPERIENCE AS THE PEACE tinuing series of violent incidents, working at Peace Corps head- CORPS REPRESENTATIVE ON THE none of which, however, had pre- quarters in Washington, await- STATE DEPARTMENT TASK sented a fundamental challenge ing my travel to Abjidjan in late to the state. For the first 24 hours October. The country director FORCE THAT MANAGED THE after Sept. 19, most people position involved leading one of EVACUATION OF COTE D’IVOIRE. assumed that this was just one the largest Peace Corps pro- more small wave to be ridden out grams on the African continent, BY KRISTI RAGAN before the country returned to with nearly 140 volunteers “business as usual.” working in education, small business enterprise, IT, urban environment, A Nagging Question HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health, water and san- On the second day, with the rebels still in control of itation. Cote d’ Ivoire was pioneering new program several key towns in the north, the question of whether initiatives for the Peace Corps Africa region, such as the fighting was indeed a sporadic, ad hoc outbreak or establishing cybercafes and working out front in the the first step in a larger destabilizing pattern having areas of urban environment and sanitation. The coun- national and regional implications, began to nag every- try directorship offered me the opportunity to work one. At headquarters, Peace Corps staff from a num- with a dynamic and capable national staff and volun- ber of key units began feverishly talking to each other teer community to build partnerships that would help and the field, and then linked up to the State maximize the impact of development efforts at the Department at both the country and Washington level. local level. There was a clear effort by all involved to resist over- Unfortunately the attempted coup and fighting that reaction and maintain a focus on ensuring the safety erupted on Sept. 19, 2002, in the capital and several and security of PCVs and country office staff, both northern cities launched a series of slowly unfolding U.S. and national. Efforts focused on information events that would transform Cote d’ Ivoire’s econom- gathering and dissemination and pre-positioning the

FEBRUARY 2003/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 39 F OCUS

organization for rapid response and decision-making. was resuming and the international school was re- Unfortunately, given the Peace Corps’ unique position opened. of having staff scattered throughout a country in remote and difficult-to-reach areas, decision-making must take The Ops Center in Action place sooner rather than later to be effective. Each day, Then the State Department took the important deci- each hour that goes by in a potential evacuation situation sion to establish a “monitoring group” that would operate reduces the flexibility and options that the organization out of the Operations Center and run for 12 hours. The has in evacuating volunteers safely and cost-effectively. At monitoring group was hardly under way when it was the earliest stages this need to “Know the Truth” runs extended to a full-time 24 x 7 watch with round-the-clock smack up against the slower-moving gathering and ana- Peace Corps participation. Peace Corps Headquarters lyzing of key information to determine what that Truth is. thought it made good sense and would be a valuable I noticed it took about six hours for the first signs of ten- “learning experience” if I, as the about-to-be Cote d’Ivoire sion to appear in Peace Corps staff who were anxious to country director, were to anchor the bulk of the monitor- be acting and not monitoring. ing group watches, with support from staff in our Safety Under such constraints, Peace Corps welcomed the and Security and Africa region units. I spent the next 12 State Department’s convening of a meeting on the day of days in the Ops Center working with State Department the outbreak of violence, which gathered all relevant staff from all over the Africa region. internal units and organizations, including the Peace On Sept. 20, Peace Corps began to implement an Corps and USAID. Similar meetings were being held at “informal” consolidation of volunteers in the high-risk the country level. The meetings served three basic pur- areas where fighting had occurred. Attempts were made poses: 1) exchanging the latest reporting on events; to, first, ascertain the exact number and location of the 2) gathering information on various organizational demo- PCVs (some were on holiday, medical leave, or work- graphics (e.g., the number of American citizens in-coun- related travel, and thus not at their sites), and, second, try, their locations and communication links), and 3) set- alert all personnel to be on stand-by for further instruc- ting the stage to handle a possible escalation of instability. tions. A comprehensive emergency action plan had been The first meetings were largely focused on the last of developed and tested in Cote d’Ivoire, so there was a those three objectives as information was difficult to framework to operate from. However, unexpected vio- obtain: Cote d’ Ivoire, which is a former French colony, lence in a developing country has a way of sewing seeds of does not have a large U.S. diplomatic, military, develop- chaos amongst even the best-laid plans. Contact tele- ment, or trade presence. phone numbers for volunteers were mainly workplace These meetings helped set the important stage of psy- telephones — not at all useful given that the first three chological preparedness, though I was left a bit nervous, days following the violence stretched over a weekend, and personally, because I couldn’t identify a single acronym that government offices were closed and remained closed utilized during the exchanges. But the meetings got the over the following weeks because they were prime targets adrenaline pumping faster and infused everyone with for rebel attacks. Communication difficulties were fur- the gravity of keeping a close watch. Sitting around the ther compounded by the fact that fighting had cut off the table I sensed we all, as professionals, wanted to bal- main north-south road, precluding the use of public or ance a heightened proactiveness with a rational, non- private transport to carry written messages to PCVs. emotional approach. After two days of such meetings I Alongside this breakdown in communications was the was trying, like everyone, to keep a level-headed per- opposite extreme: some volunteers with personal cell spective on the conflicting signals normal in such situ- phones immediately contacted friends and families back ations: for example, rebel positions were being in the States, creating a situation where a few parents had strengthened in the north, while in Abidjan normal life information in advance of the Peace Corps itself, and dis- seminated it among highly efficient parent networks in Kristi Ragan is Peace Corps Country Director for Cote the states and even to a few legislators on the Hill just to d’Ivoire. She has worked in developing countries for 15 ensure that all actions were being taken. True, personal years, mostly in Africa. cell phones proved a blessing for maintaining contact with

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volunteers during the next 12-day period in which all 133 How To Participate Effectively in a PCVs present in Cote d’ Ivoire would be consolidated at State Department Task Force some 13 pre-arranged points. But they also contributed From her experience as a participant in the State Department Cote to heightening anxieties as information was given to par- d’Ivoire Monitoring Group, Kristi Ragan distilled the following recom- ents about rebels with weapons in the streets, and declin- mendations to ensure effective participation by the Peace Corps — or ing water and food supplies. any other federal or independent agency, for that matter — on future The evacuation was complicated by the mixed mes- State Department task forces for evacuation of American citizens: sages of calm in Abidjan and solidification of rebel posi- • Maintain stakeholder presence by participating as an active, tions in the north. With the exception of the Americans, full-time member of the task force, representing the Peace Corps at from the end of September until nearly the middle of key, daily State Department meetings and briefings, and maintaining December, most foreign nationals living and working in visibility on Peace Corps issues in the task force. Cote d’ Ivoire were not confronted with departure orders. • Foster a two-way communication exchange by reviewing all information coming into the task force; disseminating information to The disparity in assessment of the instability caused some the task force that comes in from the country office and Peace Corps volunteers who pride themselves on a tough and rugged Volunteers, including the Emergency Action Plan, PCV locations, con- spirit to feel they were prematurely abandoning the coun- tact information and physical/emotional well-being, and feedback on try and the people they were committed to serve. the local and national situation; helping to ensure the accuracy of However, once in Ghana with access to a fuller picture on information contained in the regularly prepared task force situation the evolving situation, most PCVs were grateful for their reports; and providing regular updates and briefings to Peace Corps efficient and peaceful departure. They all had to acknowl- senior management. edge that the conditions no longer existed for them to • Analyze information: the task force’s political/military/economic carry out meaningful work. information for its potential impact on the Peace Corps and on volun- teers; and updates and information provided by Peace Corps head- From Consolidation to Evacuation quarters and field staff for consistency with task force analysis. Propose interventions/next steps where potential obstacles The State Department Operations Center was a • occur based on a dialogue with Peace Corps headquarters on options dream-come-true compared to evacuations I had been and possible next steps. involved with previously, with other organizations that • Advocate for Peace Corps issues and implement requests or lacked both human and equipment capacity. It was not actions of Peace Corps headquarter’s senior management with only well-staffed and efficiently supported, but enjoyed a respect to the task force in State Department daily update meetings, constant in-flow of the latest political, economic and mili- the daily written situation reports, and through maintenance of a reg- tary information. A well-crafted division of labor and sea- ular dialogue with the task force coordinator. soned leadership meant that even during peak periods It is also important to maintain a critical core of five or six Peace nothing was left hanging. I was never in doubt that the Corps staff, with expertise in the concerned region, for rotation stated priority of ensuring the safety of American citizens through the task force during periods of peak activity. Peace Corps’ in Cote d’ Ivoire was indeed the real priority. The moni- Safety and Security staff should also participate to have the opportu- nity to monitor implementation of Peace Corps Emergency Action toring group and its three daily briefings with the Plans, establish contacts with State Department security staff, and Executive Secretariat facilitated decision-making, elimi- build an information base for determining possible future interven- nated potential roadblocks, and kept everyone operating tions and support by Peace Corps regional safety and security offi- on the same page — the toughest parts of an evacuation. cers. The weekend saw a further consolidation of the rebel- Also recommended is an introductory briefing at the State held towns in the north of the country, and on Monday, Department Operations Center for Key Peace Corps participants, to Sept. 23, 2002, the messages coming from State were to include: an overview of communications systems, handling of various start moving from consolidation to evacuation. It would document classifications, transmittal of information to Peace Corps, take 10 days to move 133 Peace Corps Volunteers from role of the logger, coordinator, etc. and security clearances and logis- the remotest areas of the country to the capital for evacu- tics for task force participation. ation over the border by bus to Ghana. Some of them had Finally, maintaining a daily log while sitting on the task force is essential to identify lessons learned after the crisis, and improve only been in their villages for three weeks; others had future participation. already terminated their service and were at the beach or

FEBRUARY 2003/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 41 F OCUS

saying good-bye to friends up- It would take 10 more days two volunteers who were converted country before taking their flights during their travels over remote out. Some volunteers had friends to move 133 volunteers roads with missionaries from the visiting them from the states, rebel-held territory in the north, and which complicated the situation from the remotest areas of a newly-married couple who had even further and involved an even performed the ceremony en route to larger circle of concerned parents. the country to the capital Abidjan. Peace Corps in its generos- It was determined that 58 PCVs ity gave the volunteer and her new needed assisted evacuations (i.e., a for evacuation. spouse a 48-hour honeymoon in the military escort) as they were in capital before the new bride was put rebel- or loyalist-held towns where on the bus to Ghana. travel was restricted or thought unsafe. This would be done with the cooperation of the U.S. and French mili- Fulfilling a Mission tary, using American C-130s and humvees and French It was a challenging task to coordinate the interface helicopters. The remaining volunteers, who were in large- between the State Department, Embassy Abidjan, and the ly unaffected areas, walked, bicycled, took buses, taxis and Department of Defense. To complicate things, the coordi- hitched rides with other expatriates or international vol- nation extended to the French military, the main force on unteers heading for Abidjan. the ground leading the evacuation. The coordinators of the Within seven days the unassisted volunteers were all in monitoring group painstakingly brokered agreements and Abidjan. These included a 79-year-old married couple, facilitated communication among all parties. Each evacua-

42 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/FEBRUARY 2003 F OCUS

tion site had to have a separate peace To complicate things, town in hopes of catching a ride out agreement secured between the with departing expatriates. She later French and various rebel factions the coordination extended took to passing the time by writing a and, at times, the Americans as well. movie script about her “ideal rescue,” The time needed to secure these to the French military, the which involved handsome French agreements contributed to anxieties military troopers landing on the over the pace at which the evacuation main force on the ground town’s soccer field and whisking her was proceeding. Several evacuations away in their helicopter. I am happy in northern towns involved securing leading the evacuation. to report that the State Department air strips with French forces and delivered exactly that. landing both U.S. C-130s as well as At this writing, the Cote d’ Ivoire French helicopters. In retrospect, it is amazing that every- Peace Corps Volunteers have all been either transferred thing went off without incident, even if not always accord- to other programs or returned home to the U.S. ing to the proposed timing. Unfortunately, the saga in Cote d’ Ivoire is still playing The final Peace Corps Volunteer to be evacuated on out as we go to press. For my part, I have the great dis- Oct. 2 was a young lady affectionately referred to as “the tinction to have been one of the few in Peace Corps his- Lady of the Lake,” who had been stranded by herself on tory to have fulfilled the organization’s mission in record the side of a lake with no transport for over a week. She time: I worked myself out of a job at the Ops Center in had finished all her books while sitting patiently every day only 12 days on the monitoring group — a quantitative at the abandoned Shell station on the main road out of indicator of success if there ever was one! I

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FEBRUARY 2003/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 43 F OCUS ON D ANGER Z ONES

LESSONS LEARNED IN THE 1991 ZAIRE EVACUATION

n September 1991, troops in Zaire (now the extended period of the evacuation, the post was the Democratic Republic of the Congo) able to pack everyone’s personal effects and ship them began looting residences and commercial to safety in Antwerp. establishments in the capital, Kinshasa, to Following the evacuation, and during the long (six- protest low pay. They were soon followed month) evacuation period, Americans remaining at by many in the general population. After post had a lot of time to look back at the evacuation the second day of widespread looting, the and reflect on what had gone well, not so well, and had decision was made to evacuate all not been done at all. Several country team meetings Americans from the country, with other similar deci- were dedicated to discussing the lessons learned by Isions being made by other foreign governments. the post, in an attempt to be better prepared in the French and Belgian paratroopers were flown in to pro- future. vide protection for the evacuation effort. By the end The following article is based on my 1992 summary of the week, most of the Americans of those findings, as articulated by in Zaire, both official ones and many of the remaining Americans. OVER A DECADE LATER, those in the private sector, had It is important to note that this departed on several charter flights, USAID’S 1991 ZAIRE account deals primarily with at- leaving behind a small number of EVACUATION STILL HOLDS post issues, since the feedback official Americans to deal with the LESSONS FOR OTHER POSTS. from the evacuees themselves was aftermath. limited, and that this assessment is This scenario has been repeated not intended in any way as criticism Y INDA AE REGORY over and over since then, in many B L R G of any individuals or organizations. locations around the world, though of course circumstances differ from one country to Early Planning another, in terms of how much advance warning is In Zaire, we found that the list of essential person- given, how much time there is for safe processing of nel, when faced with an actual evacuation, changed sub- evacuees, and how long the evacuation will last. We stantially from what was reported in the Emergency were very lucky in Zaire, in many ways. First, we were Evacuation Plan. Some of this was driven by the ceiling never the target of the hostility being expressed in the placed on the post, but it is also clear that this list should looting. In fact, popular feeling was generally protec- be reviewed in some detail by all parts of the U.S. mis- tive of Americans, and a sentinel telling looters that sion very early on in a crisis situation. There should be the house was occupied by Americans was usually full discussion with all elements and all agencies at post, enough to send them off to find another house to loot. and personal contact made with each person proposed Second, there were alternative escape routes available for inclusion in the list. There is, inevitably, consider- when the airport became inaccessible, since able ego invested in this list, with many employees Brazzaville (the capital of the Republic of the Congo) reluctant to characterize themselves as non-essential. was just across the river. Third, staff remaining behind There was a general perception that some “chiefs” were were able to quickly and effectively initiate action to retained when it was the “Indians” who were really safeguard both personal and official property. Over needed. Some perceive that this resulted in some

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essential tasks not being accom- The list of essential via issuance of a travel authoriza- plished at all, or not being accom- tion, they are in the country on plished as quickly and efficiently personnel, when faced with official business and their travel as they could be. There was also will, in fact, be paid for by the considerable personal stress asso- an actual evacuation, U.S. government through their ciated with employees being institutions. While USAID is added to the essential list, then changed substantially from clearly responsible for official removed, than added again, Americans going out on TAs, the through several iterations, leaving what was reported in the consular section is usually family members confused, uncer- responsible for private citizens, tain and very frustrated. There Emergency Evacuation Plan. who must sign promissory notes was also a perception by some for costs of evacuation travel. non-State agencies that their Thus, since institutional contrac- responsibilities were not fully recognized in the deter- tors are something of a hybrid in an evacuation, USAID mination of essential personnel. Of special concern to needs to work closely with the embassy early on in a USAID was the feeling that there was a very poor under- crisis situation to establish procedures for handling standing of just what was involved in closing down (even these employees should an evacuation be required. temporarily) the USAID mission and project activities. It would also have helped to have had better coor- There appeared to be a perception that the embassy dination on support provided to those in the country administrative staff could handle such activities them- on temporary duty at the time of the evacuation. Some selves, leading to inadequate numbers of USAID per- TDYers were Americans, while others were not; some sonnel being included in the list of essential personnel. traveled on diplomatic or official passports, others did A belated recognition of these responsibilities resulted in not; some came from the U.S., while others came from the artificial compliance with established ceilings by sta- other posts, in Africa or outside the region altogether. tioning personnel across the river in Brazzaville, for A central point to which all agencies report their return to Kinshasa during normal working hours only. TDYers during a crisis period, and better understand- Other posts would not have the luxury of this stratagem, ing of which agency or agencies would coordinate the making early and full discussion of all agencies’ needs departure of such visitors, would have made for a even more critical. smoother evacuation. A specific area for which better advanced planning The greatest criticism of our planning process by far was needed was that of nonpersonal services, resident- related to our failure to provide early information to hire, and institutional contractors. While many among employees on how to prepare for an evacuation. Basic the first two categories argued strongly that the U.S. guidance, provided in the form of a checklist, would government had a “special” responsibility towards have done much to avoid the frustration, resentment them as compared to other private Americans resident and unhappiness expressed by many people over evac- in the country, the real problems occurred with the uation and post-evacuation issues. (While the printed third category (institutional contractors). Although brochure provided by the State Department at that such contractors are not government employees enti- time covered some of the issues, it was not compre- tled to direct agency payment of their travel expenses hensive and, of course, was not post-specific.) Such guidance provided should, at a minimum, touch on the Linda Gregory was executive officer for USAID Zaire following: from 1990-1991, and then served as USAID represen- Pet care: where to leave them, how to arrange for tative there. An FSO from 1987 until her retirement in feeding, authority to ship later if desired, authority to 1999, she has also served as executive officer in Sudan otherwise dispose of if necessary. Employees need to and Guinea and as mission director in Macedonia and clearly understand that leaving pets in residences for Niger. She is currently serving as USAID deputy exec- domestics to feed is not allowed. It would probably be utive officer in Cairo on a contract basis. helpful to inform employees about options for shipping

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pets out of the country for safekeeping, if there is Possible consolidation points: early identifica- enough advance warning of a pending crisis. tion, and guidance as to what should be carried to Domestics: need to bar access to homes on depar- these points. One of the frustrations for Kinshasa ture, leave instructions on payments due in case of non- employees was that they were told to pack for two days return, identification of severance entitlements and at a consolidation point, then were unable to get back termination instructions, payments due on to their homes to pack for actual evacuation. These medical/other coverage. Many employees do not real- possibilities should be considered early in the process, ize that access to the house by a domestic may jeopar- to permit more orderly planning by employees. dize any future claims for losses, as it makes it difficult to prove that it was not the domestics who stole things During the Crisis which might be missing. While the government may During the actual crisis, there should be some recognize claims for items taken by looters, or even mechanism for communication with employees and government-contractor packers, the responsibility for dependents to minimize the feeling of isolation and items stolen by domestics rests with the employee. ignorance of what was going on elsewhere in the city Documents to gather together: passports, inven- or even the neighborhood. In this respect, USAID tory listings, car papers, school records, health records, was at an advantage in Kinshasa. Since our radios etc. If possible, medical records should be given to were on different frequencies than the embassy’s, we employees before they depart. School records should were able to schedule radio sessions with all employ- be obtained as soon as possible and forwarded to ees for morning and afternoon, without affecting the employees evacuated. embassy’s emergency net. During these sessions, we Packout of personal effects: listing of items to be were able to provide information about what was hap- packed in air freight (in case such is possible), place- pening, status on plans for evacuation, guidance on ment of such items in a central location if possible what to do and take, and other matters of interest. We before evacuation, putting equipment in original pack- could also gather information where needed, such as ing if such was kept. Just in case packout of housheold confirming safe haven points for issuance of travel effects may be possible, leaving instructions on what to authorizations, obtaining addresses for manifest lists, do with foodstuffs, tagging personal furniture to avoid and identifying special needs for evacuation planning. its being confused with government issue, leaving a Such sessions can greatly improve morale by offering power of attorney to handle packouts, etc. everyone the opportunity to know what is happening Vehicles: where to take/leave them, where to leave and to participate in the evacuation process. keys for safekeeping, how to assign power of attorney One critical element of our emergency planning for sale if possible after an evacuation, what papers will that is all too often overlooked was the local workforce. be needed by the post if the vehicle can be sold, etc. Foreign national staff saw Americans leaving and had (For example, regulations against making a profit on a no idea what was going on, whether the Americans sale require that the employee prove original purchase would ever return, and what the potential impact on price; this delayed numerous payments while employ- them might be. USAID held several open meetings ees struggled to find appropriate documentation.) It for our Foreign Service National staff to let them know should be clearly understood by employees just what what was happening and to let them ask any questions responsibility the post will take for vehicles. they had. This significantly improved morale. Official property: clear and early guidance on The packout of personal effects is another area of what to do with official property, including identifica- significant concern to employees. Early in a crisis, the tion of office equipment located in the residences, post should check packing supplies to ensure that radios, keys to office doors and files, etc. and clarifica- enough will be available to cover air freight needs. tion of responsibilities for government property at res- The post should be prepared with requests for assis- idences (if there is time, bringing in furniture and tance to Washington, for both packing materials to be equipment outside the house, noting items on loan to brought in and arrangements for transportation of others, etc.). effects out of country when packed.

