The Foreign Service Journal, January-February 2016

10 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Working with the Military My compliments for the excellent articles in the October FSJ about work- ing with the military. Ted Strickler’s “10 Things the Foreign Service Needs to Know” is insightful and thought- provoking, prompting complementary assessments such as that by Ambassa- dor Steve McFarland in his November letter to the FSJ . George Staples’ common-sense suggestions for understanding the role of the military in interagency decision- making and Jonathan Addleton’s first-person account of serving with U.S. troops in Kandahar provide excellent macro- and micro-level perspectives on this essential civilian-mili- tary partnership in national security affairs. I’ve highlighted these two editions for our foreign policy advisers (POLADs) in the field, all 90 of them. Our program has expanded and matured to the point that FSOs— from SFS to FS-3—advise commanders and com- mands in 12 states and nine countries overseas. As testimony to the importance of these positions, the U.S. military has asked for additional POLADs, nearly 300 FSOs bid on these positions each year and promotion boards increasingly recognize POLADs’ contributions. Having been fortunate to serve as a POLAD myself, I highly recommend these positions, which enable incum- bents to influence policy, to learn from (and teach) our military colleagues about our differing “cultures” and perspectives, and to maintain the close collaboration necessary to confront the many current and prospective global challenges effectively. I encourage POLADs past and pres- ent to provide additional stories and letters to the FSJ . David E. Henifin Coordinator, POLAD Program Bureau of Political-Military Affairs U.S. Department of State Washington, D.C. Leadership and Equality Two articles in your October issue— “The Value of Military Training for Diplomats” by George Staples and “Seek- ing Parity Between Civil and Foreign Services” by Larry Roeder—brought back old memories. In 1951, following graduation from law school, I joined the Cen- tral Intelligence Agency and was enrolled in its first junior officer training program. At the end of it, those of us who had no military service were asked to enlist (I joined the Air Force) for exposure to the leadership skills military service offered. Ambassador Staples stresses the importance of leadership and management training and experience for Foreign Service officers approaching the senior threshold. A State Depart- ment inspection report many years ago concluded that the overwhelming majority of first-tour deputy chiefs of mission failed in that area. Most DCMs at the time were political and economic officers who had had little management experience; consular and management officers had the large staffs. Fortunately, leadership and manage- ment training at the Foreign Service Institute took off under the able leader- ship of Prudence Bushnell in the early 2000s. In 1961 the CIA enrolled me in a personnel management internship at the Civil Service Commission, part of which was a detail to State’s Office of Career Development. My task: perform research and produce a study recommending closer integration between State’s For- eign Service and Civil Service. Though praised by my immediate supervisors, the study went nowhere. It did result, however, in an offer to join the State Department in 1972, which I accepted. More than 40 years later, the debate apparently continues. I agree entirely with Mr. Roeder that Foreign Service and Civil Service professionals deserve treat- ment as equal partners. Donald C. Leidel Ambassador, retired Sarasota, Florida A Plea for Transparency The State Department’s recent lack of communication transparency regard- ing reduction or elimination of danger pay for certain posts has had a negative impact on morale around the world. This has weakened trust in the institution as a whole, and caused people to question whether the department supports its employees overseas. Let’s say you are flying somewhere. Your flight is scheduled, tickets pur- chased. As boarding time approaches, there is no airplane at your gate, there have been no announcements, but the monitor still shows an on-time depar- ture. Then every 10 or 15 minutes, the estimated departure time is changed. Finally, an airplane taxis in, and the flight crew announces, “We’re sorry for the late departure, but the incoming flight was delayed.” You realize they knew well in advance the flight was going to be delayed, but said nothing. All too often, something similar hap- pens at State. Supervisors know some-