The Foreign Service Journal, March 2006

F O C U S 30 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / M A R C H 2 0 0 6 Eric Watnik Political Officer | Kirkuk | Summer 2004 0700 Awake, shower, eat breakfast at the compound cafeteria. 0730 Get to work, check e-mail, finalize prior day’s cables. 0830 Attend staff meeting. Discuss issues I’m working on. 0930 Go to Kirkuk Provincial Council office, talk with local politicians and attend meetings for a few hours. Speak with politicians and other interest groups about current U.S. activities and try to get a feel for their activities. Speak with U.S. military representa- tives at the Provincial Council to see what they are working on. (Note: Every day was different. I often took day trips with the military to small towns to meet with locals.) 1300 Go back to the compound and eat lunch at the cafeteria. 1400 Start writing that day’s cables about the Iraqi political movements of the day, interspersed with a series of phone calls to contacts to make sure I have the events of the day and the politics surrounding those events correct. 1800 Dinner at the cafeteria around 6 p.m. 1900 Go back to office to edit cables and work on public affairs issues/upcoming press conferences. 2200 Cards/TV/workout. A Day i n t he L i f e o f . . . FSO Eric Watnik with Iraqi kids in Tikrit