The Foreign Service Journal, March 2009

40 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 9 wooden mailbox that we designated as the boys’ special mailbox, which allowed my wife to surprise them with the occasional goody “fromDaddy.” I took pictures of myself, uploaded them and ordered online prints sent to them at home, and took advantage of a brigade chaplain program to have a DVD recorded of me reading stories to them. Ultimately, I am glad I came out here. This has been an extraordinary professional experience. But I will spend a few months after my return patching my family back to- gether, and it is important to understand that that is also a necessary part of the process. Conrad Tribble Iraq O NLY C ONNECT Separation? Never have we been more connected and in communication with one another, regardless of geo- graphic distance. Cell phones, text messages, e-mail, In- ternet videocam, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter — no sep- aration here! If anything, we are flooded with “togetherness.” And, coincidentally, never have more members of two-career relationships throughout U.S. so- ciety spent more time separated and/or traveling on week- ends and holidays. Foreign Service folk need to meet the challenge of un- accompanied tours by accepting that it is an element of 21st-century life and by remembering the history of ex- tended separation that affected previous generations. In particular, FSOs need some judicious perspective to keep “outsiders” from concluding that the pinstripe set is whin- ing again. Don’t expect any sympathy from our military colleagues, who are repeatedly deployed to combat zones and who, even when they do come home, frequently go away on field maneuvers. Historically, separation for military duty or civilian serv- ice outside the U.S. just “was.” During World War II, mil- lions of men left their families for overseas assignments F O C U S