The Foreign Service Journal, April 2010

V.P. VOICE: FAS ■ BYHENRYS. SCHMICK Up or Out: The Five-Stars (Part One) 54 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / A P R I L 2 0 1 0 A F S A N E W S Welcome to Two New AFSA Staff Members Jonathan Crawford has joined the AFSA staff as a scholarship program as- sistant, supporting Scholarship Director Lori Dec with an expanding scholarship and financial aid program. Born and raised in Yonkers, N.Y., Jonathan moved to Alexandria, Va., in 2002. He is cur- rently attending classes at George Mason University, pursuing a degree in geogra- phy. Patrick Bradley is the new staff assis- tant supporting both our labor manage- ment and USAID offices. He is working on grievance and member issues, among other duties. Originally from Syracuse, N.Y., Patrick holds a degree in business administration from Drexel University and worked at Hormel Foods before be- coming a self-employed investor. A self- proclaimed “fan of efficiency and analysis,” Patrick has a long history of volunteering for such organizations as Special Olympics and Habitat for Hu- manity. gress to support Pres. Obama’s FY 2011 international affairs budget request. On Jan. 29, the Senate Foreign Rela- tions Committee announced the intro- duction of its version of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011. This is the main piece of legislation providing authoriza- tion language for spending, as well as the mechanism for changing policies at State and amending the Foreign Service Act (Title 22). Most importantly, this bill includes the critical Overseas Comparability Pay language that AFSA has long fought for. The House passed its version, H.R. 2410, on June 10, 2009. AFSA will closely monitor the progress of this key legislation, and urge the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to move swiftly on this bill. ❏ Legislative Update • Continued from page 52 AFSA NEWS BRIEFS D espite the efforts of an active foundation, a space flight center and one nearby high school, George Catlett Marshall could very well be the most un- known famous soldier of the 20th century. When asked to name famous gen- erals and admirals of the World War II era, MacArthur, Eisenhower, Bradley, Nimitz and Patton all come to mind before the very first five-star general — George C. Marshall. Marshall, as many biographers have documented, was an unusual soldier. He fought his battles around conference tables, commanded the logistical buildup of the U.S. armed forces and supplies duringWorldWar I andWorldWar II, but never led troops into battle. Although a hard-core soldier, he received the 1953 Nobel Peace Prize. Marshall’s name is most frequently mentioned in the sense of the need for a new “Marshall Plan” to address the problem of the day (disas- ter, continued underdevelopment, soaring food prices, etc.). After his long serv- ice in the Army and a brief stint as a special envoy to China, Marshall served as the 50th Secretary of State from 1947 to 1949. Among the many changes Sec.Marshall instituted was extension of the armed forces “up or out”personnel system to the Foreign Service. Marshall’s interest in the “up or out” system developed out of his own career path, and that of his mentor, General John J. Pershing. Despite being known as an able officer, Pershing was denied promotion to colonel. The Army based promotions on seniority rather than an evaluation of personal accomplishments or merit. To be promoted you had to know the right people and you had to have been waiting a sufficiently long period (a similar statement would have applied to the Foreign Service, and most of the U.S. gov- ernment, at that time). In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt promoted Per- shing to brigadier general (skipping three ranks and upsetting all the officers passed over). In short, the existing personnel system did not work for Pershing. Marshall served as one of the top assistants to Pershing inWorldWar I. Dur- ing his tenure, the U.S. Army grew from roughly 27,000 to more than three mil- lion soldiers. Throughout Marshall’s career, Pershing acted as a sounding board for his attempts to reform the military system. Like Pershing, Marshall suffered long periods of no advancement in his career before being selected by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to oversee the expansion of the U.S. armed forces to over 10 million soldiers by the end of WorldWar II. In short, the existing personnel system did not work for Marshall either. Marshall and his fellow service chiefs were behind the 1946-1947 Officer Per- sonnel Act, which brought the “up or out” system to all the armed services. The related 1946 Foreign Service ReformAct brought the same system to the Foreign Service. To close, we should note that the only “double” five-star general was General H. H. Arnold (Army, 1944 and Air Force, 1949). Upon his retirement from the Air Force, Arnold was one of the founders of the RANDCorporation, which has provided many of the academic reviews of the “up or out” system. In Part Two we will skim the historical record on why Marshall, Eisenhower and other key leaders thought“up or out”was the appropriate personnel system to bring“youth and vigor” to their officer corps. ❏ Please look for Part Two of this article in the May AFSA News.