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If the security situation con- The greatest criticism of our unaccompanied post. Whether tinues to pose a threat to the dependents are not returning due personal effects of employees, a process was failure to to a State Department prohibition post may request authorization or due to personal choice, the for emergency shipment and provide early information handling of personal effects for storage of household effects. If the employees can be a problem, should be noted, however, that to employees on how to since the packout would not have approval of this request can been done with an eye toward pose something of a Catch-22 prepare for an evacuation. later splitting the shipment for employees. If such storage between safe haven and post. is approved and an employee Any travel away from post by elects not to ship his/her effects out of country, he/she someone filling a designated “essential” position raises risks rejection of a claim if there is a subsequent loss of the problem of how to cover that essential position those effects in country. If, on the other hand, he/she during the employee’s absence. Posts should consider chooses to make an emergency shipment to storage, TDY replacements and should discuss needs for such the employee could be faced with spending the with Washington as soon as identified. remainder of the tour without any personal effects. As the evacuation continues, there needs to be a A further complication in this regard is the issue of recognition from Washington that non-essential tasks personal effects for employees at, or returning to, an must be dropped as requirements, given the reduced

ATTENTION ALL WRITERS AN INVITATION FOR SUMMER FICTION nce again the Foreign Service Journal is seeking works of fiction of up to 3,000 words for its annual summer fiction issue. Story lines or characters involving the Foreign Service are preferred, but not Orequired. The top stories, selected by the Journal’s Editorial Board, will be published in the July/August issue and on the Journal’s Web site. The writer of each story will receive an honorarium of $250. All stories must be previously unpublished. Submissions should be unsigned and accompanied by a cover sheet with author’s name, address, telephone numbers and e-mail address. Deadline is April 1. No fooling. Please send submissions to the attention of Mikkela Thompson, Business Manager, preferably by e-mail at [email protected]. Stories will also be accepted by fax at (202) 338-8244, or by mail: Foreign Service Journal, 2101 E St., NW, Washington, D.C., 20037

FEBRUARY 2003/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 47 F OCUS

staffing levels at post. Each We held several open what should be archived, filed, office or division should develop sent to Washington, destroyed, a listing of specific requirements meetings for the Foreign or simply thrown away. I found which cannot be handled at documents going back to the reduced staffing levels, to include Service National staff to 1970s, including many docu- both ongoing tasks and reporting ments which were totally unre- requirements. This list should be let them know what was lated to the mission. I also found submitted to Washington and items in working files which agreement obtained to relieve happening. should have been kept in central post of responsibility for these files, and vice-versa. There were items. even working files left by people Some evacuations are followed by the complete who had departed post six years before! Proper looting of all offices and files. Many, however, result records management will greatly minimize such merely in a decision to draw down or terminate the drudgery. USAID program, with related reductions or elimina- Looking back at it from a decade later, it seems that tions of staff. Someone, usually the executive officer, many, if not all, of the issues we experienced in the is then tasked with handling the drawdown or close- 1991 Zaire evacuation still arise in many other places. out. The biggest task in such a situation is often clean- While each post will face a different set of problems, ing out the office. That means going through desks, unique to its own circumstances, it is my hope that bookcases, file cabinets, closets, etc. to determine others will benefit from our learning curve. I

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RECALLING PAST CRISES AND EVACUATIONS

Editor’s Note: This past November, we sent an e-mail When we arrived at the Athens airport, American via AFSANet asking members and their families to army wives welcomed us warmly before buses took us share brief vignettes relating to evacuations and life at to hotels in a suburb named Kiffissia, where rooms posts located in danger zones. Some of their responses were already ready for all of us. We were well taken recount ways Foreign Service care of: Kiffissia was lovely, the personnel have coped with being AFSA MEMBERS AND people were friendly, there were evacuated (and either returning organized activities for our chil- to post after a long absence or THEIR FAMILIES SHARE dren, and we promptly received being reassigned), while others STORIES OF EVACUATIONS our per diem checks. But we offer lessons State and other for- AND LIFE AT POSTS LOCATED were in limbo, as though suspend- eign affairs agencies have learned IN DANGER ZONES. ed in mid-air, without responsibil- — or should have — over the ities or control over anything. Cut years in terms of planning for, off from our husbands, without executing, and minimizing the any news out of Cairo, what had disruptions caused by massive drawdowns of person- been our home was beyond reach — so were all our nel and post closings. belongings, our documents, our children’s school Our thanks to all Foreign Service personnel and records — and our future again was a blank. family members who shared their experiences. In fact, On June 5, 1967, the third Arab-Israeli war broke we received so many thoughtful, moving responses out. On June 11, our exhausted husbands arrived on a that we will run more next month. chartered Greek boat after their evacuation under har- —Steven Alan Honley, Editor rowing circumstances. It was a long, hot summer in Athens while we wait- ed for Washington to decide where we were to go from there. How, I wondered, would any of us ever be able Evacuation from Cairo to work up confidence and enthusiasm in another In the spring of 1967, Egyptian-Israeli relations post? How could we ever recall, without a sense of deteriorated rapidly. Because of our government’s frustration and pain, how seriously we had taken our friendship with Israel, anti-American propaganda work, believing in its importance when, it seemed that became ominous, prompting the evacuation of all our efforts, the good will so carefully nurtured, had embassy dependents. Three TWA planes were char- been ruined overnight? tered to fly 250 women and children to Athens, giving Later, I often wondered why, no matter how often us just 24 hours to wind up the last four years of our we had gone through a similar experience, our imagi- life. I shall never forget the bewildered expression in nation always failed us so that we could not see that my 8-year-old son’s face when I told him that he would the course of history might reverse itself. Within not return to school the next day nor for the rest of the seven years American-Egyptian relations would be re- school year; there would be no final exams, no report established and all our programs rebuilt. card and no time to say goodbye to his friends and Maria Bauer teachers. Washington, D.C.

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Search for a place to live while buying new clothing, Evacuation in Slow Motion household equipment, used car. Three months later Kabul, June 1979 — The ambassador killed in a shoot- the dog arrives; six months later, the car and some out at the Kabul Hotel, February 1979. Deteriorating household goods. Much has been lost. Submit claims security situation throughout Afghanistan and around to private insurance company and wait for response. Kabul. Travel outside the city increasingly limited. Meanwhile, spend more money to replace lost items. Nighttime curfews enforced by high-powered search- Slowly, life begins to return to normal as circumstances lights on mountains and soldiers posted at key intersec- of the immediate situation in northern Virginia take tions to detain people out past curfew. Daytime sorties over. Long phone conversations with former Embassy by Soviet MI-24 helicopter gunships and psychological Kabul colleagues. It’s good to be out and alive. intimidation by low-flying MiG-21s returning over the Bruce K. Byers city to Bagram airbase north of Kabul. Tanks and FSO, retired armored vehicles roaming the city night and day. Reston, Va. Time to go. Limited evacuation of dependents and non-essential personnel. Pack what you can carry onto the aircraft. At the airport, searches by pro-Soviet Living in a Danger Zone Afghan police of diplomats’ baggage and personal Karachi is the epitome of a “high-threat” post. We belongings in contravention of Vienna conventions. face extreme restrictions on where we can go and Ugly scenes before boarding the Indian Airlines 737 for when, and we have to clear almost everything with the New Delhi. Long stay at the airport before departing RSO. Still, we probably have some of the best morale on Pan Am flight to Frankfurt. Overnight in Germany, of any post in the world, because we take care of each then home to Washington. Left behind: family dog, other, plan activities at our residences for all consulate car, clothes, kitchen and other personal belongings, employees, go swimming in the consul general’s pool, children’s toys and books, and family and get out in town to shop, play sports, and attend par- photos; all entrusted to house servants. ties both with other expats and with Pakistanis. While No welcome home from State Department or any security consciousness has been pretty much hard- other official representative. No counseling about how wired into us, we still manage to have a good time. to apply for temporary allowances. Washington Everyone who comes here on TDY goes away amazed bureaucracy oblivious to emotional and psychological at how fun it is around here. It takes special people to needs of evacuees, especially children. Stiff upper lip come to a place like Karachi, and I think we make the prevails when moving through layers of bureaucracy to most of what we have. obtain necessary temporary housing allowance. Amy Tachco Tehran, November 1979 — U.S. diplomats taken Economic/Commercial Officer hostage. The State Department’s response changes U.S. Consulate General profoundly. As one who had worked at Embassy Karachi, Pakistan Tehran, I work on special hostage task force helping to inform family members about status of their loved ones. Having just passed through an evacuation Evacuation: The Role of Churches process, I relate quickly and empathetically to their While serving at Embassy Vatican I was called upon many questions. A slow, uphill process as official to assist Embassy Rome with the evacuation from Washington begins to react to what has happened. Tirana, Albania. Busloads of evacuees were brought Meanwhile, kids in a new, strange school. Their from Italy’s Adriatic coast to Rome, where we set up Kabul friends scattered all around the country and at processing at the Holiday Inn. It soon became clear other overseas missions. No continuity. Local people that evacuees came in two categories: those we could can’t relate to what has happened to us. Have to assist with onward movement (American citizens) and explain to school principals and teachers children’s those we could not assist further (legal permanent res- experiences and needs. Some empathy forthcoming. idents and other non-citizens). As some of these latter

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bedded down in the hallways of the Holiday Inn, the in your tour. If they house evacuees, follow up to make hotel staff became agitated. They had leased us space sure the evacuees move on. Thank the leaders official- only for processing evacuees and they wanted their ly for their assistance. Have their phone numbers and hallways back. It was late at night and we had to find contact information in your duty book. somewhere for about two dozen destitute and weary Phil Skotte evacuees to sleep. Deputy Consul General I’m a seminary graduate with an interest in religion so Budapest, Hungary at each post I make contact with religious leaders. At about 9 p.m. I called my contacts — Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Mormons and Catholics. These What They Care About Most churches took everyone we had. At 4 a.m. we discovered “Pack the things they care about most.” This was that a South African family had a teenage daughter with a the advice my husband gave me as we discussed our superficial gunshot wound but more than a little psycho- family’s imminent departure from the scene of a mili- logical trauma. The hotel doctor recommended immedi- tary mutiny in the Central African Republic. It was two ate bed rest. The Methodist minister gladly accommodat- in the morning and he was calling from the embassy to ed the family even at that ungodly hour. And I’ll never for- give me instructions and the latest news. Eighteen get a Maryknoll father serving breakfast to eight hungry American dependents had been moved into our house bedraggled evacuees in the order’s dining room. Churches because, having once been used to house a Marine con- in Rome played an important role in the Tirana evacuation. tingent, it was considered the safest in the area. Our Lessons learned: Get to know religious leaders early four children were sharing a bedroom with me and now

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they were camped out around me on the bed and floor. But there was no need to whisper into the phone. Not A Convoy Through the Congo one of them was sleeping. All evening there had been It was July 9, 1960, in Elisabethville, Republic of the intermittent gunfire and frequent, piercing message Congo. At the consulate, we issued a recommendation to signals from the walkie-talkie on the nightstand. Every all American citizens that they should leave immediately. embassy family had been given one of these little Consul Bill Canup and I (the vice consul) prepared our devices. When we arrived in Bangui for our first own families to drive south in a motor convoy to the African tour, I had been amused by it. But it was now Copper Belt in Northern Rhodesia. The previous night a communication lifeline with the embassy and trans- we had received advice from our Belgian army contacts mitted information from there and other locations that there would shortly be a conflict between two fac- around the city that it might be unwise to miss. tions of the Force Publique (the local Congo army). One “Pack the things that they care about most, ” he said. was supporting the current elected governor of Katanga I had packed underwear, clothing, shoes — a practical province, and the other was supporting the defeated can- array of items to which any child would be indifferent, didate, who was connected to Patrice Lumumba, about or worse, disappointed to find included in a collection to be prime minister in Leopoldville. of what might be the sum total of his personal posses- The convoy departed in good time. Several hours sions if, as seemed likely, our houses were looted after later, as darkness came to the town, we could hear gun- we departed. “Everybody up,” I said, after hanging up fire coming from the direction of the barracks. This last- the phone. “Mommy needs help with the packing. Go ed until the following morning, when a strange calm get whatever you would most like to take with you.” came over the city. We had warned everyone not to move (The bedrooms had all been assigned to the families about during this time. However, we learned that the staying with us, but this was currently a household of Italian vice consul, looking for Italian citizens, had been people running on adrenalin, awake, making plans — stopped at a roadblock and shot. Then we learned that or just waiting, watchful.) the pro-Lumumba group of soldiers had surrendered The clothes were dumped in a pile. Tiny figurines, and were being shipped off to Kasai province, from dolls, a baseball cap, teddy bears, a china tea set whence they came. At the request of the provincial gov- replaced them. Our 8-year old daughter entered car- ernment, Belgian troops flew in, and that seemed to rying Lou, a large stuffed pony. From fatigue, exasper- calm things down, at least temporarily. We brought our ation, and pity, too, that our children were faced with families back from Northern Rhodesia, safe and sound. this kind of choice, I almost cried. “Sweetie, how can Later the U.N. arrived, but that is another story. we? ...” Then, a solution came to me. “Get the scis- By the way, July 9 is my birthday, and Bill Canup and sors out of that sewing basket. You and your sister take I cracked open a bottle of champagne to celebrate my Lou into the bathroom and put his stuffing in the trash reaching the advanced age of 32. can.” Lou was folded flat and packed. So were most of John A. Anderegg the birthday presents, ordered months in advance, Program Officer stacked in a corner awaiting the various “big days” that East Asian and Pacific Programs clearly would now not be celebrated as planned. So Department of State was my wedding dress. Later, as I watched four children unpacking and arranging their treasures in a hotel room in Cameroon, Evacuation from Mogadishu the wisdom of my husband’s advice, hastily given in the In December 1990 the decision was made to evac- wee hours of a long night, struck me. For all they uate all dependents and non-essential staff from knew, these childish scraps and bits were the sum total Mogadishu, Somalia. The first effort utilized an Air of their worldly goods — but these were the ones that Kenya flight; unfortunately, a smaller plane than mattered. And that was enough. expected arrived at the airport, so our families were left Elizabeth Laeuchli behind. Air Somalia was the second choice, but the Budapest, Hungary plane could not get started. A Saudi flight came, but

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again engine problems prevented us from using that for Officer met the group and organized the onward trip to the mission. After importing spare parts we finally the U.S. She also worked with the USO to provide win- were able to get everyone off the ground on the Somali ter coats for the freezing refugees. plane. These attempts covered the better part of two Other parts of the evacuation were also noteworthy, days, shuttling everyone back and forth from the but this episode really stands out in our memories. embassy to the airport, occasionally under fire, always Jim Maher under threat. Regional Financial Management Officer When the second plane refused to start, we pulled Florida Regional Center the Ground Power Unit from the hanger to assist; unfortunately, the batteries had been stolen. Two land rovers were connected to the GPU to jump-start it — A Pre-Foreign Service Evacuation still no-go. Finally, a small propeller plane backed up I was not yet a Foreign Service officer (as I am now) to the front of the 707, hoping to use the prop wash to when I found myself in N’Djamena, Chad on a United spin the turbines. Again nothing, but it was interesting Nations consulting assignment in December 1990. to see the efforts to jump-start a Boeing. Upon arrival in the capital, I registered my presence as Our Marine security guards came through for us by an American citizen with the embassy. On a Thursday, providing needed shelter, food and companionship for I was notified through the warden system that there our children, easing the stress of the moment for us would be a meeting at the embassy that night. In the parents. When the flight finally reached the first safe meeting, we were told that a rebel group had captured haven, Frankfurt, the consulate’s Community Liaison a town several hundred miles to the east of the capital

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and were planning, over the next several weeks or months, to advance on the capital. We were assured, Hardship and Heartbreak of Evacuation however, that there was no immediate danger because Our arrival in Addis Ababa in September 1998 was the rebels were far away and that government forces preceded by an outbreak in June of hostilities between were still in control of the capital, as well as of several Ethiopia and Eritrea. Although hostilities had eased, other towns between the rebel-captured town and the tensions were high as talk of “trip-wires” and “draw- capital. Because I was planning to leave the country in downs” were bandied about the embassy community. two days, I took these assurances at their word and put These were new terms to me, despite two previous any thought of danger out of my mind. tours as a Foreign Service spouse. The next day, however, the president and most high- The emotional toll on family members during this ranking government officials fled the country. This left time was great. Several had their bags packed by the the capital in a state of anarchy. Soldiers, police and door, several said, “I won’t go until I’m forced to go.” others with arms went on a looting and pillaging ram- Others, like me, looked to our CLO and administrative page. I was stuck in a hotel that had no effective secu- section for guidance. Plans for the holidays were ten- rity. On several occasions I saw groups of armed men tative and functions had to be kept small and informal. drive by the hotel slowly, fairly obviously reconnoiter- By January 1969, as hostilities once again flared, an ing to see whether the hotel was a vulnerable target. As evacuation was called and I found myself headed it happened, the back of the hotel was separated by a home to Seattle with our two young children. fence from a river that formed the border with Three families left post the night we left. Despite Cameroon. Fearing the worst, I managed to cut a hole our efforts to keep the children informed of the situa- in the fence and was planning to swim across the river tion, yet mindful of not scaring them, our 6-year-old if necessary. son somehow didn’t get the message that Daddy, the This dire contingency became unnecessary, howev- information program officer and an “essential” er, when the French Foreign Legion came to the res- employee, was not going. “Hey, come on, Dad!” he cue! Early Saturday morning, armed men wearing the called as we walked through Customs. I will never for- Foreign Legion berets I had seen previously only in get the look of shock and sadness that came over his movies took up stations on the ground, on the roof, and face when it hit him that Daddy wasn’t coming. I behind trees of the hotel. Later that day, all foreign believe now that he went into a state of shock, because passport holders were evacuated to the nearby French our usually talkative and happy little boy literally air base. From there we were flown in groups, courtesy didn’t speak for five days after we landed in Seattle. of Air France, to Paris. The injured, along with Within a week it became apparent that I would women, children and families, were evacuated first, need to enroll the kids in school. The local public those of us without families in Chad last. I spent two schools had only one opening for the children: across nights sleeping on a warehouse floor but enjoyed the town, class sizes were large and no busing was avail- French food and wine the base provided. able. Rather than stay in separate lodging, I chose to On Monday morning, shortly before I departed on the enroll the kids in a small private school in the neigh- last plane of evacuees, the rebels passed by the base on borhood and live with my parents. It was the best their way into N’Djamena. They were, ironically, a wel- decision for us as the school was understanding of our come sight, because they would at least represent some situation, it was nearby and our allowance just man- authority in a city that had had none for three days. aged to pay the tuition. Thankfully, my parents didn’t By the way, if you are going to be evacuated some- charge us board and room. I did have to buy a vehicle, where, Paris ain’t a bad choice! however, which was a bit of a financial strain. I would Craig Olson have much preferred to have found public schooling Third Secretary and separate lodging; returning home to live with my Narcotics Affairs Section parents at the age of 40 isn’t exactly what I — or they United States Embassy — had in mind, but it was the best solution for a bad Bogota, Colombia situation at the time.

