The Foreign Service Journal, January-February 2015

10 JANUARY FEBRUARY 2015 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL speech, Mikhail Gorbachev’s internal reforms and Pope John Paul II’s 1979 visit to Poland. I had the privilege to be part of the most senior U.S. decision-making team in West Berlin on that memorable day in 1989, and would like to single out two members of that team for special praise: Harry Joseph Gilmore and James “Jim” Alan Williams, the two leaders of the U.S. mission in West Berlin when the wall came down. Gilmore was “U.S. minister” in West Berlin and Wil- liams was his deputy, designated “political adviser.” Both men maintained outstand- ing professional relationships with the U.S. commandant, the top leadership of the U.S. Army Berlin Brigade, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency. Gilmore and Williams were team play- ers, mentors, problem solvers and lead- ers. ey were also great friends of the West Berliners and shared their dream that better days were coming for all who believed in freedom. In the nest tradi- tion of U.S. diplomacy, they served their country with distinction and performed in a remarkable fashion. Now, as I look back 25 years later, I am still impressed at the teamwork we shared in West Berlin. My experience over the course of a long career is that embassy teams that face daily adver- sity tend to work together almost like a family. anks to Gilmore and Williams, the teamwork we shared in West Berlin stands out as a great, even exceptional, example of leadership in the Foreign Service. Speaking for the West Berlin leader- ship team, I o er sincere thanks to these two State Department professionals. [Editor’s note: You can read the complete oral histories of these two men in the Oral History Collection at www.LOC.gov] William F. Rooney Senior Service O cer, CIA Directorate of Operations, retired Bethesda, Maryland Up or Out As a former director of Foreign Service training assignments, I was grati ed to see Robert A. Mosher’s comment in the November letters section regarding my September Speaking Out, “‘Up or Out’ Is Harming Ameri- can Foreign Policy.” He agrees that longer career paths for FSOs should be allowed, especially if those paths could incor- porate more extensive mid-career training similar to that of the military. e training budget could be increased, though I suspect that the mini- mal respect promotion panels used to pay such departures from active assign- ment probably has not changed much over the years, and FSOs may still gamble when they accept longer training breaks in their career trajectories. But, more training or not, experienced FSOs should, indeed, be granted longer career paths, with minimal worries about “up or out.” In complete contrast, I was saddened by Matt Weiller’s letter, “Move Up or Out, Please,” in the same issue. He asks for even more “up or out” in the Service, to weed out FSO “poor performers” who lack proper “conduct, suitability and discipline.” He adds that the enabling supervisors of the poor performers should su er career consequences. Mr. Weiller also claims that there are far too many “dysfunctional and hostile workplaces” in State and overseas, which endanger our security and diplomacy. at kind of attitude from an active- duty Senior Foreign Service o cer is precisely what moved me to write “A Plea for Greater Teamwork in the Foreign Service,” in the December 2013 FSJ . Mr. Weiller says my comments are “severely dated” and appear to be the “bitter musings of a handful of retired policy o cers.” I can assure him I am not bitter. It would be wonderful to hear from more active-duty o cers today whether my criticism of “up or out” and my call for more Foreign Service teamwork are dated. Concerned FSOs, AFSA is your orga- nization. Please take the time to express your opinions. You owe that to yourselves and your colleagues. George B. Lambrakis FSO, retired London, England A Little Respect I support wholeheartedly Larry Cohen’s Retiree VP Voice column (“When It Comes to Facility Access for Retirees, Mother State Shows No Love”) in the November Journal . I am such a retiree, having put in more than 35 years of com- bined service with both the military and State Depart- ment. My last over- seas posting was as consul gen- eral in Munich, followed by a stint as an o ce director in the Bureau of European and Canadian A airs. I also served as a senior area adviser (for Europe) to the 42nd and 43rd