The Foreign Service Journal, February 2010

F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 45 pursuing careers in the Foreign Service was a particularly satisfying experience. Throughout my life I’ve enjoyed a number of hobbies off and on ac- cording to cost, time and desire. These include: amateur radio, musi- cology, photography, wildlife conser- vation, railroads, outdoors explora- tion, sports, computers, swimming and travel. To these I must add being chairman of my high school class and organizing its frequent ac- tivities, plus assisting in the CAN- DOER (Communicators AND Others Enjoying Retirement) organization and the Upper Midwest regional AFSA chapter. I have also arranged and escorted several private wildlife safaris in East Africa and two railfan trips on the Trans-Siberian railroad between Moscow and Vladivos- tok. And I’ve sailed around the world on a Danish freighter; taken many other freighter trips throughout Asia, Africa and Europe; and visited all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. When I wake up each morning, I never have to ask my- self, “What will I do today?” After I’ve swum my one- hour, pre-breakfast laps, my day begins; and there is never a dull moment until bedtime. “Why do you bother to keep a house and yard in Green Bay? Why don’t you just have an apartment?” the pastor of our church once humorously remarked. Space does not permit answers to those questions here. James F. Prosser Green Bay, Wis. WAE- ING I N F AVORABLY As a When Actually Employed annuitant working for the Bureau of Consular Affairs, I can say unequivocally that mine has been the best kind of retirement. I retired, mandatorily, at age 65 in 1997 and have served an average of oneWAE tour every year since. My husband, Allen, who left the Foreign Service in 1968, was sworn back in and took the consular training course, enabling us to be a tandem WAE couple (see the next item). (I should perhaps explain that I could not be a Foreign Service officer in the 1960s because I was a married woman, and the reg- ulations required female FSOs to be single. But I did join the Foreign Service in 1990, at the age of 57.) We have served in Manila, Frankfurt, Yemen, Halifax, Dur- ban, Milan, Cairo, Dublin (twice), Jordan and Istanbul. We have in- terviewed side by side on the visa line; we have handled one-officer consular/administrative jobs in small posts; and I have run a con- sular section several times. Particularly since I came into the Foreign Service so late, and had to retire as a well- trained and energetic FS-3, WAE employment has been a lifesaver for me. It has allowed me to continue work I love and am good at, to feel I am still contributing, to ex- plore some exciting countries for periods of one to two months and to make some money. Incidentally, the de- partment also got some of its investment back, which oth- erwise would have been lost at my early retirement. I have now been a WAE three years longer than I was able to be a career FSO; at 77, I am still kicking and hoping there will be more WAE opportunities in the future. The WAE assignment process has improved expo- nentially since I started in 1997. Then, the WAE program was only one of many portfolios held by a single officer in CA’s executive office, and the assignment process was less than transparent. Increasingly, that office came to value the contributions of their consular annuitants and made the whole assignment process fairer by allowing us to “bid” on posts. In addition, periodic newsletters, consular ca- bles and an annual WAE roundtable conference in Wash- ington, D.C., all keep us in the loop. I will be forever grateful to the great folks in CA/EX who have given me such a wonderful way to be “retired,” doing work I love while still having the time for friends, grandchildren and home in the U.S. While in the U.S., my husband and I also give talks on our careers at senior centers, lifelong learning programs and schools — an- other great way to contribute in retirement and to build a more informed general public. Thanks for the opportunity to share my story. Ann Irvine Plainfield, Mass., and Baltimore, Md. F O C U S I will be forever grateful to CA/EX for giving me such a wonderful way to be “retired” — doing work I love and to still have the time for friends, grandchildren and home in the U.S.