54 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/FEBRUARY 2003 F OCUS

The evacuation was lifted after 60 days, but because the children were settled into the new school Evacuation Isn’t Always Awful and I had enrolled in a computer course at a local Arriving in Tunisia shortly after Saddam Hussein community college, we chose to stay in Seattle until invaded Kuwait in August 1990, we knew our days in the end of the school year. Others returned to post, Tunisia were numbered. We dropped our bags at our but for our family it was a better decision to stay new house and headed straight to Carthage with our two where we were. budding historians, aged 6 and 9, and during the next five In retrospect, I now wish we had gone to Washington, months saw as much of the country as we could before D.C., where I could have had the support of the Foreign the inevitable. Service “family.” I have since learned that the FLO office We prepared ourselves by talking about what is very helpful to evacuees, but being across the country might happen — to each other, to others at post, in made it difficult to utilize their services. Others I have letters to friends. We included the children in our spoken with talk about the support structure at some of discussions, not necessarily using “language they could the local long-term hotels, where evacuees from posts all understand.” Children, by virtue of being children, live over the world can gather for emotional support and in a world they don’t understand, and are generally share information. Should we ever experience an evacu- comfortable with their ignorance — provided their parents ation again, I would unhesitantly choose D.C. as my seem confident in their ability to cope effectively with their home base. own partial understanding. Katherine McGifford We never fully unpacked, which made getting ready to DCM OMS depart easy. Although we didn’t settle in physically, we did Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso emotionally. The school was small and nurturing; the

FEBRUARY 2003/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 55 F OCUS

community warm and welcoming. I insisted on essentials — June. I anticipated an easy read- We needed each other, so friendships justment for our daughter, a more formed quickly — and were cement- all the Legos, all the difficult one for our son. Adele, ed when we were reunited back in however, couldn’t get into the same the U.S. Playmobiles, books and class as her best friend — a tragedy Air freight was simple. I insisted for a fourth-grader — while Max on essentials — all the Legos, all music, things that would was welcomed into his first-grade the Playmobiles, our most impor- classroom by the nurturing student tant books and music, things that make our exile homier. teacher he’d had in kindergarten. would make our exile homier. We The best friend still lived next door, didn’t anticipate moving back into however, and loved playing in our our house, but our property manager had had the fore- empty house after school. sight to rent it to four Moroccan students, who When the evacuation was lifted my husband returned returned home just as we returned to the U.S. So we to Tunisia for a few months, until we were reassigned to camped out in our own home. We rented a table and Morocco. The children and I spent what amounted to an chairs, TV and video, borrowed air mattresses and slept extended vacation at home. Not bad; not bad at all! on the floor. The kids’ Legos and Playmobiles filled the Kathy Uphaus is a freelance writer and the house. I loved having no furniture — cleaning was so editor of The Jute Newsletter in Dhaka, simple! Bangladesh, where her husband Charles The children returned to the school they’d left in works for USAID. I

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56 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/FEBRUARY 2003 JERUSALEM DIVIDED

AN FSO WHO FIRST SERVED IN ISRAEL IN 1966 AND HAS OFTEN RETURNED REFLECTS ON THE CHANGES THERE. HIS SAD CONCLUSION? THE DREAM OF A UNIFIED JERUSALEM AS A CITY OF PEACE WITH OPEN ACCESS BY ALL PEOPLES AND FAITHS IS SLIPPING AWAY.

BY KENNETH STAMMERMAN

esh lecha neshek? (Do you have Both women, neither more than 20 years old, had ammo a weapon?)” the young woman clips fully loaded in their weapons. I saw their companion in Israel Defense Force uni- prone on top of a wall a few meters up the street, his Galatz form with sergeant’s insignia rifle with a scope. There must have been an alert; perhaps asked as I approached her this they were looking for a suicide bomber or other terrorist “ past October along the ‘seam’ going to the western side that day. That’s probably why this boulevard between Jewish street along the seam was empty, I realized. The roving JerusalemY and Arab Jerusalem, not far below the Russian checkpoints along and near the seam come and go, and Compound. I had been walking from the U.S. consulate when alerts are high, nervous police or IDF units have general office in East Jerusalem, so she had seen me weapons at the ready. So Arab residents generally avoid approach from a part of Jerusalem where the population was them if they can. primarily Arab. And since I was wearing a sport coat even though it was a warm day, I fit enough of a profile to draw her attention. By appearance and dress, I could as easily be Arab or Jewish as what I was: an American Christian tourist, a retired FSO of German-Irish heritage walking back to my volunteer job in West Jerusalem with a new passport. “Yesh lecha neshek?” she repeated in Sabra-inflected Hebrew. This was a fair question to ask of a Jewish Israeli coming back from the eastern side of the city, but a hostile one from a soldier if she expects an answer in Arabic. Her companion, another young woman in uniform, moved the aim of her heavy Galil assault rifle to my feet. I came to a stop, kept my hands out from my side, answered in English, The author standing in front of the Jewish Quarter of the “no weapon, just walking to Yafo Street.” “Darcon (pass- Old City. The Western “Wailing” Wall of the Temple is in port)?” she asked. the foreground, with the golden-domed Dome of the Rock in the background. Kenneth Stammerman, an FSO from 1966 to 1994, served in Tel Aviv (twice), Manila, OECD Paris, Kuwait, “Ken, yesh li darcon [Yes, I have a passport],” I replied, Dhahran, and in several domestic assignments. Since switching to Hebrew. “I have a passport, it is inside my jack- retirement he has run his own consulting firm specializing et. I am going to reach inside and take it out, OK?” The in online systems management. He also lectures on foreign sergeant nods, her companion holds the rifle pointed to the affairs topics in his retirement home, Louisville, Ky. He ground, not wanting me any nearer. A moment’s grappling currently divides his time between Louisville and inside the tight pocket for the stiff new passport, and I lean Jerusalem. forward, hand it fingertip to fingertip to the sergeant. She

FENRUARY 2003/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 57 The checkpoints within Jerusalem itself show how the city is again dividing itself along Arab and Jewish territorial lines.

matches the picture on the page to my face, smiles as she says “Bevakasha [please],” and waves me along.

Before the Intifadas Fifteen years ago, before the first intifada in the late 1980s, such an encounter would never have hap- pened. Checkpoints between the West Bank and Jerusalem or else- where in Israel proper would have even been unusual, and unheard of inside Jerusalem. Now, the check- points for crossing into the “territo- ries,” or between areas in the West Bank, are manned by heavily armed troops, and known as flashpoints for trouble and occasional exchanges of Potomac Suites Ad fire. The checkpoints within Coming 1/20-21/02 Jerusalem itself, though not yet entrenched or barricaded, are an Cummings -- I will send to indication of how the city is again you to place here. Thanks dividing itself along Arab and Jewish territorial lines. I first entered Arab East Jerusalem from Jewish West Jerusalem in 1967, not long after the war, as a junior officer from Embassy Tel Aviv. By the end of July 1967, all evidence of the so-called Green Line, beginning with the Mandelbaum Gate, had ceased to exist within the city of Jerusalem. Several junior offi- cers from the embassy, trusty copies

58 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/FEBRUARY 2003 of prewar guidebooks in our hands, SEVEN MINUTES TO STATE DEPARTMENT decided at the time to explore the marketplaces of the Old City. That was my first experience in navigating the souks, an activity which would come in handy in later years as a fre- columbia plaza quent control officer and guide for apartments congressional delegations looking for bargains and tourist photo-ops in the Capital Living Old City. With Comfort and Convenience In those days after the 1967 War, Beautiful, Spacious Efficiencies, 1 and 2 Bedrooms hundreds of Israelis would descend SHORT TERM FURNISHED APARTMENTS AVAILABLE on the Old City every Saturday when, because of strict Sabbath laws, the Utilities Included 24 Hour Front Desk Complimentary Voice Mail Garage Parking Available stores and restaurants on the west Courtyard Style Plaza Shopping on Site side were closed. There were other Polished Hardwood Floors Cardkey Entry/Access Israeli tourists, too long confined to Private Balconies River Views their narrow strip of land along the Huge Walk-In Closets Minutes to Fine Dining Mediterranean, who wanted to see Walk to the Kennedy Center and Georgetown more of what life was like among their Minutes to Foggy Bottom Metro neighbors. Security was not some- thing to worry about. The West Bank (202) 293-2000 and Jerusalem merchants needed the 2400 Virginia Ave., N.W. business, and the overwhelming Washington, D.C., 20037 power of the IDF in June 1967 had Managed by Polinger, Shannon & Luchs Co. driven resistance far underground. The IDF occupation hand was light, and so long as there was no trouble, everyone got along and business was very good. The Christian Arab mer- chants in the Old City and in nearby Bethlehem welcomed the booming tourist trade, and those of us from the embassy soon discovered our favorite stores and their generous discounts when we showed up by ourselves on weekends without commission-charg- ing guides. The Israelis took up their new responsibilities in Jerusalem as guardians of the Christian and Muslim holy places. They had object- ed vociferously to the desecration of Jewish holy places in Jerusalem by the occupying Jordanian forces and to the Jordanian barring of even non-Israeli Jewish worshippers from the Western Wall of the Temple after 1948. On taking control of the Old City as suc- cessors of Turkish and British gover- nors, Israeli government personnel were shocked at the hostility of the

FENRUARY 2003/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 59 Israeli, saying in Hebrew, “You should not go in there with a crying baby. This is a Christian holy place and Israelis have been disturbing the peace with their loud talking and crying babies.” I took the crucifix on the chain from under my shirt and showed it to A restored plaza in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, him, and we had a with a ruined synagogue in the background. good laugh together as he waved me inside the church.

Change in the Air On returning to Embassy Tel Aviv in early 1977 for what would become a four- and-a-half-year sec- ond tour, I found that the road to Jerusalem had become much easier, though the embassy’s methods of Looking down from a rooftop in the Christian Quarter working in the city had of the Old City, into an Old City shopping area. changed since 1969. Or perhaps I just had become much more Christian sects towards one another aware of U.S. policy concerning at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre Jerusalem since I devoted much of and other sites such as the nearby my second tour as an embassy officer Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. in Jerusalem to assignments as eco- As a practicing Catholic, my views nomic officer and as a control officer were listened to patiently in informal for codels and White House visits. chats at the Israeli Foreign Ministry In 1967, West Jerusalem was an in those days as I tried to explain the Israeli outpost in the Judean Hills, spiritual calculus of indulgences asso- connected to the rest of the country ciated with pilgrimages and relics by a winding, narrow, two-lane road from my long-ago-memorized cate- which detoured around the deadly chism. (The nuns would have been battlefield of the Israeli 1948 defeat proud.) I did note that the one time at Latrun and labored tortuously over I was barred from worship in a the ridge near Kastel. The drive, if Christian church in the Holy Land you got stuck behind a truck after the was by an Israeli soldier at the door of Bab-el-Wad entrance to the Judean the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. I Hills near Latrun, could take over was carrying my newborn son to have two hours from the embassy on Tel him blessed at the Tomb, and the sol- Aviv’s seafront. By 1977, there was a dier stopped me, mistaking me for an new, double-lane highway, and those

60 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/FEBRUARY 2003 somewhere?) for the embassy’s codel management in the city: By the late 1980s, • Jerusalem was one city; the U.S. government never recognized its I could see that the good 1948 division. Therefore we had just one consulate general in Jerusalem, days in the Old City not two, but it had two offices, one located on the east (Arab) side and were ending because of one located on the west (Jewish) side. • The U.S. government did not the violence of the first recognize the 1967 Israeli annexa- tion of East Jerusalem, since that intifada. would prejudice negotiations on the status of the city. So in our treat- ment of official visitors, we treated Jerusalem de facto as two cities, of us who would drive a motor pool even though nobody was ever quite car ourselves or, lacking one, grab an sure where the dividing line was. In Israeli sherut (shared taxi), could practice, we would accompany make our way to the appropriate gov- codels and their Israeli Foreign ernment ministry in Jerusalem in little Ministry escorts to some parts of more than an hour. East Jerusalem (e.g., the Jewish On a personal basis, U.S. embassy Quarter), but not others. personnel in the late 1970s were free • At the same time, we did not say to travel in Jerusalem and the territo- that Jerusalem was not the capital of ries without restriction by the Israel. Our embassy was in Tel Aviv embassy, the consulate general, or the as a matter of convenience until the Israeli government. My family and I legal status of Jerusalem was settled would spend many a weekend poking in negotiations among the parties around in the Old City, getting to concerned. After all, there was no know the shops where antiquity deal- requirement for any government to ers could come up with coins or have its embassy in a country’s capital. lamps, learning the shortcuts between For a Catholic raised on the the various quarters of the Old City, pointillist angels of Thomistic and spending time admiring the beau- Christology, the inherent contradic- ty of the Dome of the Rock, the tions and absurdities of the policy had solemnity of the Western Wall of the a Yossarian-like beauty. Temple, and the chaotic geography of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, all End of the Good Old Days in the same day. There were few By the time of my next visit to security issues to be concerned about, Jerusalem in the late 1980s, when my other than the occasional pickpocket late spouse and I traveled via Cyprus preying on the crowds of tourists in from our post in Saudi Arabia — jug- the prosperous souks. gling three passports each to keep our In handling codels — who always travel pages clean — the good days in wanted to go to Jerusalem — or the Old City were ending because of senior administration official visits, the violence of the first intifada. there was a veritable litany of nuances ConGen Jerusalem had already that all new officers had to learn begun its policy of issuing travel warn- regarding U.S. policy on Jerusalem. ings of possible violence in the Old Eventually I recorded some of them City, and Israelis were becoming wary in a handbook (I wonder if it still exists of shopping in places they were no

FENRUARY 2003/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 61 longer welcome. I took my wife with a new widower, for extended stays, me to the east side only on a quick spending a few weeks on an archaeo- visit to the Church of the Holy As a Catholic raised on logical dig in the Galilee, then volun- Sepulchre, leaving her back on the teering for months at an interfaith west side for my own, more thorough Thomistic Christology, museum in West Jerusalem. Our dig exploration of old shopping and has been the only one staffed with for- tourist haunts. the absurdities of U.S. eign volunteers, since American uni- I was well-received by friends of versities are too frightened over liabil- years earlier, who, while cursing the policy toward Jerusalem ity issues to allow students to join in Israelis, were also lamenting the fall in archaeological expeditions in the area. business since the start of the troubles had a Yossarian-like Our group of mostly retired of the day. Yet the streets and alley- Christians from the southern U.S. ways of East Jerusalem were still beauty for me. ends our dig at a Byzantine site with a bustling with pilgrim traffic, and there few days in Jerusalem where the were no barriers keeping us from archaeologists take us to sites where freely traveling to Bethlehem or any- we all have easy access, the usual where in Jerusalem. In my discus- tourists and foreign students having sions with Israelis, they still held to came to the price which would nor- disappeared. Once my fellow the concept of a united Jerusalem for- mally have taken 20 minutes to nego- American diggers leave, I remain as ever Israeli, though more and more tiate, and I left with the purse, hus- one of the few tourists in the Holy they would be glad to be rid of the tling away through an alley in the City. The Israelis give me a 90-day rest of the territories, especially Gaza. other direction as he slammed the visa, usually unenforced for at least a How profoundly the atmosphere metal door down in front of the store. month’s overstay. had changed by then was illustrated During each of the past two years, As I write this article in December by an incident on one of my trips into I have traveled to Israel, alone now as 2002, the city is redividing itself. One the Christian Quarter during our visit. morning, I walk back into the Old I had settled into a discussion with a City, stop in stores I visited first in the shopkeeper I knew from the old days, hopeful days of 1967. The Palestinian intent on buying a camel-leather owners or their sons greet me by purse as a gift. We had started the name as if I had seen them the day ceremony of getting to a price by his before instead of 11 or even 20 years ordering tea and my asking him about earlier. Over tea, we talk. One shop the health and whereabouts of every owner asks about my son, who came male member of his clan I knew of. back on his own as a high-school stu- As we talked, we both noticed a sud- dent to dig and to hitchhike the coun- den drop in the volume of the souk’s Above: a street scene in the Old City try and wander the Jerusalem byways background noise, the chatter and of Jerusalem. Below: the Church of for a couple of months in the mid- calls which normally echo across the St. John the Baptist, Ein Karem, 1980s. My Palestinian friend remem- square by the Lutheran Church just Jerusalem. bers the day of my son’s baptism. Old east of the gate to the friends becoming old Holy Sepulchre com- men, we talk for hours pound. Glancing up, we over tea and coffee. stuck our heads through Business is not just bad. the clothes and leather It is nonexistent. The goods hanging in front of few trinkets I buy are his his shop and saw a squad only sales of the day. of Israeli border police Even though there has filing into the square, all still been no terrorism carrying staves. They targeting tourists or pil- must have been expect- grims in the Old City, ing trouble. Within a Westerners have stop- minute, my friend and I ped coming. Many shops

62 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/FEBRUARY 2003 are shuttered, and Christian Quarter Labour now would be pleased to tion over the Arab neighborhoods of merchants are selling out to Muslims, never see another Palestinian Arab for Al Quds, from Sheikh Jarragh to Abu taking their assets and moving to the rest of their lives. The rejection Dis — albeit at the cost of any partic- America or Europe from a city by the Palestinian leadership of the ipation in the Israeli economy. which had been theirs for centuries. Clinton/Barak proposals, which these Instead of roving patrols and check- The Palestinians blame the Israelis friends now regard as almost danger- points, there will be fences and walls for their troubles, never criticizing ously generous, and the approval by keeping Palestinians, including their own leadership other than very the same leadership of a terrorist Jerusalem-resident Palestinians, out indirectly by saying that, of course, campaign targeting their cities and of Israel and Jewish Jerusalem. they oppose terrorism and the bin their families, have pretty much I see the lines being drawn daily in Ladins. For all the economic losses destroyed the Israeli peace camp. It Jerusalem. Although the era of a uni- the intifada causes, they say they will has also led these same Israelis to fied city which began in that long-ago be happy if they never see another approve proposals to physically redi- hopeful summer of 1967, bringing an Israeli the rest of their lives. vide Jerusalem, as they will redivide era of unprecedented prosperity for It is now mostly the old men who the entire Holy Land, along Arab- all its residents from the 1970s to the make the daily trip from the West Israeli lines. 1990s, does not have to end this way, Bank to mind the Jerusalem stores, Sovereignty over the Old City will I fear it will. Those few of us who still not wanting the young men to face remain the hardest of all negotiating cross the lines and wander its streets the humiliation and possible vio- problems, but eventually clever diplo- and alleyways on both sides despite lence at the Bethlehem or Ramallah mats and fine words will find a way to official warnings will always find a roadblocks. They fear for their fam- paper over the differences once the way to get around. But the dream of ilies and the future. terrorism and killing end. They gen- a unified Jerusalem as a city of peace As for my Israeli friends, most of erally do. The result will be that what- with open access throughout the city those who used to be in Peace Now or ever the de jure language, by all peoples and faiths is slipping the leftist, pro-compromise part of Palestinians will de facto gain jurisdic- away.

