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 7 38 years of association with the de- partment, I doubt that very much would come of it. Generalists occupy most senior po- sitions (excluding political appointees) within the Foreign Service, and far too many don’t even understand that there exist other members of the Foreign Service who are not FSOs. So how can anyone expect them to truly try to make the Foreign Service an organiza- tion that treats all employees justly? Read the “Sounding Board” on the department’s intranet site and see how many suggestions are made that ad- dress issues that writers seem to be- lieve only concern FSOs. Yet weight allowances, housing, promotions and other benefits are also concerns that af- fect specialists and others who serve the department. My wife continues to ask me, now that I’m retired, why I care about is- sues such as these. It’s because I want to see all members of the department get the recognition and respect they are due. It does happen, but not as much as it should. Mr. Hirsch said it right. Thank you. Kenneth R. Yeager FS Specialist, retired Grosshansdorf, Germany In Pursuit of Hard Languages I enjoyed the honesty of AFSA President Susan Johnson’s December column on the language gap. As a re- cent graduate (2007) who studied Ara- bic for two years at the University of Denver, as well as for one year at a small private language school in Egypt, I am aware of the difficulties in be- coming proficient in a level-three lan- guage. Level-three languages cannot be learned properly at a university. One hour a day, four days a week while en- rolled in other courses prevents im- mersion in the language. Class sizes tend to be eight to 12 students, which inhibits attention. Students avoid a level-three language because it can hurt their GPA. For example, without Arabic I would have graduated summa cum laude instead of cum laude and would have qualified for additional ac- ademic scholarships. Here are some possible solutions: The State Department might provide private tutors for FSOs in the field. A language instructor (from the host country) could shadow employees for a few hours per week in order to create a tailored curriculum that can be learned effectively on the job. This would enhance day-to-day operations. Another option is to provide monetary or other incentives for those — both Foreign and Civil Service — who ac- tively pursue ongoing instruction in a language during non-working hours. The department should reach out to active job-seekers like me who are committed to a critical language, even if we are not yet at a fluent level. Other suggestions would be to make long-term employment contin- gent on the pursuit of a critical lan- guage, bringing employees into the Civil Service until they have the lan- guage skills for a transition to the For- eign Service. As for spousal employ- ment, another challenge affecting the Service, we should encourage multia- gency job-pairing in areas requiring a hard language. Agencies with employ- ees overseas should pair job vacancies to attract couples, aiming to match couples to geographic areas. This will contribute to personnel retention, local intelligence gathering and longstand- ing reputations in these regions. We could also add points to an ap- plication for those whose spouses qual- ify for vacancies in the same region (allow couples’ qualifications to be con- sidered as a pair). Finally, on vacancy announcements the department should list positions from all agencies active in that region. Thanks to Susan Johnson for her commitment to enhancing the Foreign Service mission. I hope one day to be a part of the State Department’s team. Charles K. Dilley Executive Assistant Office of Facilities Management and Services Programs U.S. General Services Administration Washington, D.C. ■ L E T T E R S The Foreign Service Journal wel- comes brief, focused letters from readers. (In general, 200 to 400 words is a good target.) All sub- missions are subject to editing, and reflect the opinions of the writers, not necessarily the views of the Journal , the Editorial Board or AFSA. Please send your letters to: journal@afsa.org . For the Record Alert reader T.J. Morgan, a retired FSO, points out that our December book review of The Day We Lost the H-Bomb , by Barbara Moran, erroneously gives the first name of the late Ambassador Griffis as Stanford. The book correctly identifies him as Stanton Griffis.