The Foreign Service Journal, March 2009

M A R C H 2 0 0 9 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 23 and when they prepare to depart that location for the employee’s next foreign or domestic accompanied post (DSSR 260). ISMA rates were increased in March 2008, and the allowance is non- taxable. There is also a mandatory 15 days of home leave (or transition leave in the case of a domestic employee serving overseas) after the employee completes a tour at one of the posts “experiencing extraordinary cir- cumstances.” These include posts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, as well as Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Juba, Sudan. This provision also ap- plies to employees serving a 12-month TDY to Iraq and Afghanistan. Forging a Sense of Community The first major hurdle the FLO Unaccompanied Tour Support Team faces is identifying and reaching out to all employees and family members experiencing an unac- companied tour so that we can offer them support and services, or help them identify other resources. Where possible, we contact them at the time of assignment to explain our services and assist families in deciding where to reside during the tour, if it has not been determined. We rely on employees to fill out the Employee and Family Member Contact Information Sheet to provide us family member e-mail addresses, the primary way in which we communicate with them. When we receive ISMA no- tification cables we e-mail the employees to ask that they complete the form, although doing so is voluntary. In ad- dition, when I brief all outgoing personnel to Iraq during the mandatory Foreign Affairs Counterterrorism area stud- ies course, I always stress the importance of the contact form. The FLO director does the same in ambassadorial and DCM/principal officer seminars, and at management officer conferences. F O C U S There are two types of SMA — voluntary and involuntary.