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FEBRUARY 2003/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 63 BOOKS

Blending Cultures which language to teach one’s child. The book is slim, Elisabeth Herz, 76, exemplifies stubborn pragmatism, the battle stan- Foreign at Home and Away: elegant and dard of the successful spouse. The Foreign-Born Wives in the U.S. perceptive — oral Viennese medical student postponed Foreign Service her career in the 1950s after meeting Margaret Bender, Writers Club history at its most Martin Herz, eventually U.S. ambas- Press, 2002, $16.95, paperback, entertaining. sador to Bulgaria. Over two decades, 200 pages. she juggled her intermittent career with his, volunteering abroad after REVIEWED BY BEN JUSTESEN completing a Washington medical res- Few seemed unhappy with over- idency. She weathered the ambas- One benefit of leaving the Foreign seas embassy life in general, although sador’s wife’s open hostility (first tour) Service is that you never get that far not all had fulfilling social lives and and survived a brutal attack by a away. I work in Washington’s non- some longed for more challenging deranged man (last tour). Eventually profit sector, where I recently heard employment opportunities. Many she became a women’s psychothera- about Margaret Bender’s intriguing detested Washington assignments, dis- pist, returning in widowhood to self-published book, Foreign at Home trusted the U.S. bureaucracy, found Austria to work and teach. and Away: Foreign-Born Wives in the American social circles cliquish, and Herz’s story is extraordinary. Yet U.S. Foreign Service. wished their husbands worked less her companions — most of whom use An Australian-born Foreign and stayed home more. (A strangely only first names — offer equally Service spouse, Bender had already familiar litany!) I’d often wondered poignant accounts. There is Bo-Yeon, published an article in our newsletter, why my wife, a globe-trotting a South Korean flight attendant whose GED Items, back in 1998 recounting Caribbean flight attendant, found the suspicious father had her fiancé inves- her experience taking the GED tests transition to dependent spouse so vex- tigated before allowing the marriage. when she finished college. In addi- ing, why she’d gravitated at every post Inger, a Danish nurse, married her tion, her book’s subject fascinated me, to non-embassy circles, mixing mostly patient after his serious automobile for I had “acquired” a foreign-born with other foreign-born wives. I accident. Maria Bauer’s future hus- spouse on my first tour (Kingston). blamed her exotic temperament. band rescued her Czech family during The book is a quick read — slim, Now I understood: group therapy! World War II. Susi, a Kuwaiti econo- elegant, perceptive. It contains inter- Foreign at Home and Away is oral mist, met her husband in post-war views with 40 foreign women, from 28 history at its most entertaining, Kuwait. Not every story ends happily. countries, who married U.S. diplomats arranged in understated fashion by a The book was inspired by the life of before or during their own careers. practical writer who groups by topic, Prabhi Kavaler, an Indian-born spouse Many struggled against high barriers not individual. There is no pity here, turned FSO, killed in the 1998 of culture and language, yet the strug- no complaining about the silliness of Nairobi bombing. gle was always worthwhile, just not a system which forced so many tal- Bender’s achievement in oral histo- always fun. Their stories are candid, ented wives to step back and “sup- ry is impressive, yet no commercial engaging, even uplifting, but what port” their husbands, offering little publisher saw a market. Eventually struck me most was an underlying recognition or appreciation. The she gained encouragement from similarity of theme: a subtle sense of book simply details their accomplish- ADST-DACOR, in whose Diplomats shared struggles, difficult choices, of ments, from mundane — learning to and Diplomacy Series it appears. The hidden pain and disappointments. drive — to miraculous: choosing final self-published product is attrac-

64 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/FEBRUARY 2003 B OOKS tive. But who will read it? How many pious, superficial morality combined tories cannot solve the underlying foreign-born spouses are there? More with cynical adventurism. ...” problems — poverty, human rights than you’d think. The Family Liaison The author builds his case by sur- abuses, and illiteracy — that spawn Office estimates a third of all spouses veying American actions in the Middle conflict. What is needed instead, is for are foreign-born; Bender’s informal East. He maintains that since the end the United States to clarify its goals in studies indicated half at Seoul and of World War II, the United States has the world and ensure that its national Tashkent. never understood the political com- interests match its military commit- Who else should read it? Anyone plexities of the region, particularly the ments, an assessment that Kolko ever in the Foreign Service. Anyone importance of Arab nationalism, and believes will mean acknowledging the interested in cross-cultural marriages, has supported corrupt, authoritarian limits of American power and reduc- or wanting a peek inside the lives of regimes which have choked off legiti- ing, or ending entirely, military inter- some very determined women. ventions abroad. He maintains that Finally, Foreign at Home and Away unless the United States adopts a for- should be required reading for every Kolko deplores what he eign policy that is far more modest, it new FSO — male or female, single or — and the world — face another cen- married. Far better, believe me, to sees as America’s tury of war. understand the mysteries ahead. The work suffers from some weak- willingness to substitute nesses, to be sure. At 150 pages, it is Ben Justesen, a former FSO, works as too slim to really prove the author’s Director of Special Projects for the tactical, military thesis, particularly since he has an GED Testing Service, part of the victories for long-term unfortunate tendency to repeat him- American Council on Education. He self and resort to overstatement (for and his wife Margaret live in solutions. example, he calls Russia a “military Alexandria. superpower”). In addition, Kolko sees no gray areas in political debate and mate dissent and left Islamic radicals spends little time discussing the limita- Myopic Diplomacy as the only voice for reform. Nor have tions all politicians face in implement- our attempts to practice “balance of ing policy. And his own foreign policy power” diplomacy there fared any bet- prescription is even less realistic than Another Century of War? ter: Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990 the ones he ridicules: “Everyone ... Gabriel Kolko, The New Press, 2002, took place despite the fact that the would be far better off if the United $15.95, paperback, 150 pages. U.S., Kuwait and Saudi Arabia had all States did nothing, closed its bases strongly supported Iraq for nearly a overseas and withdrew its fleets every- REVIEWED BY DAVID W. B OYLE decade as a counterweight to Iran. where.” Turning to more recent develop- Even so, Another Century of War? In Another Century of War?, noted ments, Kolko grants that the recent succeeds at its main purpose, which is historian Gabriel Kolko examines the military action by the United States in to examine the fundamentals of premises and consequences of Afghanistan was a tactical victory, but American diplomacy and to challenge American foreign policy since the he predicts that it will end in a strate- the conventional wisdom of America’s 1950s, which he condemns as coun- gic debacle in South Asia. By support- foreign policy establishment. At a terproductive and reactive. In his ing the Northern Alliance, the United time when many in Washington are view, American foreign policy-makers States sped the defeat of the Taliban congratulating themselves premature- have not just been inept, but danger- but at the cost of destabilizing Saudi ly for victory in Afghanistan and plan- ously shortsighted — so much so that Arabia and Pakistan, countries far ning additional military action in Iraq, their actions have actually under- more important to American security. Kolko’s dissent is not only welcome mined our national security. As he As that example suggests, the but indispensable. puts it, “The United States’ interna- source of these blunders is, in Kolko’s tional policies ... have produced con- analysis, America’s willingness to sub- FSO David Boyle has served in Lagos summate failures. ... Neither realistic stitute tactical, military victories for and Malabo. He is currently a watch nor ethical, its foreign policy is a sham- long-term political and economic solu- officer in the Nuclear Risk Reduction bles of confusions and contradictions; tions. He points out that military vic- Center.

FEBRUARY 2003/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 65 IN MEMORY

Ambassador Alfred L. Atherton trust of both sides. In 1978, in 1976, recounted by Bart Barnes Jr., 80, a Foreign Service officer and President Carter named him ambas- in the Washington Post, Mr. Middle East expert who helped in sador-at-large for Middle East nego- Atherton stepped forward to take the negotiations that led to the 1978 tiations, and Atherton spent two public responsibility for leaking Camp David peace accords between years as a shuttle diplomat, traveling classified material to a magazine Israel and Egypt, died Oct. 30, 2002, between Middle Eastern capitals. writer for an article on secret at Sibley Memorial Hospital in As ambassador to Egypt from talks between Secretary of State Washington, D.C., of complications 1979 to 1983, Mr. Atherton presided Henry A. Kissinger and Middle related to cancer surgery. over what then was the largest U.S. Eastern leaders. Within the State In a tribute to Amb. Atherton, diplomatic mission in the world, Department, it was widely suspect- Secretary of State Colin Powell cited with a staff of 872 Americans and ed that Mr. Atherton had in fact his “exemplary” Foreign Service 500 Egyptians. After the Camp taken a fall for Kissinger, but this career spanning 38 years, during David accords, hundreds of was denied by Deputy Under which Amb. Atherton “earned a rep- Americans were dispatched to Cairo Secretary of State Lawrence S. utation for excellence, tireless devo- to help administer $1.5 billion a year Eagleburger, who conducted an tion, loyalty, and a genuine care for in military and economic assistance official inquiry into the leak. The his colleagues and diplomatic coun- that flowed from the United States. State Department made a public terparts.” His career included four In October 1981, midway through announcement that Mr. Atherton years as ambassador to Egypt and Atherton’s tenure as ambassador, had been “severely reprimanded” four years as assistant secretary of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, by Kissinger, but the reprimand State for Near Eastern and South who had agreed to make peace with appeared to have little impact on Asian affairs. In this role, he direct- Israel, was assassinated by a com- his career. Shortly thereafter, ed one of the State Department’s mando group led by an Egyptian Kissinger invited him to lunch with most critical sections, with responsi- Army lieutenant. the Israeli foreign minister for a dis- bility related to not only Arab-Israeli A resident of Washington, Amb. cussion of important aspects of U.S. disputes, but also the hostility Atherton was born in Pittsburgh, Pa. policy in the Middle East. Two between India and Pakistan. He also He graduated from Harvard years later, Carter named Mr. served as director general of the University and served in the Army in Atherton ambassador to Egypt. Foreign Service and director of per- Europe during World War II. He In his personal life, Mr. Atherton, sonnel for the State Department. received a master’s degree in eco- who was known as “Roy,” was a cam- Following retirement in 1985, nomics from the University of era enthusiast who took hundreds of Amb. Atherton remained deeply California at Berkeley. slide photographs at family gather- involved in policy and personnel Mr. Atherton joined the Foreign ings and in his travels around the issues at the department. “His pres- Service in 1947, and in early assign- world. He had an exceptional mem- ence will be deeply missed, but his ments served in Germany, Syria and ory for names and faces. Family contributions to the department and India, in addition to postings in members told Washington Post the United States will never be for- Washington. He had a reputation as reporter Bart Barnes of a recent gotten,” said Secretary Powell. a tireless worker who routinely was incident at a Giant Food parking lot As a Middle East peace negotia- in his office by 7:30 a.m. and rarely on Wisconsin Avenue, when Mr. tor, Amb. Atherton was said to have left before 8 at night, and was fierce- Atherton was stopped by a man who been able to understand and articu- ly loyal to the Foreign Service as an addressed him as “Mr. Ambassador.” late the historic grievances of Israelis institution. Atherton had not seen the man in 20 and Palestinians, and to have had the In a widely publicized incident years, but addressed him by name

66 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/FEBRUARY 2003 I N MEMORY

and inquired after his wife and chil- In his eulogy, Secretary of State Japanese with his parents and a dren. The man was the former Colin Powell commended brother, but was later exchanged for chauffeur of the Egyptian ambas- Ambassador Gleysteen as “an exem- Japanese internees in the U.S. Mr. sador in Washington. plar of the highest ideals of public Gleysteen went on to serve in the Following retirement from the service … an outstanding person Navy at the end of the war. Foreign Service, Amb. Atherton was and professional, dedicated to the Returning to America, he director for six years of the Harkness service of his country and the good received his B.A. degree from Yale Fellowship program of the of its people.” University in 1949 and an M.A. in Commonwealth Fund of New York, Secretary Powell reviewed the international relations in 1951, the which subsidizes fellowships in the highlights of Amb. Gleysteen’s 30- year he entered the Foreign Service. U.S. for people from the British year Foreign Service career. “After Mr. Gleysteen received assignments Isles, Australia and New Zealand. entering the Foreign Service in in Asian affairs from the outset. He From 1989 to 1998, he was director 1951, Amb. Gleysteen quickly was director of the Office of of the Una Chapman Cox became one of the department’s top Intelligence and Research for East Foundation, which awards fellow- experts on East Asia. In Washington Asian and Pacific Affairs from 1969 ships to Foreign Service officers. and on assignment abroad, his to 1971, and deputy chief of mission He also wrote articles for the op-ed insightful counsel was sought and in Taipei from 1971 to 1974. pages of newspapers and was a visit- relied upon by the leaders of the From 1974 to 1976, and again in ing professor of Middle Eastern department and of the entire U.S. 1977 and 1978, Mr. Gleysteen was affairs at Hamilton, Mount Holyoke government,” said Powell. “His dis- posted in Washington as deputy and Birmingham Southern Colleges. tinguished service as the U.S. estab- assistant secretary of State for East He was a member of All Souls lished diplomatic relations with the Asian and Pacific affairs. He was Unitarian Church in Washington, People’s Republic of China and, also detailed to the National Security D.C. especially, as ambassador to the Council as senior staff officer for Survivors include his wife of 56 Republic of Korea at a time of great East Asia and the Pacific. During years, Betty Wylie Atherton of importance to the bilateral relation- these years in Washington, he served Washington; three children, Lynne, ship were highlights of an extraordi- as senior adviser to two successive Reed and Michael; three grandchil- nary career. Before entering the secretaries of State in the normaliza- dren; and two great-grandchildren. Foreign Service, he had served his tion of U.S. relations with China, a A Memorial Service was held at country in the U.S. Navy. After his goal he sought to promote through- All Souls Unitarian Church in retirement from the Foreign out his career. Amb. Gleysteen is Washington, D.C. on Nov. 23. Service, he continued, in several still remembered as one of those Designated charities are Search for capacities and in his thoughtful and who helped rebuild the State Common Ground, 1601 Conn- scholarly writings, to promote Department’s expertise in Chinese ecticut Ave., N.W., Suite 200, improved relations between the affairs after many of its best Washington, DC 20009, and Seeds United States and the countries of Sinologists had fallen victim to of Peace, 1321 Wisconsin Avenue, East Asia. Senator Joseph McCarthy’s anti- N.W., Washington, DC 20007. “His many friends and colleagues Communist campaign. inside and outside the Department President Jimmy Carter appoint- of State have lost a great and true ed Mr. Gleysteen ambassador to friend,” Secretary Powell concluded. South Korea in 1978. The year after Ambassador William Gleysteen, “He will be deeply missed.” Mr. Gleysteen arrived in Seoul, 76, an expert on China, who played a William Henry Gleysteen was South Korean President Park Chung key role in the long process of nor- born on May 8, 1926, in Beijing, the Hee was assassinated by leaders of malizing relations with the People’s son of Presbyterian missionary-edu- his intelligence service, and a mili- Republic, and was ambassador to cators who worked in China before tary coup followed, provoking a pop- South Korea during the crisis period and during World War II. He was ular uprising that was brutally sup- of the late 1970s, died of leukemia fluent in Mandarin Chinese. In pressed. on Dec. 6 in Washington, D.C. 1943 he was interned by the As ambassador to Seoul, Mr.

FEBRUARY 2003/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 67 I N M EMORY

Gleysteen personally helped per- Douglas Dillon Award for a Book of vices assistant until 1956. In this suade President Carter, during a Distinction on the Practice of capacity he served in Seoul, Manila, presidential visit to the country in American Diplomacy in 2002. Jakarta, Montevideo and Bogotá. 1979, to reverse his election cam- Upon retirement from the Mr. Matthews was commissioned paign pledge to pull American Foreign Service in 1981, Amb. in 1956 as an FSO in Frankfurt, troops out of South Korea. As Gleysteen became director of the Germany. In this capacity he served reported in the Washington Post, Asia Society’s Washington Center. as administrative officer in Lisbon, Richard Holbrooke, then assistant In 1983, he moved to New York, New Delhi, Colombo, Khartoum secretary of State for East Asian and where he was director of studies at and Washington. In 1968 he retired Pacific affairs, recalled in an inter- the Council on Foreign Relations to Orlando, Fla., but resumed his view how after a difficult meeting and president of the Japan Society. travels in 1973, accompanying his with the South Korean leadership, In 1995, Amb. Gleysteen moved to wife Ruth on her assignments as an President Carter drove back to the Bethesda, Md. FSO. Her assignments took them ambassador’s residence accompa- Amb. Gleysteen’s marriage to Zoe to Monterrey, Mazatlan, Rio de nied by Mr. Gleysteen; Secretary of Gleysteen ended in divorce. Janeiro, and the Azores. In 1988 State Cyrus R. Vance, who also Survivors include his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Matthews returned to opposed troop withdrawal; and Marilyn Wong Gleysteen of Florida, where they both retired. National Security Adviser Zbigniew Bethesda, Md.; three children from His wife of 42 years, Ruth, and Brzezinski, who favored it. his first marriage, Thea Clarke of his son William survive him. “The limousine drew up at the Bethesda, Guy Gleysteen of front door and nobody got out,” Fairfield, Conn., and Michael Holbrooke remembered, “so we Gleysteen of Ashburn, Va.; a daugh- looked in through the window and ter from his second marriage, Anna Maija-Leena Clarkson, 55, wife saw Bill Gleysteen talking, talking, Wong Gleysteen of Bethesda; a sis- of FSO John C. Clarkson, died of talking.” The upshot of that pro- ter, Ms. Anne Gleysteen Kramer of natural causes March 18, 2002, longed argument? President Carter New York City; and seven grandchil- while receiving treatment at a med- reluctantly agreed to reconsider his dren. ical clinic. A memorial service withdrawal pledge. Amb. Gleysteen’s brother, Culver was held May 6 at the Advent Toward the end of his tenure in Gleysteen, a retired FSO and U.S- Lutheran Church, Arlington, Va. 1981, as the New York Times report- Soviet relations specialist, died in Mrs. Clarkson was cremated, and ed, Amb. Gleysteen faced another October 2002. her ashes will be interred in Finland. delicate task as he sought to per- A native of Finland, Mrs. Clarkson suade South Korea’s military leaders had accompanied her husband on not to execute the opposition leader, assignments to Jamaica, Syria, Kim Dae Jung, who had been con- Glenwood B. Matthews, 93, Finland, Uzbekistan, Malaysia and demned to death for political offens- retired Foreign Service officer, died New Zealand. An active member of es. (Kim Dae Jung was elected pres- Nov. 5, 2002, at his home in Associates of the American Foreign ident of South Korea in 1997.) Amb. Orlando, Fla. Service Worldwide and the Foreign- Gleysteen had the challenging task Mr. Matthews was born in Born Spouses Network, Mrs. of managing America’s relationship Eastport, Maine in 1908. He began Clarkson served as CLO in Damascus with a close ally in the grip of a his career as a telegrapher with and as a USAID contractor in severe political cisis. Amb. Western Union at age 16. Due to his Tashkent. She was also a former Gleysteen subsequently wrote about ability as a telegrapher the Office of member of the faculty and president these times and the U.S. response in Strategic Services recruited him of the Virrat Commercial College in his book, Massive Entanglement, during World War II to operate clan- Finland, and worked at the Madison Marginal Influence: Carter and destine radio stations in occupied Hotel during her husband’s assign- Korea in Crisis, which won the territories. Following his time in ment to Washington. American Academy of Diplomacy’s uniform he served as a general ser- She is survived by her husband,

68 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/FEBRUARY 2003 I N M EMORY

John, of Embassy Helsinki, and two donor of both Haitian and Latin Wendell Wilfred Woodbury, 82, sisters, four nephews, and one niece, American art to museums and gal- a retired Foreign Service officer, died all of Finland. leries, most notably the Bass Nov. 8, 2002, at Inova Alexandria Museum in Miami. Hospital in Alexandria, Va., from U.S. assignments included pneumonia and Alzheimer’s disease. directing the U.S. reception centers Mr. Woodbury was born April 29, Frances F. Switt, 65, a career in New York and Florida, in which 1920, in Crocker, S.D., to Wallace USIA cultural affairs officer, died travel programs for official guests of Charles Woodbury, a telegrapher and during a visit to New York City on the U.S. government were designed railroad station agent, and Inga Nov. 9, 2002, after a long battle with and overseen. She was lauded for Skavang of Crocker. With his family, cancer. maintaining the operations of the he later moved to Corwith, Iowa, Ms. Switt, who had been living in Miami center from staff members’ where he received his bachelor’s Florida since her retirement in 1995, homes during Hurricane Hugo in degree from the University of Iowa in was legendary within the U.S. over- 1989, despite peak winds of 160 1942. During World War II he served seas cultural and information pro- miles per hour. She was also sec- in the Pacific from 1943 to 1946, gram for her ability to raise funds onded to Washington’s Corcoran when he was discharged as an from U.S. and foreign companies to Gallery of Art to work on special infrantry captain. After receiving an help the government stage large- projects for the director of the M.A. in economics from Harvard scale cultural programs, including museum. University in 1949, he entered the art exhibits and classical and popular After her retirement from USIA, Foreign Service as a vice consul. musical events, for foreign audi- Ms. Switt became program coordi- Postings took him twice to Japan, ences. nator for Lynn University in Boca to the Dominican Republic, to Algeria She was born in Farmington, N.J. Raton, Fla., where she helped and to Denmark, where he headed in 1937, and educated at Sophie recruit scholarship students from the economic section of the embassy Newcomb College in New Orleans Brazil and Argentina. and on occasion became deputy chief and at Yale University, where she Ms. Switt had recently completed of mission and chargé d’affaires. studied international relations as a a European visit to art centers in St. Two postings to Washington involved Woodrow Wilson Scholar. Petersburg, Berlin, Rome, London economic intelligence analysis and Ms. Switt entered the Foreign and Paris, despite rapidly advancing work with international organizations. Service after working for a joint cancer. After returning to her retire- He was a member of the 1974 class U.S.-Brazilian cultural center in ment home in Gainesville, Fla., she of the Senior Seminar of the Bahia, and was sent to Brasilia to insisted on making her annual visit Foreign Service. After retiring from run the Thomas Jefferson Center to New York to see the season’s new the Foreign Service in 1980, he divid- just established in the new capital. plays and ballets. She suffered a fall ed his time between homes Her love of that country led her to shortly after arriving, and died with- in Alexandria, Va. and Marlborough, return several times for postings in out regaining consciousness at New N.H. He also enjoyed extensive Rio and Bahia and as national cul- York Presbyterian Hospital. travel. tural affairs officer based in Brasilia. Her many friends, scattered Survivors include his wife of 52 She also served as cultural affairs around the globe, are planning a years, Elizabeth Woodbury of officer in Buenos Aires, as director memorial service in her honor to be Alexandria; a son, Jonathan of the U.S. Cultural Center in Paris, conducted on the Internet. Woodbury of Moorpark, Calif.; two and as director of the USIA pro- She is survived by her brother, brothers; and two grandchildren. A gram in Port-au-Prince. Joseph Switt of Ocala, Florida and son, Alden, preceded him in death. Ms. Switt found a strong relation- her nephew, Randall Switt of ship between the art and culture of Gainesville, Florida. The family Haiti and that of her beloved Bahia, suggests contributions in her mem- and acquired a large collection of art ory to the American Cancer John C. Leary, 78, retired from both places. She was a major Society. Foreign Service officer, died of

