The Foreign Service Journal, January 2008

F ollowing Director General Harry Thomas’ Oct. 24 an- nouncement of a prime can- didate exercise to fill the then-remain- ing 48 Iraq positions for summer 2008 (all the rest – 204 – had already been filled by volunteers), and the conten- tious Oct. 31 town hall meeting, AFSA heard from hundreds of For- eign Service members. The Journal began receiving so many letters on the subject that we have created this special section for them. Public airing of the most emotional moments of the town hall meeting sparked the worst anti-Foreign Ser- vice media blitz in years. With a few notable exceptions, an already under- informed public was given fodder for further stereotyping diplomats as — to use the phrase most repeated by the Associated Press — “wimps and ween- ies.” The threat of directed assignments to Iraq was called off on Nov. 16 because volunteers came forward to fill all of the open positions. But the DG has already indicated that directed assignments to the next set of priority countries are a real possibility if too few volunteers step up. The increasing number of “must- fill” unaccompanied positions — in Iraq and elsewhere — combined with the Foreign Service staffing shortage, leave open the possibility that this prime candidate exercise may not be the last. A Bad Precedent Recent actions by the State Department to threaten directed assignments to Iraq and air disagree- ments about the issue within the Foreign Service in public leave me saddened and dismayed. The move struck me as purely political. It did little to change any misperceptions about the diplomatic corps on the part of the nation as a whole or ameliorate existing tensions between the Departments of State and De- fense in the field. When I served in both the Regional Embassy Office and the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Mosul, I witnessed firsthand the hard work and dedication of Foreign Service officers to the Iraq mission. While I personally question the ne- cessity for increased numbers at Em- bassy Baghdad, as well as the utility of the PRTs themselves, I fail to com- prehend the need for directed assign- ments when, as was proven again this year, enough volunteers have come forward to fill every vacancy. Directed assignments set a bad precedent that could allow future administrations too much leeway to change the scope of the assignment process to fit whatever short-term objectives they may have at the expense of long-term efforts else- where. If the department truly holds its current and former crop of Iraq volunteers in such low regard, and if recruiting only “qualified candidates” is of utmost importance, then one would expect that the example would be set by the seventh floor and then work its way down. The Foreign Service has always stepped up to volunteer when we’ve heard the call. It’s what we signed up to do. But when officers have legiti- mate reservations about the working conditions in Iraq, especially with regard to security and support, those concerns should not be so easily dismissed by the department or used against the Foreign Service for political purposes. Jerome P. Hohman FSO Embassy Paris Here in Iraq, to Serve I have been watching the recent controversy over Foreign Service Iraq assignments. I am dismayed and sorry to see what appears to be a lack of commitment by some people to the mission and job at hand. Very few of us think invading Iraq was a good idea. However, that was nearly five years ago. It’s time to move on; our country needs us. We are com- missioned officers who have the pleasure and responsibility to serve our country. I am the Provincial Reconstruction Team leader for Sadr City and Ad- hamiya in downtown Baghdad. I had already been promoted (from Haiti) and certainly did not need to come to Iraq for my career. I did so out of commitment to service — and I have met many other Foreign Service officers who feel the same way. I work with a magnificent group of equally committed military officers from the 2/82nd Airborne. We are making progress at the local level on governance, reconcil- iation and, to a much slower and lesser extent, on economic develop- ment. Is the situation easy to deal J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 8 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 15 Foreign Service Members Speak Out on Directed Assignments