1. A New Vanguard: Our latest Vanguard has been published. This edition contains items on our recent visit with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the new DLI-5 class, mid-level hiring, and professional liability insurance. Our Senior Labor Management Advisor, Doug Broome, wrote that last piece, and I urge you to read it thoroughly and heed Doug’s advice. The Vanguard can be accessed here: http://www.afsa.org/usaid/0509vanguard.pdf.

2. USAID Budget: The official State/USAID budget numbers arrived this week, and we expect to go through them over the next few days. The first impression of the finalized proposal is definitely positive, with significant increases requested for both USAID and State. You can crunch the numbers yourself at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/.

3. Foreign Affairs Day: We hope some of the USAID membership was able to attend the AFSA memorial plaque ceremony on Foreign Affairs Day, May 1. It was a solemn occasion, honoring four new additions to the plaques. I recommend to you the remarks given by Secretary Clinton, which were highly complementary of the Foreign Service: http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/05/122565.htm. That page also includes a link to a video of the ceremony.

4. Join the FSJ Editorial Board: Several current members will be rotating off the Foreign Service Journal Editorial Board this fall at the end of their two-year terms.  While AFSAs bylaws stipulate that a majority of the board be comprised of active-duty FS personnel, retirees are also eligible to serve. We invite all Foreign Service personnel interested in filling those vacancies to contact FSJ Editor Steve Honley at honley@afsa.org for more information. Please note that board members must reside in the Washington, DC area in order to attend monthly meetings and participate fully in the board's work. We encourage USAID members to apply.

5. New FSJ Is Out: The May 2009 Foreign Service Journal is in the mail to members and available online at www.afsa.org/fsj. Its focus section spotlights the work of the Foreign Agricultural Service and the Foreign Commercial Service, and also examines prospects for international trade under the Obama administration. Other content includes an Appreciation column profiling FSO Brian Adkins, whose name was added to the AFSA Memorial Plaques on Foreign Affairs Day (May 1), and an FS Heritage column recalling Eugene Schuyler, one of the State Department's first Russia experts. USAID members should look out for the July-August issue, which will spotlight USAID, MCA and development assistance in general.

6. Come On By: As always, we welcome visitors to the AFSA office at RRB 2.10-C. You can always reach me by telephone at 202-712-1631 or e-mail at fzamora@usaid.gov. Senior Labor Management Advisor Doug Broome is available at 202-712-0947 or dbroome@usaid.gov.