FEBRUARY 2003/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 69 I N M EMORY

cancer Aug. 4, 2002, at his home in Leary held posts in Europe, Asia, 52 years, Nancy Smith Leary of Alexandria, Va. North America and South America. Alexandria; five children, Robert Born in Hartford, Conn., Mr. He also was a U.S. representative to Leary of Springfield, John Leary Jr. Leary served in the Army Air Forces the U.N. Industrial Development of Alexandria and Suzanne Leary in Europe during World War II. He Organization and a diplomatic Taylor, Barbara Leary Jones and was a fighter pilot and a flight courier. Maggie Leary Barrett, all of instructor, and his decorations The Learys have maintained a Richmond; and three grandchil- included the Distinguished Flying home in the Washington area since dren. Cross. Mr. Leary was a graduate of 1959. He was a co-founder of the Yale University, where he also Colonial Swimming League of received a master’s degree in busi- Northern Virginia and a member of Please send your ness administration. He attended Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church the Wharton School of Business at and the Brookville-Seminary Valley In Memory item to: the University of Pennsylvania. Civic Association, both of FSJ, 2101 E Street, N.W., Mr. Leary’s Foreign Service Alexandria. Mr. Leary also did vol- Washington, D.C. 20037, or career spanned 38 years, from 1950 unteer work for Meals on Wheels. to 1988. He retired following ser- A daughter, Patricia Fay Leary, e-mail to [email protected], or vice as charge d’affaires at Embassy died in infancy. fax to (202) 338-8244. Grenada. An economic officer, Mr. Survivors include his wife of

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FEBRUARY 2003/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 75 REFLECTIONS Apricots, Cayenne and Beggars

BY ERIC FREEDMAN

eed some fiery cayenne pep- chopping sound of a man hatcheting per, a pair of knock-off Some sell a small away at a sheep’s carcass. The ampli- Ndesigner jeans, a leather belt, fied voice of a bingo caller bleats over a cow’s head with the skin still on, inventory of the bazaar. eggs, or toilet paper? How about a Not all selling takes place in stalls pocket calculator, a how-to-learn- oranges, apples or at tables. Along one stretch of the English pamphlet, a toddler’s plastic bazaar, women stand shoulder to tricycle, a kerchief or some mutton and garlicky sour shoulder, each with an armful of coats fat? Or a Coke-bottleful of oil for your pickles. or dresses on hangers. Along another car, a block of butter for your table, an stretch, some sell bunches of dry herbs umbrella, a pack of cigarettes or even and next to them, some sell a small a single one? Perhaps you’d fancy inventory of oranges, apples and gar- some flowers, plastic or fresh, a lottery licky sour pickles. ticket, plastic carrying bags, or cleaned On the literal fringes of the bazaar cow’s intestines? Or could you use a easier carrying. Shoes, mostly black, are stoic vendors who live on the edge map of Uzbekistan, dried apricots, or a mostly square-toed and mostly shiny, of survival. They come to Chorsu with rusting rake without a handle? stretch on and on. But socks are their pitifully small stock — a handful At first, Tashkent’s sprawling omnipresent. How many people sell of used clothing, a few empty glass Chorsu Bazaar is overwhelming. It’s socks here? They’re everywhere, jars, well-worn slippers, mismatched easy to get lost, but soon there’s evi- whether a few pairs or a full table’s keys without locks and unidentifiable dence of a system, more or less. Pedal- worth. odds and ends of hardware spread on powered shoe repair equipment occu- Smells of cooking meat and burn- a shabby piece of cloth. They come pies one section; the women’s clothing ing charcoal waft through the air. with stamina and patience and desper- stalls cluster in another spot, while toys Throughout the bazaar, people grill ation. How have their dreams and are more or less together and so are metal skewers of shashlik, a popular ambitions spiraled down to this? As I spices. Hardware, auto and plumbing mutton kabob with chunks of fat. walk by, I wondered how many go parts cluster near one side of the Large enamel pots simmer with osh or home without selling a thing? How do bazaar. Most potato specialists sell next pilau, the omnipresent, oily mix of rice they face a hungry night? to each other, as do the onion special- that can contain chickpeas, raisins and During my trip home, a girl knelt in ists and the wrapped candy specialists. vegetables, topped with chopped mut- the Metro car and chanted loudly. She Elsewhere you’ll find sellers of bare- ton. There are the aromas of meat- rose and walked from passenger to root trees, handmade brooms, melons filled pastries and buns. For vegetari- passenger. A few reached into their tied individually with straw strings for ans, there are vendors of the sunflower pockets for change. I ignored her, piti- seeds, a few pennies a packet. A pop- ful as she looked. Then I shifted my Eric Freedman was a Fulbright lec- ular item, their off-white shells are plastic bags filled with spices and apri- turer in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from scattered all over the ground. cots. I reached into my pocket and January through June 2002. He is And there are sounds. Music pulled out three coins. now an assistant professor of jour- blares from audiocassette stalls. Did I do wrong? Would my nalism at Michigan State University. Butchers, clutching bloody, paper- cayenne now be more piquant The stamp is courtesy of the AAFSW wrapped bundles of fresh meat, and would my apricots now taste Bookfair “Stamp Corner.” importune passers-by. There’s the sweeter?

76 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/FEBRUARY 2003 2002 TAX GUIDE INSIDE THIS ISSUE

AFSAAmerican Foreign ServiceNEWS Association • February 2003

BUUILDING A CONSTITUENCY It is, of course, axiomatic that PAC effec- tiveness is directly proportional to the resources available. In this connection I am AFSA-PAC: FIRST REPORT delighted to report the response to our ini- BY TOM BOYATT, TREASURER tial fund-raising campaign for AFSA-PAC. n Feb. 6, 2002, the AFSA Governing cent. The Service, if not on the edge of Exceeding even the most optimistic pre- Board, after vigorous debate, extinction, was seriously hobbled in carry- diction (mine), I am very proud to tell you Oapproved the creation of a political ing out its professional duties. The num- that 525 AFSA members contributed over action committee by a 10 to 5 vote. This ber-one priority for AFSA-PAC is to ensure $30,000 for our initial efforts! Seventy per- action was the culmination of a decade-long that this does not happen again. cent of the contributors were from the evolving consensus that AFSA should With respect to organization, AFSA-PAC retired constituency, 28 percent active and actively seek to build a constituency, rather has three officers as required by law: 2 percent associates. However, only a dis- than complaining about the lack of one. Treasurer (myself), Assistant Treasurer appointing 14 percent of the contributions Since 1994, succeeding boards have (Susan Reardon), and Keeper of Records came from overseas colleagues. Clearly, we devoted increasing financial and human (Kalpna Srimal). All are elected by the AFSA have work to do with our compatriots on resources to influence the congressional board every two years in the middle of each the firing line. process and to tell the Foreign Service story AFSA board’s term. All serve at the pleasure Chairmen and ranking minority mem- to the American people. The first step was of the board. Decisions about who receives bers of the Appropriations and the January 1995 creation of a full-time con- PAC financial support and why are made Authorizations Committees in both hous- gressional relations position and the subse- by a council composed of the treasurer and es were priority recipients of AFSA-PAC sup- quent hiring of Ken Nakamura for the job. four retired AFSA members: Kempton port. Longtime friends of the Foreign Service For eight years Ken has worked hard and Jenkins, Terry Healy, Irwin Rubenstein and and U.S. engagement abroad also received successfully to keep the board apprised of Don Norland. All members of the council assistance. About two-thirds of our total what is happening on the Hill and to influ- have extensive political/legislative experience. funds have (or soon will be) distributed. In ence the authorization process by consul- Note that active-duty AFSA members are a “first-ever” development, the chairman of tation and discussion — particularly with prohibited by the Hatch Act from exercis- a key appropriations subcommittee invited congressional staffs. ing a management role in the PAC. us to drop by for a chat. John Naland, Terry Similarly, in March 2001 AFSA moved The PAC does, however, operate on the Healy and I spent about an hour with the to create our own “public diplomacy” func- basis of bylaws approved by the AFSA chairman in a very useful conversation. We tion by establishing a full-time public Governing Board. In addition to the above had the chance to urge approval of the full affairs position and hiring Tom Switzer, an organizational matters, the bylaws establish request and to make clear our priorities (per- experienced USIA veteran, to fill the posi- important political parameters. Above all, sonnel positions and related support) in case tion. Print and electronic media placements, the PAC is required to ensure that financial funds are restricted. We, of course, do not contacts with reporters of all descriptions, support afforded senators and representa- know how Fiscal Year 2003 will work out, and the number of speaking engagements tives is exactly the same (in amount to the but we did have a “seat at the table.” by (largely) retired Foreign Service person- penny) for Democrats and Republicans. Constituency building is cumulative over nel are all up dramatically. Also, since our exclusive purpose is the leg- time. The more you do, the more impact Now AFSA-PAC has been added to this islative well-being of the Foreign Service, we you have. We will continue to seek the assis- rich mixture. As its first priority the PAC have limited ourselves to national elections tance of our members, to advance our efforts will seek to influence the appropriations for senators and representatives. We only on the Hill and to report the results as we process. From 1991 to 2001 the Foreign support incumbents who have influenced, go forward. ▫ Service was hollowed out as human and or are in a position to influence, legislation SEE BOX ON PAGE 3 FOR financial resources were reduced by 30 per- impacting our Service. MORE INFORMATION AFSANEWSBRIEFS

USAID AFSA Studying Plans for the Millennium Challenge Corporation On Nov. 26, the administration announced plans to create an independent federal corporation, Apply Now for The Millennium Challenge Corporation, to manage the Millennium Challenge Account. Foreign Simon Trust Grants Service employees and their Civil Service colleagues at USAID are concerned about how USAID The J. Kirby Simon Foreign Service Trust is a and MCC will coordinate their programs and how staffing details will impact on their careers. charitable fund established in the memory of Kirby Simon, an FSO who died in 1995 serv- While the Millennium Challenge Account Committee drafts the MCC bill to submit to ing in Taiwan. The trust supports charitable Congress in early 2003, AFSA at USAID is hosting a series of informal forums to collect employee projects that are initiated and carried out, not comments, concerns, and suggestions, some of which might be very helpful to those crafting the in an official capacity and not on official time, MCC legislation. After two meetings and a wave of e-mails and phone calls to the AFSA office at by FS personnel or family members around USAID, it is clear that development assistance professionals worldwide are prepared to participate the world. Projects supported in 2002 includ- in the structure and implementation of the MCC. USAID employees are confident that they have ed: supplies for a Burkina Faso center for desti- the experience, lessons learned and field expertise crucial for the success of new approaches to tute women and children banished on accusa- development, and they are eager to ensure that people on the Hill are aware of this. tions of sorcery; athletic equipment for a camp in Nepal for Tibetan refugees; training of AFSA has formed a virtual MCC discussion group at www.afsa.org. Look for it and feel teachers for squatter settlement schools in free to send comments and questions for this site. For more information, please contact Niger; stimulation toys for abandoned babies AFSA VP for USAID Joe Pastic at [email protected], or MCC Forums Coordinator Judy Slater in Kosovo; sewing machines for a Peruvian at [email protected]. women’s microenterprise group; and many more. The trust invites submissions of proposals Holiday Party for Evacuees for support in 2003. Proposals should On Dec. 15, the Foreign Service Youth Foundation and the include: description of project; purpose; role to American Associates of the Foreign Service Worldwide sponsored be played by the applicant; plan for dissemi- a holiday party for Foreign Service families evacuated from Abidjan nating results of project; budget; other fund- MIKKELA THOMPSON and Jakarta. Over 100 members of the Foreign Service communi- ing, if applicable; and biography of applicant. Proposals must be no longer than five double- ty gathered for holiday cheer and festive food at Oakwood spaced pages (exclusive of budget and bio). Apartments in Falls Church. The evacuees were welcomed by the Proposals for projects to be funded in new FSYF president, Anne Kauzlarich. 2003 must be received by the trust no The children created gifts and crafts at the party. Then the Falls later than Feb. 28. Go to the Web site at Church Fire Department distributed presents from Santa to the www.kirbysimontrust.org for more informa- children and allowed them to play on its fire truck. FSYF provided tion, or call (203) 432-2698. Send proposals each evacuee family with a “magic key” that would allow Santa to to the J. Kirby Simon Foreign Service Trust by find the children since they could not be in their home this mail to: 82 Edgehill Rd., New Haven, CT Christmas. Following the party for younger children, the teens 06511; by e-mail to [email protected]; had their turn for fun at the FSYF Swing Dance Holiday Bash. or by fax to: (203) 432-0063. Continued on page 4

AFSA HEADQUARTERS: Staff: Governing Board: Executive Director Susan Reardon: [email protected] (202) 338-4045; Fax: (202) 338-6820 PRESIDENT: John K. Naland STATE DEPARTMENT AFSA OFFICE: Business Department STATE VICE PRESIDENT: Louise K. Crane (202) 647-8160; Fax: (202) 647-0265 Controller Kalpna Srimal: [email protected] Accounting Assistant Christa Nyamekye: [email protected] USAID VICE PRESIDENT: Joe Pastic USAID AFSA OFFICE: FCS VICE PRESIDENT: Peter G. Frederick (202) 712-1941; Fax: (202) 216-3710 Labor Management General Counsel Sharon Papp: [email protected] FAS VICE PRESIDENT: Edwin Porter Labor Management Attorney Zlatana Badrich: [email protected] RETIREE VICE PRESIDENT: Robert W. Farrand AFSA Internet and E-mail addresses: Labor Management Specialist James Yorke: [email protected] AFSA WEB SITE: www.afsa.org USAID Labor Management Specialist Douglas Broome: [email protected] SECRETARY: F.A. “Tex” Harris AFSA E-MAIL: [email protected] USAID Office Manager Suzan Reager: [email protected] TREASURER: Thomas D. Boyatt AFSA NEWS: [email protected] Grievance Attorneys Harry Sizer: [email protected], and Neera Parikh: [email protected] FSJ: [email protected] Office Manager Christine Warren: [email protected] STATE REPRESENTATIVES: Pamela Bates, PRESIDENT: [email protected] John P. Boulanger, George W. Colvin, STATE VP: [email protected] Member Services Roy Perrin, Lynn G. Sever, John Weis RETIREE VP: [email protected] Director Janet Hedrick: [email protected] Representative Lindsay Peyton: [email protected] USAID VP: [email protected] USAID REPRESENTATIVE: Woody Navin Administrative Assistant Ana Lopez: [email protected] FAS VP: [email protected] FCS REPRESENTATIVE: James Joy FCS VP: [email protected] Outreach Programs RETIREE REPRESENTATIVES: Retiree Liaison Ward Thompson: [email protected] AFSA News Director of Communications Thomas Switzer: [email protected] William C. Harrop, David E. Reuther, Editor Shawn Dorman: [email protected] Congressional Affairs Director Ken Nakamura: [email protected] Richard C. Scissors, Theodore S. Wilkinson, III

How to Contact Us: to Contact How (202) 338-4045 x 503; Fax: (202) 338-8244 Corporate Relations/Executive Assistant Marc Goldberg: [email protected] Scholarship Director Lori Dec: [email protected] IBB REPRESENTATIVE: Vacant On the Web: www.afsa.org/news Professional Issues Coordinator Barbara Berger: [email protected] FAS REPRESENTATIVE: Eric Wenberg

2 AFSA NEWS • FEBRUARY 2003 PAC • Continued from page 1 V.P. VOICE: USAID BY JOE PASTIC Contribution vs. Feedback

Endorsement he cry for more and better feedback in the evalua- tion process has come from several quarters. I recall Q: Does an AFSA-PAC contribution Tfrom the panel debriefings that at least two panels mean that AFSA endorses that candidate expressed frustration at being unable to give substantive for re-election? feedback to employees. Moreover, several members have No. Contributions and endorse- commented both to me and reportedly to Business A: ments are two different things. Transformation Executive Committee members on the A contribution gives a candidate funds with need to improve panel feedback to FSOs. which to publicize his or her platform. An Agency officials (both in the BTEC and Human Resources) appear to be quite endorsement puts the endorser on record sincere in their search for ways to improve the evaluation process. They have as supporting that platform. While this may already requested negotiations on an array of changes in the Foreign Service skills sound like hair-splitting to those unfamil- matrix, promotion precepts, duties of the Appraisal Committee, and the struc- ture of the evaluation forms. However, the changes seem to fall short of address- Contributions and ing the thorny issue of getting effective feedback from the panels to the FSO. The problem is that freely given can- endorsements are two different did feedback can lead to an things. A contribution gives explosion of grievances. The agency does not want this to Imagine getting a candidate funds with happen, and neither does AFSA. unfiltered views which to publicize his or I have heard that HR hopes to develop a system of remarks, on our performance her platform. pre-approved by the HR Labor and Employee Relations Office, directly from the boards. iar with partisan politics, Capital Hill insid- that will enable the perfor- What a boon this could ers clearly understand that a contribution mance boards to make a selec- does not equal an endorsement. tion from such a list of the most be to our career planning! Thus, in the closing days of the 2002 frequently used remarks with- campaign, the staff of then-Congresswoman out fear that the remark will Connie Morella, R-Md., called asking if touch off a grievance and it can AFSA would endorse her re-election in still be a remark of substance. More and better feedback from the boards would addition to AFSA-PAC’s earlier contribu- be extremely valuable to all Foreign Service personnel. Imagine getting unfil- tion to her campaign. AFSA’s staff, accu- tered views on our performance directly from the boards. What a boon this could rately judging Mrs. Morella as one of the be to our career planning! I do not think such feedback serves a useful purpose lawmakers who was most supportive of the if it only feeds grievances, but I am not sure a menu of pre-approved comments Foreign Service, said “yes.” A few days later, would meet the objective. her campaign ran a two-page Washington On previous occasions, I have told management that I would be more than Post advertisement listing AFSA as one of willing to discuss an agreement that could permit performance boards to be freer her many endorsers. and more liberal in their feedback without fueling the grievance process. That That ad caused AFSA’s Governing the agency appears to be taking a more conservative approach, described above, Board to ponder, for the first time, whether both shows its concern about the vital issue of improving feedback, and also serves AFSA — like most other federal unions — as a wake-up call for AFSA to consider its own move. I am suggesting that AFSA should be in the business of issuing should present its own proposal on ways to improve board feedback. endorsements. When the Governing How far are we willing to go in terms of giving up some rights to grieve in Board had its regular monthly meeting the order to get more substantial feedback from the performance panels? What would day after Election Day 2002, it decided that we not want to have sacrificed? I need your input. Please send me your ideas, AFSA had more to lose than to gain by issu- comments, warnings and provisos as soon as possible. First, I will determine if ing endorsements. Therefore, it unani- there is sufficient member interest in this initiative. If there is, I would then try mously adopted a policy prohibiting AFSA to identify a common thread around which to weave a proposal. I’ll keep you from endorsing candidates. ▫ posted through my AFSANET VP reports. ▫

