The Foreign Service Journal, March 2007

AFSA NEWS BRIEFS 80 F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L / MA R CH 2 0 0 7 A F S A N E W S SAVE THE DATES! Day on the Hill: May 3 Foreign Affairs Day: May 4 Join AFSA for Foreign Affairs Day, the annu- al homecoming for State Department Foreign Service and Civil Service retirees, on May 4 at the State Department. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is scheduled to deliver the keynote address and preside over the AFSA Memorial Plaque Ceremony. Invitations will be mailed out in early March. If you would like to request an invita- tion, please send an e-mail to foreignaffairs day@state.gov and include your full name, retirement date (month and year), street address, e-mail address and phone number. For more information about the AFSA events for that day, contact Professional Issues Coordinator Barbara Berger at berger@afsa.org . Day on the Hill — the day AFSA escorts Foreign Service active-duty and retiree mem- bers to Capitol Hill — will be held May 3. Please consider participating in this impor- tant activity and help the voice of the Foreign Service reach members of Congress. For more information, contact Austin Tracy at tracy@afsa.org . Memo of the Month Under Active Consideration From: Career Development Officer To: FS Bidder As you are aware, over the past few weeks HR/CDA has been reviewing lists of Summer 2007 bidders who have not yet been paneled into an onward assignment. Your name is one of many being considered for one of the department’s most difficult yet very high-priority Summer 2007 assignments. You are actively being considered for _______. Your experience and your language skills were key factors that led to your being included for consideration for these jobs. We should know very shortly whether the _____ Bureau will select your name from the list as a leading candidate for this position and whether you will be asked to volunteer for this job. I’ll be back to you within the next few days with more details on the selection process. ... In the meantime, I am unable to record any handshake you might receive in FSBid, as the HR Bureau has asked that we suspend such actions for those under consideration for the 40 high- priority jobs noted in State 7387 of January 19 [2007]. Please contact me with your questions. I’m not certain that I’ll have all the answers, but I want to keep you as informed as possible. Life in the Foreign Service BY BRIAN AGGELER AFSA Welcomes New Controller In January, Twee Nguyen joined AFSA as controller, replacing Steven Tipton. For the past four years, she worked as an accountant for the VietnamVeterans of America Foundation (now Veterans for America), and before that, spent 20 years as an accounting manager for an electronic manufacturer/distributor headquartered in Switzerland. She immigrated to the U.S. in the early 1980s fromVietnam, and lives in Germantown with her fiancé and two daughters (both seniors, one in high school, the other in college). She is fin- ishing up an MBA at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. You can reach her at nguyen@afsa.org or (202) 338- 4045, ext. 512.