FEBRUARY 2003 • AFSA NEWS 3 V.P. VOICE: FAS BY ED PORTER AFSANEWSBRIEFS Working with Management ashing government unions is popular these days. Foreign Affairs Politicians think it is a vote-getter. Union-management Fellowships Bpartnership is working in the Foreign Agricultural Applications for the Thomas Pickering Service, however, as is evident by our new contract. Foreign Affairs Fellowship program are due by After over a year of hard work, FAS AFSA and man- Feb. 21 for undergraduates and Feb. 28 for agement successfully concluded negotiations for a new, four- graduate students. For more information year contract. Both parties agree that the contract should about the fellowships, visit the Web site at www.woodrow.org/public-policy/. strengthen employee-management relations. The negotiations required effective communications and trust on both sides Call for FS Spouse Writers of the table. I came away with a better understanding of management’s concerns and We are seeking submissions for the believe management left the room with a deeper appreciation for the key issues on the AFSA News Family Member Matters minds of its Foreign Service officers. column, a forum for Foreign Service The negotiations significantly improved the clarity of our contract with FAS and family members to voice their opinions on issues of concern to the Foreign brought light to the darkened corners of management processes that have a significant Service community. Send your 400- to impact on the daily lives and careers of FS officers. Below are some specific examples: 500-word essay to AFSA News Editor Since our last contract negotiations, the agency’s performance bonus procedures Shawn Dorman at [email protected]. have evolved, but remained relatively unexplained and poorly understood by FS offi- All submissions are seriously considered. cers. Our new contract contains specific information on how these bonuses are deter- AFSA will pay a $60 honorarium for any mined by selection boards and the formula used to calculate their values. essay published in this series. Also, while it appears that the number of officers taking leave without pay has increased over the years, our prior contract was vague on this issue. Many officers were Tales from a unaware, for example, that they could submit a performance evaluation for work done Small Planet while on LWOP. The new contract specifically permits this, provided management Getting ready for your next assignment? agrees that the work is relevant to the FAS mission. Need some information about “what it’s The new contract specifically spells out our foreign language commissioning require- really like to live there?” Real Post Reports ments, as well as foreign language incentive pay standards and payment amounts. This (www.realpostreports.com) aims to provide information was lacking from our former contract and, surprisingly, is not readily avail- honest, uncensored, informal contributions able in the Foreign Affairs Manual. In addition, some languages were added to our from more than 170 cities in more than 120 countries. Reports are strictly unofficial, incentive pay list to reflect changes in the locations of our overseas offices. somewhat irreverent, and occasionally In response to employee concerns regarding selection boards, management has undiplomatic. agreed to publicly solicit selection board members and to provide AFSA time to review The Real Post Reports are part of the non- the list of selected officers and provide feedback before members are contacted. In the profit literary and humor Web-zine Tales past, board participation was solicited privately. Also, the new contract encourages from a Small Planet, created and staffed board members to recommend changes to future board policies and procedures and largely by Foreign Service spouses and other requires that management keep the chairperson of each board panel directly informed hardworking volunteers. Tales from a Small of the status of recommendations. If so requested by a chairperson, management must Planet is a nonprofit corporation that was meet to discuss its reasons for rejecting any recommendations. These changes also created to serve the English-speaking expat apply to other FS boards, including our Qualifications Review and Evaluation Panels. and American Foreign Service community. Under the new contract, management has agreed to announce the number of The mission of Tales from a Small Planet is to enrich and share the experience of living bids, by grade, it receives for each overseas assignment announced under the annual abroad through literature, humor and the assignment notification process. Wording has been added to remind FS officers that arts, as well as by providing information and they must be available for worldwide service and therefore, any thought of refusing education on what it is really like to live in a an overseas assignment should be given careful consideration. foreign country and how to cope with the In sum, government unions and management can work together to improve challenges that may come along. The site employee moral and management effectiveness. They can work together to build con- also offers a Message Board, especially popu- fidence and trust and enhance communications between managers and employees. lar with newcomers, and the e-mail groups Finally, government unions and management can work together to strengthen the agen- Abroadview and Spousesview. cy’s mission and, consequently, service to the public. So, let’s stop bashing govern- Tales from a Small Planet is nonprofit and ▫ ment unions. ▫ welcomes tax-deductible donations.

4 AFSA NEWS • FEBRUARY 2003 AFSA 2002 TAX GUIDE Federal and State Tax Provisions for the Foreign Service

Federal Tax Provisions tal gain is defined as gain from the sale of ples filing separately get a standard deduc- Under the Tax Act of 2001, there are sev- property held for 12 months or more. tion of $3,925 and head-of-household fil- eral tax relief segments that may apply to ers receive a $6,900 deduction. An addi- Foreign Service employees and their fam- Personal Exemption tional amount is allowed for taxpayers over ilies. Foreign Service employees most fre- For each taxpayer, spouse, and depen- age 65 or blind. quently ask AFSA about home ownership, dent the personal exemption has been Most unreimbursed employee business tax liability upon sale of a residence, and increased to $3,000. There is, however, a expenses must be reported as miscellaneous state of domicile. We have devoted spe- personal exemption phaseout of 2 percent itemized deductions, which are subject to cial sections to these issues. for each $2,500 of adjusted gross income a deduction of 2 percent of adjusted gross AFSA’s annual Tax Guide is designed (AGI) over $137,300 (singles), $171,650 income (AGI). This includes professional as an informational and reference tool. It (head of household), $206,000 (joint) and dues and publications, employment and does not presume to be any more than that. $103,000 (married, filing separately). For educational expenses, home office, legal, Although we try to be accurate, many of those taxpayers in the last category, the accounting, custodial and tax preparation the new provisions of the tax code and phaseout is 2 percent for each $1,250 of fees, home leave, representational and other implementing IRS regulations have not adjusted gross income over $103,000. employee business expenses, and contri- been fully tested. Therefore, use caution and butions to AFSA’s Legislative Action Fund. consult with a tax adviser as soon as pos- Unreimbursed moving sible if you have specific questions or an expenses are no longer an unusual or complex situation. itemized deduction. As of For 2002, the five basic tax rates for indi- Jan. 1, 1994, moving viduals are slightly lower: 10, 15, 27, 30 and expenses are an adjustment 35 percent, and a top rate of 38.6 percent. to income, which means The 10-percent rate is for taxable income that you get to deduct up to $12,000 for married couples, $6,000 JOSH them even if you are tak- for singles. The 15-percent rate is for income ing the standard deduction. up to $46,700 for married couples, $27,970 However, the deduction for singles. The 27-percent rate is for income has been narrowed to up to $112,850 for married couples, include only the unreim- $67,700 for singles. The 30-percent rate is bursed costs of moving for income up to $171,950 for married cou- Extension for Taxpayers Abroad your possessions and yourself and your ples and income up to $141,250 for singles. Taxpayers whose tax home is outside the family to your new location. The 35-percent rate is for income up to U.S. on April 15 get an automatic exten- Medical expenses (including health $307,050 for married couples and singles. sion until June 15 to file their returns. When insurance) are subject to a deduction equal- In addition, there is a 10-percent surtax for filing the return, these taxpayers should ing 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income. certain high-income taxpayers. It is com- write “Taxpayer Abroad” on the first page This means that any deductible medical cost puted by applying the 38.6-percent rate to and attach a statement of explanation. would have to exceed $2,250 for a taxpay- taxable income over $307,050 for singles There are no late filing or late payment er with a $30,000 AGI. There is also an addi- and married couples and for married cou- penalties for returns filed by June 15, but tional 3-percent reduction of itemized ples filing separately whose income is over the IRS will charge interest on any amount deductions (excluding medical, casualty, $153,525. Long-term capital gains are taxed owed from April 15 until the date they theft and investment interest) if the AGI at a maximum rate of 20 percent and are receive payment. exceeds $137,300. This 3 percent is applied reported on Schedule D. This rate is effec- to the AGI over $137,300 and not to the tive for all sales in 2002, unless you fall with- Standard Deduction total of itemized deductions on Schedule in the 10-percent bracket, when the rate The standard deduction is given to non- A. The maximum loss of deductions is becomes 8 percent for assets held more than itemizers. It has been steadily increasing capped at 80 percent. five years but remains 10 percent for assets since 1987. For couples it is $7,850; for sin- State and local income taxes and real held less than five years. Long-term capi- gles the deduction is $4,700. Married cou- estate and personal property taxes remain

FEBRUARY 2003 • AFSA NEWS 5 fully deductible for itemizers, as are char- the grocery or restaurant bill. Lodging is also includes loans taken out for major itable contributions (to American charities deductible, as long as it is not with friends, home improvements. On home equity only) for most taxpayers. Donations to the relatives, or in one’s own home. The IRS loans, interest is deductible on up to AFSA Scholarship Fund are fully deductible will disallow use of per diem rates and any $100,000, no matter how much the home as charitable contributions. Donations to expenses claimed for family members. If a cost or what the loan is used for. The AFSA via the Combined Federal Campaign hotel bill indicates double rates, the single $100,000 ceiling applies to the total of all are also fully deductible. Individuals may room rate should be claimed, and, if pos- home equity loans you may have. The same also dispose of any profit from the sale of sible, the hotel’s rate sheet should be saved generally applies to refinancing a mort- personal property abroad in this manner. for IRS scrutiny. Car rental, mileage and gage. Points paid to obtain a refinanced For 2002 tax returns, any interest paid other unreimbursed travel expenses, includ- loan cannot fully be deducted the same on auto or personal loans, credit cards, ing parking fees and tolls, may be deduct- year, but must be deducted over the life department stores and other personal inter- ed. The rate for business miles driven is 36.5 of the loan. It is advisable to save the set- est will not be allowed as an itemized deduc- cents for miles driven during 2002. Those tlement sheet (HUD-1 Form) for docu- tion. Interest on educational loans will be who use this optional mileage method need mentation in the event your tax return is allowed as an adjustment to gross selected by the IRS for audit. income. If the above debts are consol- Qualified residences are defined as idated, however, and paid with a home the taxpayer’s principal residence equity loan, interest on the home equi- and one other residence. The second ty loan is allowable. Mortgage interest home can be a house, condo, co-op, is, for the most part, still fully deductible. mobile home or boat, as long as the Interest on loans intended to finance structure includes basic living accom- investments is deductible up to the modations, including sleeping, bath- amount of net income from invest- room, and cooking facilities. If the sec- ments. Interest for loans intended to ond home is a vacation property that finance a business is 100 percent you rent out for fewer than 15 days deductible. Passive-investment interest during the year, the income need not on loans in which the taxpayer is an be reported. Rental expenses cannot inactive participant — i.e., a limited part- not keep detailed records of actual vehicle be claimed either, but all property taxes nership — can be deducted only from the expenses. The only thing necessary will be and mortgage interest may be deducted. income produced by other “passive a detailed odometer log to justify the busi- income.” Interest on loans that do not fall ness use of the vehicle and percentage of Rental of Home into the above categories, such as borrow- business use. From 1998, this optional Taxpayers who are overseas and rent- ing money to buy tax-exempt securities, is mileage method applies to leased vehicles. ed their homes in 2002 can continue to not deductible. deduct mortgage interest as a rental Official Residence Expenses expense. Also deductible are property Home Leave Expenses Since Oct. 1, 1990, employees who management fees, condo fees, deprecia- Employee business expenses, such as receive official residence expenses have not tion costs, taxes, and all other rental home leave and representation, may be been allowed to reduce their reportable expenses. Losses up to $25,000 may be off- deducted as a miscellaneous itemized income by 5 percent. The IRS ruling regard- set against other income, as long as the deduction and claimed on Form 2106. In ing ORE states that “usual expenses,” AGI does not exceed $100,000 and the tax- addition to the 2-percent floor, only 50 per- defined as 5 percent of salary, are not payer is actively managing the property. cent for meals and entertainment may be deductible. Therefore the only expenses that Retaining a property manager does not claimed (100 percent for unreimbursed are deductible are those above the 5 per- mean losing this benefit. travel and lodging). Only the employee’s cent paid out of pocket. Employees should (not family members’) home leave expens- save receipts for any out-of-pocket expens- Sale of a Principal Residence es are deductible. Maintaining a travel log es associated with their representational The current capital-gains exclusion on and retaining a copy of home leave orders duties. These expenses can be deducted as the sale of a principal residence on or after will be helpful, should the IRS ever ques- miscellaneous business expenses. May 7, 1997, applies to all homeowners, tion claimed expenses. It is important to regardless of their age. Previously, qualified save receipts: without receipts for food, a Home Ownership individuals who were age 55 or older were taxpayer may deduct only $30 to $46 a day Employees may deduct interest on up allowed a one-time capital-gains exclusion (depending upon the per diem rate at the to $1 million of acquisition debt for loans of $125,000. Also, under previous law, if you home leave address), no matter how large secured by a first and/or second home. This had a gain when you sold your home, you

6 AFSA NEWS • FEBRUARY 2003 could defer all or part of the gain if you pur- amounts are subject to taxation. This property through a “tax-free exchange” (the chased or built another home (of equal or exclusion replaces the earlier tax-law pro- so-called Starker exchange). In essence, one higher value) within two years before or vision that allowed both the deferral of property being rented out may be after the sale. gain and a one-time exclusion of a prin- exchanged for another, as long as that one The current tax laws allow an exclu- cipal residence sale. is also rented. In exchanging the proper- sion of up to $500,000 for couples filing Many Foreign Service employees are ties, capital gains tax may be deferred. jointly and up to $250,000 for single tax- hurt by the “two-out-of-five-years” res- Technically, a simultaneous trade of invest- payers on the gain from the sale of their idency requirement. AFSA, working ments occurs. Actually, owners first sell their principal residence. All depreciation taken closely with the military, has repeatedly property, place the equity proceeds in after May 7, 1997, will, however, be recap- tried to persuade Congress to pass legis- escrow, identify in writing within 45 days tured (added to income) at the time of lation granting an exemption for Foreign the property they intend to acquire, and set- sale, and taxed at 25 percent. Service personnel who cannot meet this tle on the new property within 180 days, The only qualification for the capital- requirement due to prolonged overseas using the money held in escrow as part of gains exclusion is that the house sold must service, and came very close in 2002. the payment. have been the taxpayer’s principal resi- However, these efforts have not yet been It is important to emphasize that the dence and owned by the taxpayer for at successful. exchange is from one investment proper- least two of the last five years prior to the Temporary rental of the home does ty to another investment property – the key date of the sale. There are some exceptions not necessarily disqualify one from claim- factor in the IRS evaluation of an exchange to this two-year requirement including ing the exclusion. The new tax law transaction is the intent of the investor at sales connected to a change in place of requires only that you have occupied the the time the exchange was consummated. employment (this would include foreign house as your principal residence for the The IRS rules for the exchanges are com- transfers). This exclusion is not limited to required period (two years out of five). plex and specific, with a number of pitfalls a once-in-a-lifetime sale, but may be taken Under Internal Revenue Code Section that can nullify the transaction. An once every two years. 1031, taxpayers whose U.S. home may no exchange should never be attempted with- When a principal residence is sold, longer qualify for the principal residence out assistance from a tax lawyer specializ- capital gains realized above the exclusion exclusion may be eligible to replace the ing in this field.

ad to MCG come FINANCIAL PLANNING Former State Department Employee Stationed Overseas Understands Unique Financial Situation of Foreign Service Services Include: Retirement Planning Tax Preparation and Strategies Analysis: Insurance and Investments Lump Sum Retirement Options MARY CORNELIA GINN 4630 Montgomery Avenue, Suite 220 Bethesda, Maryland 20814 Phone: (301) 951-9160 Fax: (703) 938-2278 E-mail: [email protected]

SECURITIES OFFERED THROUGH NATHAN & LEWIS SECURITIES, INC., MEMBER NASD & SIPC. MCG FINANCIAL PLANNING AND NATHAN & LEWIS ARE NOT AFFILIATED ENTITIES.

FEBRUARY 2003 • AFSA NEWS 7 Calculating Your Adjusted Basis izens must have a domicile somewhere. There are currently seven states with Many Foreign Service employees ask There are many criteria used in deter- no state income tax: Alaska, Florida, what items can be added to the cost basis mining which state is a citizen’s domi- Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washing- of their homes when they are ready to sell. cile. One of the strongest determinants ton and Wyoming. In addition, New Money spent on “fixing up” the home for is prolonged physical presence, a standard Hampshire and Tennessee have no tax sale may be deducted from the sales price. that Foreign Service personnel fre- on personal income but do tax profits To qualify as legitimate “fixing-up costs,” quently cannot meet, due to overseas ser- from the sale of bonds and property. the following conditions must be met: 1) vice. There are also six states which, under the expenses must be for work performed In such cases, the states will make a certain conditions, do not tax income during the 90-day period ending on the determination of the individual’s income earned while the taxpayer is outside of the day on which the contract to sell the old tax status based on other factors, includ- state: Connecticut, Missouri, New Jersey, residence was made; 2) the expenses must ing where the individual has family ties, New York, Pennsylvania and West be paid on or before the 30th day after where he or she has been filing resident Virginia. The requirements are that the sale of the house; and 3) the expenses tax returns, where he or she is registered individual not have a permanent “place must not be capital expenditures for per- to vote or has a driver’s license, where he of abode” in the state, have a permanent manent improvements or replacements or she owns property, or where the per- “place of abode” outside the state, and not (these can be added to the basis of the son has bank accounts or other financial spend more than 30 days in the state dur- property, original purchase price, there- holdings. In the case of Foreign Service ing the tax year. Also, please note that by reducing the amount of profit). A new employees, the domicile might be the these six states require the filing of non- roof and kitchen counters are not “fix- state from which the person joined the resident returns for all income earned up” items. But painting the house, Service, where his or her home leave from in-state sources. cleaning up the garden, and making address is, or where he or she intends to Pennsylvania holds that “quarters pro- minor repairs all qualify as “fixing-up return upon separation. For purposes of vided by the government at no cost to costs.” this article, the term domicile refers to petitioner cannot be considered as main- legal residence; some states also define it taining a permanent place of abode.” State Tax Provisions as permanent residence. Residence refers Thus, members of the Foreign Service Every active Foreign Service employ- to physical presence in the state. domiciled in Pennsylvania who occupy ee serving abroad must maintain a state Foreign Service personnel must con- government housing overseas must pay of domicile in the United States, and the tinue to pay taxes to the state of domi- income tax to Pennsylvania. If they rent tax liability that the employee faces varies cile (or to the District of Columbia) while their own home overseas, however, they greatly from state to state. In addition, residing outside of the state, including will be exempt from these taxes. AFSA has there are numerous regulations con- during assignments abroad, unless the not heard of a similar ruling in any of the cerning the taxability of Foreign Service state of residence does not require it. other five states but Foreign Service pensions and annuities, as each state has A non-resident, according to most employees should be aware that states its own rules about the conditions under states’ definitions, is an individual who could challenge the status of government which individuals are liable for taxes on earns income sourced within the specif- housing in the future. California, Oregon such income. ic state but does not live there or is liv- and Minnesota also have rules excusing The following state guide briefly ing there for only part of the year (usu- their domiciliaries from filing a resident reviews the laws regarding income tax ally, less than six months). Individuals are tax return while living outside the state. and tax on annuities and pensions as they generally considered residents and are The following list gives a state-by-state affect Foreign Service personnel. Please thus fully liable for taxes, if they are domi- overview of the latest information avail- note that while AFSA makes every ciled in the state or if they are living in able on tax liability, with addresses pro- attempt to provide the most up-to-date the state (usually at least six months of vided to write for further information or information, readers with specific ques- the year) but are not domiciled there. tax forms. Tax rates are provided where tions should consult a tax expert in the Foreign Service employees residing in possible. For further information, please state in question at the addresses given. the metropolitan Washington area are contact AFSA’s Labor/Management Information is also available on the states’ required to pay income tax to the Office or the individual state tax author- Web sites listed below. District, Maryland or Virginia in addi- ities. As always, members are advised to Most Foreign Service employees have tion to paying tax to the state of their double-check with states’ tax authorities. questions about their liability to pay state domicile. However, most states allow a James Yorke, who compiled the tax guide, income taxes during periods posted over- credit, so that the taxpayer pays the high- would like to thank M. Bruce Hirshorn, Foreign seas or assigned to Washington. It is a er tax rate of the two states, with each state Service Tax Counsel, for his help in preparing fundamental rule of law that all U.S. cit- receiving a share. this article.

8 AFSA NEWS • FEBRUARY 2003 State Overviews Web site: www.revenue.state.az.us COLORADO: Individuals domiciled in ALABAMA: Individuals domiciled in ARKANSAS: Individuals domiciled in Colorado are considered residents and are Alabama are considered residents and are Arkansas are considered residents and are subject to tax on their entire income regard- subject to tax on their entire income regard- taxed on their entire income regardless of less of their physical presence in the state. less of their physical presence in the state. their physical presence in the state. Arkansas’s Colorado’s tax rate is a flat 4.63 percent of Alabama’s tax rate ranges from 2 to 5 per- tax rate ranges from 1 to 7 percent depend- federal taxable income attributable to cent, depending on income and filing status. ing on income and filing status. Write: Colorado sources. Write: Department of Write: Alabama Department of Revenue, Department of Finance and Administration, Revenue, Taxpayer Service Division, State PO Box 327460, Montgomery, AL 36132- Income Tax Forms Division, P.O. Box 3628, Capitol Annex, 1375 Sherman St., Denver, 7460. Phone: (334) 242-1170. E-mail: Little Rock, AR 72203-3628. Phone: (501) CO 80261-0005. Phone: (303) 238-7378. [email protected]. 682-1100 or 1 (800) 882-9275. E-mail: [email protected]. Web site: www.state.al.us Web site: www.state.ar.us/dfa/taxes Web site: www.taxcolorado.com. ALASKA: Alaska does not tax individual CALIFORNIA: Recent changes in FTB CONNECTICUT: No tax liability for out- income or intangible or personal property. Publication 1031 mean that Foreign Service of-state income if the individual has no per- It has no sales and use, franchise or fiducia- officers domiciled in California must estab- manent place of abode in Connecticut, has ry tax. Write: State Office Building, 333 lish non-residency to avoid being liable for a permanent place of abode elsewhere, and Willoughby Ave, 11th Floor, PO Box California taxes. However, a “safe harbor” is not present in the state more than 30 days 110400, Juneau, AK 99811-0400. Phone: provision was enacted in 1994 that provides during the tax year. No tax liability for those (907) 465-2300. that anyone who is domiciled in-state but is with permanent place of abode in Web site: www.state.ak.us/tax out of the state on an employment-related Connecticut who live in a foreign country ARIZONA: Individuals domiciled in contract for at least 546 consecutive days will 450 days out of 548 days, without spending Arizona are considered residents and are be considered a non-resident. This applies over 90 days in Connecticut. Details of this taxed on any income that is included in the to FS employees and their spouses, but rule can be found on the Department of federal AGI, regardless of their physical pres- California residents are advised to study FTB Revenue Services Web site at: ence in the state. Arizona tax rate ranges from Pub 1031 for exceptions and exemptions. www.drs.state.ct.us/formlib/2002/Pubs/IP/IP 2.87 to 5.04 percent depending on income Non-residents should use Form 540NR. 02-22.pdf. Write: Department of Revenue and filing status. Write: Arizona Department Write: Franchise Tax Board, Tax Forms Services, 25 Sigourney St., Hartford, CT of Revenue, Taxpayer Assistance, PO Box Request, P.O. Box 307, Rancho Cordova, CA 06106. Phone: (860) 297-5962. Fax: (860) 29069, Phoenix, AZ 85038-9069. Phone: 95741-0307. Phone: 1 (800) 852-5711. 297-4929. (602) 255-3381. Web site: www.ftb.ca.gov Web site: www.drs.state.ct.us

FEBRUARY 2003 • AFSA NEWS 9 DELAWARE: Individuals domiciled in Phone: (808) 587-4242 or 1(800) 222-3229. Taxpayer Assistance Center, 915 SW Delaware are considered residents and are Web site: www.state.hi.us/tax Harrison, 1st Floor, Topeka, KS 66625-0001. subject to tax on their entire income regard- IDAHO: Individuals domiciled in Idaho Phone: (785) 368-8222. less of their physical presence in the state. for an entire tax year are considered residents Web site: www.ksrevenue.org Delaware’s tax rate ranges from 2.2 to 5.95 and are subject to tax on their entire KENTUCKY: Individuals domiciled in percent depending on income and filing sta- income. Idaho offers a safe-harbor provision Kentucky are considered residents and are tus. There is no tax on taxable income less where a resident individual who is outside subject to tax on their entire income regard- than $2,000. Write: Division of Revenue, Idaho for a qualifying period of time will not less of their physical presence in the state. Taxpayers Assistance Section, State Office be considered a resident. If an individual qual- Kentucky’s tax rate is 2 percent on the first Building, 820 N. French St., Wilmington, DE ifies for the safe harbor, he would report as $3,000 of taxable income, $60 plus 3 percent 19801. Phone: (302) 577-8200. a nonresident and be taxed only on income on the next $1,000, $90 plus 4 percent on the Web site: www.state.de.us/revenue from Idaho sources. A nonresident must file next $1,000, $130 plus 5 percent on the next DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Individuals an Idaho income tax return if gross income $1,000, and $280 plus 6 percent on all income domiciled in the District of Columbia are from Idaho sources is $2,500 or more. For over $8,000. Write: Revenue Cabinet, P.O. considered residents and are subject to tax Tax Year 2002 Idaho’s tax rate is between 1.6 Box 181, Station 56, Frankfort, KY 40602. on their entire income regardless of their and 7.8 percent depending on earned Phone: (502) 564-4581. physical presence there. Individuals domi- income. To request forms write: Idaho State Web site: http://revenue.state.ky.us ciled elsewhere are also considered residents Tax Commission, P.O. Box 36, Boise, ID LOUISIANA: Individuals domiciled in for tax purposes for the portion of any cal- 83722-0410. Phone: 1 (800) 972-7660. Louisiana are considered residents and are endar year in which they are physically pre- Web site: www2.state.id.us/tax subject to tax on their entire income regard- sent in the District for 183 days or more. The ILLINOIS: Individuals domiciled in Illinois less of their physical presence in the state. District’s tax rate is 5 percent if income is less are considered residents and are subject to Resident individuals are entitled to a tax cred- than $10,000, $500 plus 7.5 percent of excess tax on their entire income regardless of their it for income tax paid to another state on the over $10,000 if between $10,000 and $30,000, physical presence in the state. Illinois’s tax rate amount of income earned in the other state and $2,000 plus 9.3 percent of excess over is a 3 percent flat rate, with a personal exemp- and included in that state’s taxable income. $30,000 if over $30,000. Write: Office of Tax tion for all taxpayers of $2,000. Write: Illinois Louisiana’s tax rate ranges from 2 to 6 per- and Revenue, 941 N. Capitol St., N.E., Department of Revenue, Forms Division, 101 cent depending on income and filing status. Washington, DC 20002. Phone: (202) 727- West Jefferson St., Springfield, IL 62794-9044. Write: Department of Revenue and Taxation, 4TAX. Phone: (217) 782-3336 or 1 (800) 732-8866. Forms Division, P.O. Box 201, Baton Web site: www.dccfo.com Web site: www.revenue.state.il.us Rouge, LA 70821-0201. Phone: (225) 219- FLORIDA: Florida does not impose per- INDIANA: Individuals domiciled in 0102. sonal income, inheritance or gift taxes. Indiana are considered residents and are sub- Web site: www.rev.state.la.us However, Florida taxes “intangible assets,” ject to tax on their entire income regardless MAINE: Individuals domiciled in Maine (which include stocks, bonds, mutual funds, of their physical presence in the state. are considered residents and are subject to etc.), and real property. For details, write to However, a credit is granted for any taxes paid tax on their entire income regardless of their Tax Information Services, Florida to the state where the income was earned. physical presence in the state. Credit is Department of Revenue, 1379 Blountstown Those who claim federal foreign tax credit allowed for taxes paid in another jurisdiction. Highway, Tallahassee, FL 32304-2716. will need to submit Federal Form 1116 to Maine’s tax rate ranges from 2 to 8.5 percent Phone: 1 (800) 352-3671 (in Florida only) claim it in Indiana. Indiana’s tax rate depending on income and filing status. Write: or (850) 488-6800. remains 3.4 percent. Write: Department of Bureau of Taxation, Forms Division, Web site: sun6.dms.state.fl.us/dor. Revenue, 100 N. Senate Ave., Indianapolis, State Office Building, Augusta, ME 04333. GEORGIA: Individuals domiciled in IN 46204. Phone: (317) 232-2240. Phone: (207) 626-8475. Georgia are considered residents and are sub- Web site: www.state.in.us/dor Web site: state.me.us/revenue ject to tax on their entire income regardless IOWA: Individuals domiciled in Iowa are MARYLAND: Individuals domiciled in of their physical presence in the state. considered residents and are subject to tax Maryland are considered residents and are Georgia’s tax rate ranges from 1 to 6 percent on their entire income to the extent that subject to tax on their entire income regard- depending on income and filing status. For income is taxable on the person’s federal less of their physical presence in the state. forms write: Georgia Income Tax Forms, income tax returns. Iowa’s tax rate ranges Individuals domiciled elsewhere are also con- P.O. Box 740389, Atlanta, GA 30374-0389 from 0.36 to 8.98 percent depending on sidered residents for tax purposes for the por- or by phone or fax at (404) 417-6011. Phone: income and filing status. Write: Department tion of any calendar year in which they are (404) 417-4477. E-mail inquiries: inctax@ of Revenue and Finance, Forms Division, physically present in the state for six months gw.rev.state.ga.us Hoover State Office Building, Des Moines, or more. Maryland’s tax rate is 4.75 percent Web site: www.gatax.org. IA 50319. Phone: (515) 281-3114 or 1 (800) depending on income and county of resi- HAWAII: Individuals domiciled in Hawaii 367-3388. dence. Baltimore City and the 23 Maryland are considered residents and are subject to Web site: www.state.ia.us/tax counties also impose a local income tax, tax on their entire income regardless of their KANSAS: Individuals domiciled in Kansas which is a percentage of the Maryland tax- physical presence in the state. Hawaii’s tax are considered residents and are subject to able income using Line 31 of Form 502 or rate ranges from 1.5 to 8.5 percent depend- tax on their entire income regardless of their Line 9 of Form 503. The local factor varies ing on income and filing status. Write: Oahu physical presence in the state. Kansas tax from 0.0125 to 0.0310 depending on the sub- District Office, Taxpayer Services Branch, ranges from 3.5 to 6.45 percent depending division of domicile. Write: Comptroller of P.O. Box 3559, Honolulu, HI, 96811-3559. on income and filing status. Write: Kansas Maryland, Revenue Administration Division,

10 AFSA NEWS • FEBRUARY 2003 Annapolis MD 21411. Phone: (410) 260- income over $9,000 is taxed at a rate of 6 per- Division of Taxation, Office of Information 7980 or 1 (800) 638-2937. E-mail address for cent. File a return yearly with an attached and Publications, PO Box 281, Trenton, NJ specific questions: [email protected]. “Statement of Non-Residency” (Form 1040C). 08695-0281. Phone: (609) 292-6400. md.us. Also use this form if you have income of more Web site: www.state.nj.us/treasury/ Web site: www.marylandtaxes.com. than $600 from Missouri sources. Write: taxation MASSACHUSETTS: Individuals domi- Division of Support Services, P.O. Box 3022, NEW MEXICO: Individuals domiciled in ciled in Massachusetts are considered resi- Jefferson City, MO 65105-3022. Phone: New Mexico are considered residents and are dents and are subject to tax on their entire (573) 751-3505 or 1 (800) 877-6881 E-mail: subject to tax on their entire income, inso- income regardless of their physical presence [email protected]. far as that income is taxable federally, regard- in the state. Salaries and most interest and Web site: www.dor.state.mo.us. less of their physical presence in the state. The dividend income are taxed at 5.3 percent for MONTANA: Individuals domiciled in basis for New Mexico’s calculations is calendar year 2002. Write: Massachusetts Montana are considered residents and are Federal Adjusted Gross Income. New Department of Revenue, Taxpayer Services subject to tax on their entire income regard- Mexico has a graduated rate table with seven Division, P.O. Box 7010, Boston, MA less of their physical presence in the state. brackets ranging from 1.7 to 8.2 percent based 02204. Phone: (617) 887-MDOR; within Montana’s tax rate ranges from 2 to 11 per- upon New Mexico taxable income and fil- Massachusetts: 1 (800) 392-6089. cent depending on income and filing status. ing status. Write: New Mexico Taxation and Web site: www.dor.state.ma.us Write: Montana Department of Revenue, Revenue Department, Tax Information MICHIGAN: Individuals domiciled in P.O. Box 5805, Helena, MT 59604. Phone: and Policy Office, 1100 St. Francis Drive, P.O. Michigan are considered residents and are (406) 444-6900. Box 630, Santa Fe, NM 87504-0630. Phone: subject to tax on their entire income regard- Web site: www.discoveringmontana. (505) 827-0700. less of their physical presence in the state. com/revenue Web site: www.state.nm.us/tax Michigan’s tax rate for 2002 is 4.1 percent. NEBRASKA: Individuals domiciled in NEW YORK: No tax liability for out-of- For information or forms, go to the Web site Nebraska are considered residents and are state income if the individual has no per- or write: Department of Treasury, Forms subject to tax on their entire income regard- manent residence in New York, has a per- Division, Treasury Building, Lansing, MI less of their physical presence in the state with manent residence elsewhere, and is not pre- 48922; phone: 1 (800) 487-7000. credit allowed for tax paid to other states. sent in the state more than 30 days during Web site: www.michigan.gov/treasury Nebraska’s tax rate ranges from 2.51 to 6.68 the tax year. Filing a return is not required, MINNESOTA: Individuals domiciled in percent depending on income and filing sta- but it is recommended to preserve domicile Minnesota are considered residents and are tus. For assistance write: Department of status. Highest tax rate in New York State is subject to tax on their entire income regard- Revenue, 301 Centennial Mall South, P.O. 6.85 per cent and in New York City it is 3.648 less of their physical presence in the state. Box 94818, Lincoln, NE 68509-4818. Phone: per cent. Filing is required on Form IT-203 Minnesota exempts domiciliaries who meet (402) 471-5729. for revenue derived from New York sources. the foreign earned income exclusion, even Web site: www.revenue.state.ne.us Write: NYS Department of Taxation and though they may be federal employees. NEVADA: No state income tax. Address: Finance, Taxpayer Assistance, W.A. Minnesota’s tax rate ranges from 5.35 to 7.85 Nevada Dept of Taxation, 1550 E. College Harriman Campus, Albany, NY 12227. percent depending on income and filing sta- Pkwy, Suite 100, Carson City NV 89706. Phone: 1 (800) 225-5829. tus. Joint filers with taxable income of at least Phone: (775) 687-4892. Web site: www.tax.state.ny.us $28,000, where each spouse has earned pen- Web site: www.tax.state.nv.us NORTH CAROLINA: Individuals domiciled sion or social security income of at least NEW HAMPSHIRE: No personal income in North Carolina are considered residents $16,000, may be eligible for a marriage cred- tax on earned income, and no general sales and are subject to tax on their entire it. Write: Department of Revenue, Forms tax. There is a 5 percent tax on interest and income regardless of their physical presence Division, Mail Station 5510, Saint Paul, MN dividend income, 8.5 percent on business in the state. The tax rate ranges from 6 to 8.25 55146-2220. Phone: (651) 296-3781. profits including sale of rental property. percent depending on income and filing sta- Web site: www.taxes.state.mn.us Applicable taxes apply to part-year residents. tus. North Carolina also imposes a “use tax” MISSISSIPPI: Individuals domiciled in Write: Taxpayer Assistance Office, 45 Chenell on purchases made outside the state for use Mississippi are considered residents and are Drive, P.O. Box 2072, Concord, NH 03302- in North Carolina. Write: Department of subject to tax on their entire income regard- 2072. Phone: (603) 271-2186. Revenue, P.O. Box 25000, Raleigh, NC 27640. less of their physical presence in the state. Web site: www.state.nh.us/revenue Phone: (919) 733-4684. Mississippi’s tax rate is 3 percent on the first NEW JERSEY: No tax liability for out-of- Web site: www.dor.state.nc.us $5,000 of taxable income, 4 percent on the state income if the individual has no per- NORTH DAKOTA: Individuals domiciled next $5,000, and 5 percent on taxable income manent residence in New Jersey, has a per- in North Dakota are considered residents and over $10,000. Contact MSTC, PO Box 1033, manent residence elsewhere, and is not phys- are subject to tax on their entire income Jackson, MS 39215. Phone: (601) 923-7000. ically in the state for more than 30 days dur- regardless of their physical presence in the Web site: www.mstc.state.ms.us ing the tax year. Filing a return is not required, state. Tax rates vary according to income and MISSOURI: No tax liability for out-of-state but is recommended in order to preserve whether the standard method (Form ND- income if the individual has no permanent res- domicile status. Filing is required on Form 1) or the optional method (Form ND-2) is idence in Missouri, has a permanent residence 1040 NR for revenue derived from in-state used. Write: Office of State Tax elsewhere, and is not physically present in the sources. Tax liability is calculated as a vari- Commissioner, State Capitol, 600 E. state for more than 30 days during the tax year. able lump sum plus a percentage between 1.4 Boulevard Avenue, Bismarck, ND 58505- Missouri calculates tax on a graduated scale and 6.4 percent of taxable income. For infor- 0599. Phone: (701) 328-2770. up to $9,000 of taxable income. Any taxable mation write: State of New Jersey, New Jersey Web site: www.ndtaxdepartment.com

FEBRUARY 2003 • AFSA NEWS 11 OHIO: Individuals domiciled in Ohio are Department, Harrisburg, PA 17128-1061. Department of Revenue, Andrew Jackson considered residents and are subject to tax Phone: (717) 787-8201. E-mail: parev@ State Office Building, Nashville, TN 37242. on their entire income. Ohio residents are state.pa.us Phone: (615) 253-0600. given a tax credit to reduce the Ohio income Web site: www.revenue.state.pa.us. Web site: www.state.tn.us/revenue tax due if another state or the District of PUERTO RICO: Individuals who are TEXAS: No state income tax. Write: Tax Columbia taxed part or all of their income. domiciled in Puerto Rico are considered res- Policy Division, Comptroller of Public Ohio part-year residents are allowed a tax idents and are subject to tax on their entire Accounts, P.O. Box 13528, Capitol Station, credit for income not earned or received in income regardless of their physical presence Austin, TX 78711-3528. Phone: 1 (800) 252- Ohio for the period of time they resided in in the commonwealth. Normally, you may 5555. E-mail: [email protected] another state. Ohio’s tax rate ranges from claim a credit with certain limitations, for Web site: www.window.state.tx.us 0.743 to 7.5 percent depending on income income taxes paid to the United States on UTAH: Individuals domiciled in Utah are and filing status. Write: Ohio Department income from sources outside Puerto considered residents and are subject to Utah of Taxation, Taxpayers Services Division, 830 Rico, for any federal taxes paid. Address: state tax. Utah requires that all federal adjust- Freeway Drive North, Columbus, OH Departamento de Hacienda, P.O. ed gross income reported on the federal 43229. Phone: 1 (800) 282-1780. Box 9024140, San Juan, PR 00902-4140. return be reported on the state return regard- Web site: www.state.oh.us/tax Phone: General Inquiries: (787) 721- less of the taxpayer’s physical presence in the OKLAHOMA: Individuals domiciled in 2020, ext. 3611 or 1 (800) 981-9236. state. Utah’s highest tax rate is 7 percent. Oklahoma are considered residents and are E-mail: [email protected]. Write: Utah State Tax Commission, Taxpayer subject to tax on their entire income regard- Web site: www.hacienda.gobierno.pr Services Division, 210 North 1950 West, Salt less of their physical presence in the state. RHODE ISLAND: Individuals domiciled in Lake City, UT 84134. Phone: (801) 297-2200 Oklahoma’s tax rate is based upon income Rhode Island are considered residents and or 1 (800) 662-4335. and various exemptions. Write: Oklahoma are subject to tax on their entire income Web site: www.utah.gov/living/taxes.html Tax Commission, Taxpayer Services regardless of their physical presence in the VERMONT: Individuals domiciled in Division, 2501 Lincoln Blvd., Oklahoma City, state. Although Rhode Island tax is now Vermont are considered residents and are OK 73194-0009. Phone: (405) 521-3160. being calculated based on the federal tax subject to tax on their entire income Web site: www.oktax.state.ok.us income, it will still be generally about 25 per- regardless of their physical presence in the OREGON: Individuals domiciled in cent of the federal tax liability. Please refer state. Tax rates should be obtained from Oregon are considered residents and are sub- to the Tax Division’s Web site not only for the tax tables in the Vermont income tax ject to tax on their entire income regardless current information and handy filing hints booklet or from the Vermont Web site. of their physical presence in the state. but also for forms and regulations to Write: Vermont Department of Taxes, However, under a 1999 law, Oregon exempts download. Assistance can be obtained dur- Taxpayer Services Division, Pavilion domiciliaries who meet the foreign residence ing normal business hours — 8:30 a.m. to Office Building, Montpelier, VT 05609- requirement for the foreign earned income 4 p.m. EST — by calling (401) 222-1040 and 1401. Phone: (802) 828-2865. E-mail: exclusion, even though they may be feder- selecting Option #3 from a menu of choic- [email protected]. al employees. Oregon’s tax rates range from es. You may also write to the Rhode Island Web site: www.state.vt.us/tax. 5 to 9 percent of taxable income. However Division of Taxation, Taxpayer Assistance VIRGINIA: Individuals domiciled in there was a Jan. 28, 2003, vote to decide Section, One Capitol Hill, Providence, RI Virginia are considered residents and are whether to raise the maximum tax rate to 9.5 02908-5801. subject to tax on their entire income regard- percent. Refer to the Oregon Web site for Web site: www.tax.state.ri.us less of their physical presence in the state. the latest information, or write: Oregon SOUTH CAROLINA: Individuals domiciled Individuals domiciled elsewhere are also Department of Revenue, 955 Center Street in South Carolina are considered residents considered residents for tax purposes for N.E., Salem, OR 97301-2555. Phone: (503) and are subject to tax on their entire the portion of any calendar year in which 378-4988. income regardless of their physical presence they are physically present in the state for Web site: www.dor.state.or.us in the state. South Carolina’s tax rate ranges 183 days or more. Individual tax rates are: PENNSYLVANIA: No tax liability for out- from 2.5 percent at the lowest end to 7 per- 2 percent if taxable income is less than of-state income if the individual has no per- cent for income over $12,000. Write: $3,000, $60 plus 3 percent of excess over manent residence in the state, has a perma- South Carolina Tax Commission, Forms $3,000 if taxable income is between $3,000 nent residence elsewhere, and spends no Division, 301 Gervais Street, P.O. Box 125, and $5,000, $120 plus 5 percent of excess more than 30 days in the state during the tax Columbia, SC 29214. Phone: 1 (800) 763- over $5,000 if taxable income is between year. Filing a return is not required, but it is 1295. E-mail: [email protected] $5,000 and $17,000, and $720 plus 5.75 per- recommended to preserve domicile status. Web site: www.sctax.org cent of TI over $17,000. Write: Department File on Form PA40 for all income derived SOUTH DAKOTA: No state income tax. of Taxation, Ofice of Customer Services, from Pennsylvania sources. Pennsylvania Address: South Dakota Dept of Revenue, 445 P.O. Box 1115, Richmond, VA 23218- does not consider government quarters over- E. Capitol Ave., Pierre, SD 57501-3185. 1115. Phone: (804) 367-8031. E-mail: seas to be a “permanent place of abode else- Phone: 1 (800) 829-9188. [email protected]. where,” so Foreign Service Pennsylvania res- Web site: www.state.sd.us/revenue Web site: www.tax.state.va.us idents abroad in government quarters must TENNESSEE: Salaries and wages are not WASHINGTON: No state income tax. No continue to pay state income tax. subject to Tennessee income tax, but tax on intangibles such as bank accounts, Pennsylvania’s tax rate is a flat 2.8 percent. Tennessee imposes a 6 percent tax on divi- stocks and bonds. Address: Washington Write: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, dends and certain types of interest income Dept of Revenue, General Administration Department of Revenue, Taxpayer Services received by Tennessee residents. Write: Building, P.O. Box 47450, Olympia WA

12 AFSA NEWS • FEBRUARY 2003 98504-7450. Phone: (360) 786-6100 or $2,000 exempt if earned income is less than years or older. ($12,000 if both filers are annu- 1 (800) 647-7706. $2,500 and Adjusted Gross Income is less itants over 65). Web site: www.dor.wa.gov than $10,000; if married and filing jointly, up MAINE: Recipients of a government-spon- WEST VIRGINIA: No tax liability for out- to $4,000 exempt if earned income is less than sored pension or annuity are deductible up of-state income if the individual has no per- $5,000 and AGI is under $20,000. This is to $6,000 on income that is included in their manent residence in West Virginia, has a per- applicable if 60 years or older or totally dis- federal AGI, reduced by all social security and manent residence elsewhere, and spends no abled. (2) If under age 60, the amount of the railroad benefits. more than 30 days of the tax year in West exclusion is $2,000 or the amount of the pen- MARYLAND: For individuals 65 years or Virginia. Filing a return is not required, but sion (whichever is less) and for age 60 or older or permanently disabled, or if their it is recommended to preserve domicile sta- older, the amount of the exclusion is spouse is permanently disabled, all pensions tus. Filing is required on Form IT-140-NR $12,500 or the amount of the pension and may be excluded up to a maximum of for all income derived from West Virginia eligible retirement income (whichever is less). $18,500 under certain conditions. Eligibility sources. Tax rates range from 3 to 6.5 per- The combined total of pension and ERI may determination is required. Social Security is cent depending on income and filing status. not exceed $12,500 per person age 60 or not taxed. See the worksheet and instructions Write: The Department of Tax and Revenue, older. for Maryland, Form 502. Taxpayer Services Division, P.O. Box 3784, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Pension or MASSACHUSETTS: Full exemption; U.S. Charleston, WV 25337-3784. Phone: (304) annuity exclusion of $3,000 if 62 years or government contributory pensions are not 558-3333 or 1 (800) 982-8297. older. taxed. Web site: www.state.wv.us/taxdiv FLORIDA: No personal income, inheri- MICHIGAN: Federal government pensions WISCONSIN: Individuals domiciled in tance, or gift tax, but Florida has an may be deducted from Michigan taxable Wisconsin are considered residents and are “Intangibles Tax.” income to the extent included in federal AGI. subject to tax on their entire income regard- GEORGIA: Up to $14,500 exempt for those Retirement benefits from private sources may less of where the income is earned. 62 years or older or permanently and total- be deducted to a maximum of $37,110 for Wisconsin’s current tax rate ranges from 4.6 ly disabled for the 2002 tax year, rising to a single filer or $74,220 for joint filers for the to 6.75 percent depending on income and $15,000 for the 2003 tax year. 2002 tax year. This maximum is reduced by filing status. Write: Wisconsin Department HAWAII: Government-funded portion the deduction taken for the government pen- of Revenue, Customer Service and Education not taxed; employee-funded portion taxed sion. Bureau, P.O. Box 8949, Madison, WI at standard rates. MINNESOTA: Certain persons over 65 53708-8949. Phone: (608) 266-2772. IDAHO: Foreign Service retirees whose with incomes under $42,000 may be eligi- Web site: www.dor.state.wi.us annuities are paid from the FSPS are fully ble for a subtraction. The maximum sub- WYOMING: No state income tax. No tax taxed on their pensions. Those persons retired traction is $12,000 married joint and $6,000 on intangibles such as bank accounts, stocks under the Civil Service Retirement Act are single, which is reduced dollar for dollar by or bonds. Address: Wyoming Dept. of exempt up to $19,920 for a single return and untaxed Social Security benefits, and by one Revenue, Herschler Building, 122 West 25th up to $29,880 if filing jointly. Up to $19,920 dollar for each two dollars of income over St., Cheyenne, WY 82002-0110. Phone: (307) is exempt for unmarried survivor of annui- $18,000 for married and $14,500 for single. 777-7961. E-mail: [email protected]. tant. Must be 65 years or older, or 62 years The marriage credit also applies to annuity Web site: revenue.state.wy.us or older and disabled. Amount reduced dol- and pension recipients. lar for dollar by social security benefits. MISSISSIPPI: Full exemption, U.S. gov- State Pension & Annuity Tax ILLINOIS: Full exemption; U.S. govern- ernment pensions are not taxed. The laws regarding the taxation of ment pensions are not taxed. MISSOURI: Up to $6,000 exempt if the Foreign Service annuities vary greatly from INDIANA: Up to $2,000 exemption for pension income is less than $32,000 when state to state. In addition to those states that most 62 or older, reduced dollar for dollar married filing jointly, $16,000 if married fil- have no income tax or no tax on personal by Social Security benefits. ing separately, or $25,000 for a single or head income, there are several states that do not IOWA: Fully taxable. However, there is of household filer. tax income derived from pensions and annu- a pension/retirement income exclusion of up MONTANA: Up to $3,600 pension income ities. For example, Idaho taxes Foreign Service to $6,000 for individual and up to $12,000 exclusion if federal adjusted gross income is annuities while exempting certain portions for married taxpayers who are disabled or are less than $30,000. Pension income exclusion of those of the Civil Service. 55 years of age or older, or are a surviving reduced for income levels above $30,000. If ALABAMA: Full exemption. Federal pen- spouse or other survivor of the annuitant. The federal adjusted gross income is greater than sions are not taxable. same income tax rates apply to annuities as $31,800 for single taxpayer or $33,600 if mar- ALASKA: No personal income tax. other incomes. ried filing a joint return and both spouses ARIZONA: Up to $2,500 of U.S. govern- KANSAS: Full exemption; government have pension income, then no exclusion. ment pension income may be excluded for pensions are not taxed. NEBRASKA: Fully taxable. each taxpayer. KENTUCKY: Government pensions attrib- NEVADA: No personal income tax. ARKANSAS: Up to $6,000 exempt. utable to service before Jan. 1, 1998, are not NEW HAMPSHIRE: No personal income CALIFORNIA: Fully taxable. taxed. In the future, the portion of annuity tax; federal pensions are not taxed. COLORADO: Up to $24,000 exempt if over income attributable to service after Dec. 31, NEW JERSEY: Pensions and annuities age 65 or over. Up to $20,000 exempt if aged 1997, will be taxed at the appropriate rate, from civilian government service are subject between 55 and 64. but is eligible for the pension exclusion of up to state income tax with exemptions for those CONNECTICUT: Fully taxable for residents. to $38,775 in 2002 (up from $37,500 in 2001). who are age 62 or older, or totally and per- DELAWARE: Two exclusions: (1) Up to LOUISIANA: Up to $6,000 exempt if 65 manently disabled. Singles and heads of

FEBRUARY 2003 • AFSA NEWS 13 households can exclude up to $13,125; mar- credit based on the amount of the retirement deduction against any type of income, but ried filing jointly up to $17,500; married fil- income, reaching a maximum of $200 for must reduce the $15,000 by any retirement ing separately up to $8,750 each. any retirement income over $8,000. deduction claimed. NEW MEXICO: All pensions and annuities OKLAHOMA: Up to $5,500 exempt on all SOUTH DAKOTA: No personal income tax. of New Mexico residents, if taxable federal- federal pensions. TENNESSEE: Social security and pension ly, are fully taxed as part of Federal Adjusted OREGON: Generally, all retirement income income is not subject to personal income tax. Gross Income. is subject to Oregon tax when received by an TEXAS: No personal income tax. NEW YORK: Full exemption; U.S. gov- Oregon resident. This includes non-Oregon UTAH: Under age 65 a $4,800 exemption ernment pensions and annuities are not source retirement income. However, feder- may be taken. However, the deduction is taxed. al retirees who retired on or before Oct. 1, reduced $.50 for every $1.00 that the Federal NORTH CAROLINA: Pursuant to the Bailey 1991, may exempt all of their federal pen- Adjusted Gross Income exceeds $32,000 decision, government retirement benefits sion; those who worked both before and after (married filing joint) or $25,000 (single). Over received by federal retirees who had five years that date must prorate their exemption using 65 years of age a $7,500 exemption may be of creditable service in a federal retirement the instructions in the tax booklet. Oregon- taken for each individual. However, the system on Aug. 12, 1989, are exempt from source retirement income received by non- exemption is reduced $.50 for every $1.00 that North Carolina income tax. Those who do residents who are not domiciled in Oregon the Federal Adjusted Gross Income exceeds not have 5 years of creditable service on Aug. is not subject to taxation by Oregon. $32,000 (married filing joint) or $25,000 (sin- 12, 1989, must pay N.C. tax on their feder- PENNSYLVANIA: Government pensions gle). al annuities. Up to $4,000 of any federal and social security are not subject to personal VERMONT: Fully taxable. annuity income is exempt. income tax. VIRGINIA: Age deductions of $12,000, if NORTH DAKOTA: All pensions and annu- PUERTO RICO: There is an exemption of over age 65, and $6,000 if age 62 to 64. All ities are fully taxed, except first $5,000 which $8,000 on income received from pension taxpayers receive an additional personal is exempt less any Social Security payments, accounts if you are under 60. Over 60 the exemption of $800. but only if the individual chooses to use Form exemption is $11,000. WASHINGTON: No personal income tax. ND-2 (optional method). Individuals are RHODE ISLAND: Fully taxable. No WEST VIRGINIA: Up to $8,000 of income cautioned to check both Form ND-1 and exemptions available. received from any source is exempt if 65 years Form ND-2 to ascertain which one yields the SOUTH CAROLINA: Under age 65, claim or older. lowest tax for the year. Qualifying for the a $3,000 deduction of qualified retirement WISCONSIN: Pensions and annuities are exclusion does not necessarily mean that income; 65 years of age or over, claim a fully taxable. However, benefits received from Form ND-2 is the better form to choose. $10,000 deduction of qualified retirement a federal retirement system account estab- OHIO: Taxpayers 65 and over may take income. A resident of South Carolina who lished before Dec. 31, 1963, are not taxable a $50 credit. In addition, Ohio gives a tax is 65 years or older may claim a $15,000 WYOMING: No personal income tax. ▫ CLASSIFIEDS LEGAL SERVICES GRIEVANCE ATTORNEY (specializing ATTORNEY HANDLING GRIEVANCES since 1983) Attorney assists FS officers cor- at State, Commerce,USAID.Also appeals to ATTORNEY WITH 22 years successful rect defective performance appraisals, reverse FSGB and MSPB, EEOC hearings, and fed- experience SPECIALIZING FULL TIME IN FS improper tenuring and promotion board deci- GRIEVANCES will more than double your eral court litigation re employment discrimi- sions, secure financial benefits, defend chance of winning. 30% of grievants win before nation under Title VII. Will write your com- against disciplinary actions and obtain relief the Grievance Board; 85% of my clients win. plaints, represent you at hearings, litigate your from all forms of discrimination. Free Initial Only a private attorney can adequately devel- actions in federal court, and brief your Consultation. Call William T. Irelan, Esq. op and present your case, including neces- appeals. Offices in VA and D.C. Call George Tel: (202) 625-1800 Fax: (202) 625-1616. sary regs, arcane legal doctrines, precedents Elfter at (202) 237-2047, Fax :(703) 354-8734. E-mail: [email protected] and rules. Call Bridget R. Mugane at E-mail: [email protected] Tel: (202) 387-4383, Tel: (301) 596-0175. WILL/ESTATE PLANNING by attorney E-mail: [email protected] who is a former FSO. Have your will reviewed TAX & FINANCIAL SERVICES Free initial consultation. and updated, or new one prepared: No charge for initial consultation. ROLAND S. HEARD, CPA ATTORNEY M. Bruce Hirshorn, Boring & Pilger, 307 Maple Ave. W, Suite D, Vienna, VA 22180 1091 Chaddwyck Dr. ESTATE PLANNING, WILLS, POW- Tel: (703) 281-2161, Fax: (703) 281-9464. Athens, GA 30606 ERS OF ATTORNEY. General practice; E-mail: [email protected] Tel/Fax: (706) 769-8976 estate planning: wills, trusts, living wills, pow- E-mail: [email protected] ers of attorney; review and update of old wills PLACE A CLASSIFIED AD: $1.25/word • U.S. income tax services or drafting of new one; probate administra- (10 word min.) First 3 words bolded free, add’l • Many FS & contractor clients tion. Charles S. Abell, Furey, Doolan & Abell, bold text $2/word, header, box, shading $10 • Practiced before the IRS LLP; 8401 Conn. Ave., #1100, Chevy Chase, ea. Deadline: 20th of month for pub. 5 wks. • Financial planning MD 20815, Tel: (301) 652-6880, later. Ad Mgr: Tel: (202) 944-5507, Fax: (202) • American Institute of CPAs, Member Fax: (301) 652-8972. 338-6820. E-mail: [email protected] FIRST CONSULTATION FREE

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FEBRUARY 2003 • AFSA NEWS 15 CLASSIFIEDS

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My effective strategy for home fect for retired couple - 2200 Euros/month, CAR STORAGE: Indoor Storage for buying will make the transition easier for you annual lease. Information, photos: cars and furniture Northern Virginia. and your family! E-mail: [email protected] Tel: (703) 771-1496. Contact MARILYN CANTRELL, Associate Tel: (202) 966-9040 Broker, ABR, CRS, GRI at McEnearney VACATION RENTAL: Marco Island, FL, Associates, 1320 Old Chain Bridge Rd, Gulf Coast island offering the perfect vacation 110 - 220 VOLT STORE McLean, VA 22101. Tel: (703) 790-9090, ext. retreat. Waterfront home, beautifully furnished, MULTI-SYSTEM ELECTRONICS 246; Fax: (703) 734-9460, 2 bedrooms/2 baths, swimming pool, close to E-mail: [email protected] PAL-SECAM-NTSC TVs, white sandy beaches. www.marilyncantrell.com VCRs, AUDIO, CAMCORDER, E-mail:[email protected], ADAPTOR, TRANSFORMERS, Tel. (239) 642-8915. WASHINGTON STATE ISLANDS: KITCHEN APPLIANCES EPORT WORLD ELECTRONICS Spectacular views, wonderful community, cli- BOOKS mate, boating, hiking. Access Seattle & 1719 Connecticut Ave. N.W. Vancouver, B.C. Former FSO Jan Zehner, OLD ASIA/ORIENT BOOKS BOUGHT Washington, D.C. 20009, near Dupont Windermere Real Estate/ Orcas Island, Asian rare books. Fax: (212) 316-3408, Circle Metro. Between R & S Streets. (800) 842-5770; www.orcas-island.com E-mail: [email protected] Tel: (202) 232-2244, Fax: (202) 265-2435, E-mail: [email protected] (800) 513-3907. SCHOLARSHIP E-mail: [email protected] URL:www.220AV.TV SCHOLARSHIP COMPETITION: Open FLORIDA Government & Diplomat discounts to members of State Department Federal BEAUTIFUL SOUTHWEST FLORIDA: Credit Union. Requirements: financial need, SHOPPING SARASOTA – Sunshine, blue skies, excellent minimum 2.5 GPA, minimum 12 college cred- values in real estate. Call former FSO Tom its completed. Deadline April 11th, 2003. For Farley, AFSA member, licensed real estate NAVCO MALL application, call Lucy Yohe at (703) 706-5019. Over 200 Shops and Stores! broker. New homes and condos a speciali- Save Time and Money ty. Construction International Services, Inc. MISCELLANEOUS Everything you're looking for, from A to Z Tel: (941) 926-8550, Fax: (941) 926-9546. E-mail: [email protected] W.W. GENERAL CONSTRUCTION Sales and Bargains at Every Store! Serving VA, MD & DC Owned and operated by a 16-year-veteran Licensed and Bonded of the military and the FS FLORIDA Complete Home Remodeling & Repair Shop: www.navcosa.com Total Renovations LONGBOAT KEY, BRADENTON/ Kitchens, Bathrooms and Basements SARASOTA Area will exceed expectations. Ceramic Tile and Hardwood Floors AMERICAN PRODUCTS OVERSEAS! Don't miss owning in Florida. Resales, New Painting and Drywall ONE STOP SHOPPING for all your house- homes, Rental Management and vacation For more information visit our Web site hold & personal needs. Personalized service rentals. Dynamic growing company offering www.1stcarpenter.com for FS personnel by FS retiree. Must have personalized professional service. or e-mail us at: [email protected] APO or FPO address. For FREE CATALOG: Sharon E. Oper, Realtor (AFSA Member) or call us at (301) 330-9806 E-mail: [email protected] Wagner Realty. Tel: (941) 387-7199 Quality Work and Reasonable Prices Tel: (800) 384-0571. E-mail: [email protected] References upon Request

16 AFSA NEWS • FEBRUARY 2003